Please listen to the event using the audio player below.

Everyone is invited to attend the dedication of the Hurricane Camille historic marker located at the Rockfish River Trail head on Rt 151 at the bridge over the S. Fork of the Rockfish River. The dedication will occur at 2 pm on August 19, 2008 which is the 39th anniversary of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County. The devastating rains fell in the evening of August 19 and early morning of August 20.

The program will consist of brief remarks by Nelson County officials, representatives of VA Dept of Historic Resources, VA Dept of Transportation, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Cliff Wood , former Nelson County Supervisor and others to be announced. Cliff was involved in the Camille marker placed at Woods Mill in 1971. The additional marker is a replica of that and states:

ON AUGUST 20, 1969, TORRENTIAL RAINS, FOLLOWING REMNANTS OF HURRICANE CAMILLE, DEVASTATED THIS AREA. A RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES LARELY WITHIN A 5-HOUR PERIOD, SWEPT AWAY OR BURIED MANY MILES OF ROADS, OVER 100 BRIDGES, AND OVER 900 BUILDINGS. 114 PEOPLE DIED AND 37 REMAIN MISSING. THE DAMAGE TOTALED MORE THAN $100,000,000 AND VIRGINIA WAS DECLARED A DISASTER AREA.

This second marker is located on the site of the home of Mr and Mrs Ed Ewing who were swept away by the flood and perished on the evening of August 19, 1969. A total of 125 persons died or were lost in Nelson County which at the time was more than 1% of the population.

Light refreshments will be served. Please call 434 361 2251 for further information.

Roar of the Heavens - preface

From Frances Fitzgerald’

s house along the Tye River in the tiny town of Tyro, in Nelson County, Virginia, there is a soul-stirring view of The Priest. The bony, forested crest of this old knob rises to just over four thousand feet, making it one of the highest peaks in these parts. In the twilight, The Priest and its companion peaks The Friar and Three Ridges seem to march into infinity, and into a seemingly infinite color-series of blues and grays and blue-grays — an ever-shifting palette only faintly suggested by their name, the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Spread out below these towering mountains is a lovely, flower-spattered meadow, which in the autumn is scattered with great round hay bales that look like immense loaves of golden bread. The fields are borded by lazy, wandering hedgerows that follow the streambeds, marked by a meandering line of sycamores and oaks and willows and mountain ash. It’s God’

s country, some of the prettiest, most pastoral landscapes on the East coast.

The Priest is a thing that smites even the dullest of hearts with its sheer loveliness — yet to view this landscape simply with ones’

heart is to almost completely miss it. Because standing here in this pretty valley, overshadowed by mountains lifted off a scenic calendar, you are ringed by danger and by death, and the tangible record of catastrophe is everywhere. Above you, there are places where the mountainsides have been raked bare and now stand raw and exposed as open wounds. Scattered in the foothills below, there are immense boulders, some of them as big as boxcars. How did they get there? What cataclysm brought them down?

The Priest is beautiful, but looked at in a more ominous way it is also a great, broad blade almost a mile high, that rakes water out of the sky. In scientific terms, its steepness and height create an “orographic effect,”

lifting moisture-laden air masses up into higher elevations, where they cool, condense, and fall as rain — sometimes not gentle rain but fierce, relentless, murderous rain. The very height and drama of these mountains is the source of their danger. The towering crags and ridges form a steep watershed or catchment area, a gigantic basin or a bowl, which gathers water from a vast area and sends it cascading down into narrow streambeds. And the meadow around you, it now becomes obvious, is actually a vast floodplain that has been repeatedly inundated by water and by mud. There have been times when this lowland has become the valley of the shadow of death, and no birds sang.

Then there is the non-obvious matter of Nelson County’s location on the globe. Its particular latitude (about 38 degrees north of the equator) maximizes the chance that disintegrating hurricanes coming up from the distant Gulf but still loaded with almost unimaginable cargoes of water will unburden them in these mountains. That’

s why the soporific Tye River, chuckling over its bed of round stones through this peaceful valley, is actually a ravenous beast, the mythological dragon of the human imagination, only temporarily asleep.

We may know these things rationally, but we don’

t really know them deep in our hearts, down in the fearful realm below thought.

Part of the reason all this danger is hidden is that we are trapped in human, psychological time. We’re inclined to measure everything against the sixty or seventy or eighty years most of us will be given. Anything that occurs less frequently than this tends to be invisible to us — it vibrates on a slower pulse. Yet even the longest human life on record is so brief it’

s akin to the shadow of a bird passing across a wall. Compared to geological time, compared to the rocks and hills around us, a human lifespan is indistinguishable from that of a mayfly, which is born and dies in a single day.

But there are moments — extraordinary moments — when human time comes into direct conflict with geological time. When the implacable inhumanness and grandeur of these great processes rises up around us, like a sleeping monster, and eats us alive.

Such an event occurred here in the mountains of central Virginia on the night of August 19th, 1969, when the remnants of Hurricane Camille collided with a complex system of water-laden air currents in the middle and upper atmosphere. Almost completely without warning, and within the space of eight hours, one of the heaviest rainfalls ever recorded on earth — billions of tons of it — cascaded down these mountainsides, turning these lovely crags and streambeds into a terrifyingly effective drowning machine for all life below. Humans, animals, dogs and cats, trees, boulders, houses, cars, barns and everything else were swept away in a fast-moving slurry of molten soil, a kind of deadly earth-lava that buried everything in its path. The bodies of many people, asleep in their beds when the avalanche smashed into their houses in the night, were never found. The next morning, when Frances Fitzgerald climbed down out of the hole in the ceiling where she and her husband had fled to escape the flood, she saw drowned, half-naked bodies hanging from fences and trees around her house.

“We were encircled by death,”

she said.

The rainfall was so cataclysmic that the Office of Hydrology of the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) later estimated that the rainfall “approaches the probable maximum rainfall which meterologists compute to be theoretically possible.” People had to cover their mouths even to breathe. Birds perched in trees simply drowned. A team of geologists, after calculating how much soil would be stripped off the mountainsides due to normal wind, water and weather, concluded that about two thousand years of erosion had taken place in a single night. Other scientists later attempted to calculate just how unusual an event this was. The hydrology office estimated that an event of this magnitude “occurs, on average, only once in more than 1,000 years.” Another researcher, at the University of Virginia, pointed out that such catastrophic events were so rare that one had to look beyond human history and instead study the geologic record of ancient “paleofloods”

imprinted in the rocks and soil. Using radiocarbon dating of these ancient sediments, he calculated that the hardest-hit area (the Davis Creek basin) had probably not seen such an event in the previous three to six thousand years — since before the building of the pyramids at Giza.

But whatever metrics one uses, what occurred in Nelson County, Virginia in the last days of August, 1969 — and, a few days earlier along the Mississippi Gulf coast — was an event out of the nether regions of mathematical probability, out of an entirely different scale of time than the one to which humans are accustomed. After it was over, when the mountainsides collapsed in a deafening, continuous roar, people marvelled at the smell that hung in the air, a pungent, earthy smell, the smell of rock and soil that may not have been exposed to air and light in thousands of years. It was the smell of deep time.

It was as though, on an ordinary day in August, in an ordinary place, time itself had been ripped open and laid bare.

This is the story of a collision between human and geological time.

It’

s the story of the fragility and unknowableness of everything we think is predictable and secure.

It’

s the story of what people do when the worst that could possibly happen, happens.

For many, it became the story of the end of the world.

Roar of the Heavens by Stefan Bechtel was published in 2006 by Citadel Press. It is available as hard back and soft bound. ISBN 0-8065-2706-4

Please imagine that the slide scars represent the headwaters of the S. Fork of the Rockfish River up near Wintergreen Mountain Village above elevation 3500. The torrential rains loosened the soil, the shrubs and trees. That debris began to wash down the mountain, pulling with it rocks and any other thing in its path. As the flow became larger and reached the upper valley at Beech Grove, it broadened out (represented by the debris chutes) and tore a 40 foot deep trench into the earth where Rt 664 now exists. The build up of water, material, animals, automobiles and everything in its path continued to travel under gravity into the Valley Floor at elevation 1300 and began to fan out to cover the valley (represented by debris fans) . This occurred in the middle of the night which found the occupants of the one story house in the flood plain at elevation 900 located beside the river at the existing Rt 151 Bridge asleep in their house. Many people thought the roar of the debris flows was thunder as the sky was filled with lightening. It was not. It was the roar of rocks hitting rocks. This debris flow can be estimated to have travelled at a speed of over 40 miles per hour when it reached the South Rockfish Valley you are looking at. The home, located where you are standing, of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Ewing was destroyed and their bodies recovered nearly 1/2 mile down stream. The Charlottesville Daily Progress printed adjacent photo showing the steps remaining to the house, the roof of the house on the bridge and the devastation of the site. The historic marker located beside Rt 151 recognizes the loss of lives and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Camille in the State of Virginia. It is hard to imagine the loss to the Ewing family. A brother lived in the house across the road and three siblings at ELK HILL, the home on the hill. Each woke the morning of August 20^th to see the ghastly site of debris filled, flooded fields and an empty space where the Ewing family had lived and perished.

Please be respectful of this site and honor their memory along with those others lost in the storm of August 19-20, 1969. Thanks you for your visit. To obtain more information, please see the website www.rockfishvalley.org or read the introduction reproduced here from the book entitled Roar of the Heavens (2006) by Stefan Bechtel, a Charlottesville author, which is considered the best presentation of Hurricane Camille.

We are indebted to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (www.cacfonline.org) for its support of this exhibit and the duplication and installation of the Hurricane Camille marker.

++Camille Flow Diagram prepared and available through the courtesy of David Spears, Geologist, Virginia Department of Mines and Minerals.

Peter A. Agelasto III

Chairman

Rockfish Valley Foundation

434 361 2251

P O Box 235

Nellysford, VA 22958

Other books on Hurricane Camille

Torn Land by Paige and Jerry Simpson 1970

Hurricane Camille – monster storm of the Gulf Coast by Philip D. Hearn 2004

Category 5, the story of Camille by Ernest Zebrowski and Judith A Howard 2005

Roar of the Heavens by Stefan Bechtel 2006

Questions? Call (804) 643-VIEW

July Event: The Rockfish Valley geology event was postponed on account of welcomed rain from June 3 until 3 PM July 14 with a rain date of July 15. The public is welcome and our guides/speakers will be Brett Waller, a recognized authority on our area and John McClain who was project engineer for the river restoration. We have a list of persons who signed up for the earlier date and will post some notices as well.

August Event:

Nelsono County Life story: areas to be discussed.

Kiosk

Enhancements at Spruce Creek Park

Rockfish Valley Farm

We at Rockfish Valley Foundation participate in a number of programs that preserve and protect land resources. What follows is a listing of our commitments and links to sites where you may learn more about such opportunities. We invite you to visit and see the ongoing efforts to protect and enhance land in the South rockfish Valley that was first settled by Scotch Irish immigrants from Pennsylvania in the 1740s.

Virginia Outdoor Foundation conservation easement

CREP riparian easement

DGIF trails

VDOT river restoration and easement

Adopt a Stream

Adopt a Highway VDOT 2 miles Rt 151 and 2 miles Glenthorne, School house road

Virginia Master Naturalist Chapter with partners:

Chesapeake Bay Wildlife Found warm season grasses

UVA Dept of Environmental Science student projects, geology, ecology

VA Dept of Historic Resources recognition at VA and Dept of Interior historic buildings and farm

VA Tech Extension Service education, practices, environmental science

Virginia Blue Bird Society Trail and monitoring

Stream Monitoring DEQ, DCR

10 Primitive Campsites

Nelson County High School, FFA and environmental science

Star Gazing

Kite flying event

Valley loop trail events Spring Summer and Fall with larger trail

• 1. Biggest success of 2007 – we were the initiating partner in creation of Central Blue Ridge Master Naturalist Chapter. (Both Betsy and I graduated in the first class of 20 people. It is already a success. It would not happen without the efforts of Michael Lachance and Charlotte Rae. Charlotte has agreed to become something of the organizational leader for the foundation contributing a few hours each week. More about that later.

• 2. Biggest surprise – it is a tie: receipt of two significant individual and unsolicited gifts which are being used for trail head development and birding trail development and the chairman being asked to serve on the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation Board.

• 3. Biggest disappointment: grant rejection by VA Department of Conservation and recreation. Propose to reapply and we may be in a far better position.

• 4. Biggest challenge – organizing and implementing invasive plant project to begin this spring. More than ½ dozen volunteers from Master Naturalist program. All have taken a workshop. VDOT has a commitment but no plan. They will adopt our plan if we have one. Resources include Virginia DCR, DEQ as well as VDOT, Ruth Douglas and others from Ivy Creek, books, pamphlets etc. We need a plan.

• 5. Biggest investment: VDOT completion of river work – field remediation from equipment compaction and stream edge planting. Also Nelson county Service Authority restoration of 40 acre pasture – you will see winter wheat growing. Spreading of biosolids has been terminated. Field requires extensive work over 12 moths to restore and balance the field to acceptable level of hay production.

• 6. Most exciting current project: Update of map and master planning opportunity. Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission employee, Cory Anderson, is creating a new map and has also been retained on a piece work basis by RVF. He and Charlotte will be participating in the visit by McKee Carson landscape planners from Charlottesville. If that goes well I shall ask them to make a presentation to the board. Goal: successful grant from VA DCR to be filed in January 2009 and to other grant makers in the region for such things as permanent Farmer’s Market Home and community pavilion. Budget undetermined.

.Current Calendar of projects and events:

1. Completion of funded grant projects and reporting, 2007 tax reporting and various government filings; annual budget and treasures report.

2. Earl Swift conversation and book signing: Partnership with Nelson County Historical society, Oakland Museum. March 28 – Nelson Center; March 29 at 10 AM ELK HILL.

3. ELK HILL Cemetery project – VA Foundation for the Humanities grant application for $2500 in discretionary funds to cover cost of Sweet Briar College research project starting April 3.

4. Stream and highway clean up… Waterways and roads are adopted. Volunteers are working. Spring action item.

5. DEQ Rockfish monitoring workshop…late spring. We applied to be a studied site for 2008 and were successful. To partner with master gardeners and CBR Master Naturalist Chapter. Spring action item.

6. Starry Nights Program May 16, 17. Partnership with CBR Master Naturalist Chapter and Charlottesville Astronomical Society. Music, sing-a-log and camp fire cookout.

7. Camille anniversary recognition and dedication of VA Dept of Historic Resources Marker - Tuesday, August 19.

8. Dog Agility Park steering committee formed – to be named Louie’s Place and requires a neighborhood capital fund drive for matching funds. Budget: $25,000.

9. People Agility station trail - after dog Agility Park; budget $15,000.

10. Croquet Court committee formed, court laid out, investigation continuing.

11. Web site update – project of Bluewall LLC. Budget – in part donated.

FUTURE PLANS

1. Undertake a county wide Environmental workshop – desired partners: Rural Nelson, Friends of Rockfish Watershed, VA Master Gardeners, Central blue Ridge Chapter VA Master Naturalist Chapter,VA Chapter The Nature Conservancy and Virginia Conservation Network.. Secure a professional facilitator, grant support. Outcomes: impact citizen awareness and channel energy for ordinance support in Nelson County. I have been asked to speak on opportunities for environmental outreach on May at the roundtable luncheon of grant makers May 6 at 11:45 PM for 20 minutes. Other part of program will be a presentation by Oak Hill Fund.

2. Create S. Rockfish Historic District to be recognized by state and federal agencies. Hope to enlist help of Bob Carter recently moved to the county, employee with VA DHR. Agency has already given verbal support.

3. Obtain extended Scenic River designation – to extend the area of scenic designation already given to the rockfish to include area within S. Rockfish.

4. Data Base building and preparation for late fall “first annual giving campaign”.

5. Spring Fling Kite flying family day. Partnered with state and national kite flying organizations. Spring 2009.

6. Plein Air Paint Out Fall 2009; planning committee identified

Grant prospects

Berkeley foundation – Dog Agility Park

Nelson Fund – people exercise stations – People Agility Park

Oak Hill fund, CACF and others – Environmental workshop

________________________________________________________________________

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce Charlotte Rea, a retired Army Colonel.. She and I became acquainted when she volunteered at the concept phase to help organize theCBR MN Chapter. We went thru the class together with her literally creating it and the chapter from A-Z. I believe if the RVF is to realize its potential we need to do two things – have a person to guide us organizationally and make sure we have the right Board of Trustees. Charlotte has agreed to attempt the former and I will be nominating Paul Davis, Chip Morgan and Hank Gibb as additional Trustees bringing the total to 12.

I firmly believe we are moving from the entrepreneurial phase of a one man show to the development phase of this organization. Our Mission is clear and our opportunity pretty good. At the meeting we will consider instituting active committees and considering goals for an annual campaign. The Foundation’s 501c3 permanent public status review is Spring 2009. If only money grew on trees!

 NEWS RELEASE VirginiaDOT.org

CONTACT: Paula K. Jones (434) 856-8176 Sept. 6, 2005paula.jones@VDOT.Virginia.gov

ROCKFISH RIVER RESTORATION MOVING FORWARD

LYNCHBURG – Along two miles of the South Fork of the Rockfish River in Nelson County, the land appears scarred and barren but things are, as we know., not always as they seem. The dump trucks, backhoes and bulldozers that have rumbled through this mostly peaceful area since early June are, in reality, there to make things better.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has been helping this stretch of the South Fork of the Rockfish River to return to a more natural state. In addition, the work has been done to offset damage done to several streams in Amherst County during the construction of the U. S. 29 Bypass of Madison Heights, as is permissible by regulation.

The goal of the approximately $1.4 million project is to lengthen and slow down the stream and to bring it back into one single channel. Over years the stream has been changed through various human actions and acts of nature. To improve what time has caused, crews have been busy laying back the slopes along some sections of the 11,000-foot project. In addition, vanes of large rock have been erected at various spots to create pools. These pools will help in times of flooding and serve as home for native fish.

Once this initial work is complete, VDOT and its contractor will prepare for the planting of about 22,000 native tree seedlings along the river banks to help stabilize the ground further and create a more natural area.

Over twenty area property owners participated in the program by allowing conservation easements. Many of the residents have taken an active interest in the project and have looked forward to seeing the changes that are creating the “new” river.

The Friends of the Rockfish Watershed and the Agelasto Family are offering tours of the Rockfish River restoration project on the Agelasto property and Phase One of the Rockfish Valley Loop Trail. The public is invited to join them at the intersection of Route 151 and the South Fork of the Rockfish River (1.5 miles south of Nellysford) in Nelson County on Saturday, September 17 between 10:00 a.m. and Noon or Sunday, September 18 between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.

END

SOUTH FORK ROCKFISH RIVER 

STREAM RESTORATION PROJECT FACT SHEET

Design & Construction Management: VDOT Stream Team

Prime Contractor: Allegheny Construction Company, Roanoke, VA

Sub Contractor – Rock: Cedar Mountain Stone, Culpeper, VA

Sub Contractor – Compost Applications & Tubelings: RSG Landscaping, Rustburg, VA

Sub Contractor – Compost: Royal Oaks Farm, Evington, VA

Construction Time: 4-months @ 50-hour weeks

Approximate Project Cost: $1.4 million

Restoration Length: 11,000 linear feet

Channel Dimensions (at riffle): 32’-34’ wide & 2.2’-2.5’ mean depth

Maximum Pool Depth: 7.5’-8.0’

Reason for Project: To mitigate stream and wetland loss resulting from the construction of the Madison Heights Bypass.

Project Goals: To restore a stable dimension, pattern, and profile to the SF Rockfish River; to provide floodplain access to the river for the 1.5-year return interval storm event; to improve aquatic habitat, to restore riparian buffer, and to minimize livestock access to the river.

Number of Rock Structures (cross vanes & j-hook vanes) & Function: 42 - structures constructed to provide grade control, stream bank protection against erosion, and enhanced aquatic habitat.

Riparian Buffer: Approximately 22,000 tubelings, representing 18 species of native trees and shrubs will be planted. The stream bank will be planted with willow, silky dogwood, viburnum, and elderberry to provide stream bank protection. Further back on the floodplain and on the adjacent terraces will be planted with red maple, green ash, willow and pin oak, black gum, spice bush, sycamore, river birch, and winterberry.

Monitoring: VDOT has a mandatory 7-year monitoring requirement.

Approximately 15,000 linear feet of stream bank has been protected by placement in permanent conservation easements. Several thousand linear feet of stream bank have been removed from livestock access.

The area around the river has been seeded with riparian plants.  Soon 10,000 native trees and shrubs will be planted along the banks.   VDOT is required to maintain and monitor the section for 7 years to ensure it naturalizes correctly.

The river restoration project has recieved a 2005 <a href=”http://www.scenicva.org”>Scenic Virginia</a> award for Most Creative Scenic Improvement.

The Rockfish Valley Loop trail will provide public access to this stretch of river.  Visit often to watch this project unfold over time!

Minutes of Annual Board Meeting - February 10, 2007

Download the 2007 Chariman’s Report

The meeting of The Rockfish Valley Foundation (RVF) Board of Trustees was called to order by the chairman Peter Agelasto at 2:30 p.m, February 10, 2007. Members present were Peter Agelasto, Parker Agelasto, Joe Prueher, Waite Rawls, Michael LeChance, and Chris Gensic. Absent was Peter Agelasto IV.

Mr. Agelasto began the meeting with a discussion of the RVF mission statement. It was decided that the current mission statement was too lengthy and too specific. The mission statement should be divided into “what is the mission?” and then list the goals as bullet points. The new mission statement was approved and a copy filed with these minutes as attachment 1.

Mr. Agelasto gave an overview of initiatives in which RVF was currently involved or which had been undertaken at ELK HILL and on the lands leased to RVF. These include a conservation easement granted to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Virginia Department of Transportation Rockfish River restoration project, the work of the Friends of the Rockfish Watershed, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation Department plans for replanting riparian buffers, the Chesapeake Bay Heritage Foundation warm season grasses plan, the Conservation Services contract to plant 450 trees, recognition of the trail by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Virginia Blue Bird Society, formation of the Central Blue Ridge Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program, UVA student environmental science projects such as geology trail and stream monitoring, the Virginia Adopt-a-stream program, and the Virginia Adopt-a-Highway program. Plans to improve Camille Memorial Park and Spruce Creek Park were outlined. The wish list includes an exercise station trail, kiosks, signage, parking, trail improvements and a permanent community structure. Liability insurance, Trustee and officer coverage and applicable state code provisions were mentioned. Suggestion was made to place an assumption of risk sign at each trail head.

Mr. Agelasto announced the IRS approval of RVF as a 501c3 public foundation, the registration with VA Dept of Consumer Affairs for fundraising and the Department of Taxation for sales tax exemption. Grant requests have been submitted to the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge and to Dave Matthew’s Band BAMA Works Foundation. Grant requests will be filed with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. April and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation on February 16. The following foundations might be approached for additional project funding: Oak Hill, West Wind, Blue Moon, and the Perry Foundation. RVF has been offered four picnic tables and received its first unsolicited donation from the Blue Ridge Sierra Club. Peter Agelasto IV continues to develop the website: www.rockfishvalley.org. Mr. Agelasto also announced that he plans to take a course on QuickBooks for nonprofits in April and Parker Agelasto has agreed to set up the books as Treasurer.

The floor was opened to discussion. Discussion followed.

• The term of the lease between Mr. Agelasto and RVF was discussed. A lease term of 10 years with rights of renewal is currently in place. This might be unacceptable to some grant makers; for example, VA DCR criteria calls for 20 years. Estate planning flexibility was important to the Agelasto family and prescribed the term. Would that deter a donor? Would a potential donor be concerned that support of a specific project would be to “enhance” Elk Hill? In development of the trail system, seeking grants for kiosks, signage, parking and interpretive trail development did not raise this concern. It was stressed that there was a need to consider the term issue but that time and success of the RVF mission would provide the answer. In the mean time some grants may be lost. Also Mr. Agelasto explained that the 15 leased acres sectioned off downstream of the Rockfish River Bridge would be used for RVF activities and could be gifted to RVF in the future. Later in the meeting, it was suggested that some plans and programs could be located at Spruce Creek Park instead of on this parcel.
• The absence of a budget was discussed. It was suggested that RVF use the “mission money matrix” in which one clarifies how close the project is to the mission statement on one side and how much it cost on the other side. It was pointed out that there should be a list of priorities and a time line. Also RVF’s position on priorities versus opportunities was understood to mean you do what you can when you can. Chris Gensic will help further the master plan with a time line priority and dollar matrix. The supported projects or budget items to be included in this matrix include 3 kiosks, directional signs, interpretative signs, crushed rock for 3 parking lots, the trail under RT 151 bridge, entrance gate, bridges over Reid’s Creek, Port o Johns at Spruce Creek Park, picnic tables and dog poop bag stations, Rather than a budget, the approach is operations without expenditures; postponing and deferring items until funding is available. Until the budget evolves there will be no paid staff and maintenance will be done by volunteer workers and Agelasto family contributions. The budget will evolve over time.
• The RVF projects could be broken down between Loop Trail system, Spruce Creek Park, and the 15 acre outdoor class room area. The Rockfish Valley Farm which adjoins the class room area is not part of RVF although it might be connected in the future after successful development and operation of the farm.
• Individual gifts must be sought from the community. What is the potential for Fund raising? A Friends Group or a Membership Drive could be organized. The Friends Group would not feel a need to receive something for their donation but could be part of a mailing list to be sent a schedule of events. A Membership Group would require something for their membership but a membership group would work towards raising money and networking the community. An annual event, such as a BBQ, could be their enticement. However, with both groups, money would have to be spent to send out mailings, requests, invitations, etc. What other ways are there to generate funds? The consensus was to use the website, print media and the kiosks to solicit rather than to establish a membership or fund drive mailing. An emailed newsletter announcing events and seeking support was most practical. There was a discussion about the connection of th e Loop Tral and the adjoining Model Farm.
• There was a discussion about the connection of the Loop Trail and the adjoining Model Farm. Would you need a separate membership to support the Model Farm? How would the Farm be integrated with the Loop Trail and with any educational programs? Would it be hard to solicit funds for the Loop Trail if the Farm was also a part of the RVF? Could a Community Supported Agriculture program be a viable part of the farm? Would the farm lose money? There was discussion about the farm and the Board recognized that, at this time, the work of the farm is not the work of RVF but will proceed on its own and develop its own set of community goals and objectives. It was suggested that the farm develop an exhibit of the legacy of agriculture and Mr. Agelasto stated he would consider a Community Supported Agriculture program.
• It was suggested that RVF revisit the plans for Spruce Creek Park. Perhaps the public structures should be placed at Spruce Creek Park, and the requests for funding from grants could be focused there. It was noted that Spruce Creek Park could easily become a “family park” with a loop trail for biking and for walking. The addition of exercise stations was strongly supported.

• What should be the first priorities of RVF? Three kiosks, directional and interpretive signage and parking improvements were the top priority. A central display describing where to go on the trail is important. It was suggested that RVF buy a router and a template for signs and partner with the high school students to make wood signs for the trail. (Ed McCann would be the high school contact.) Perhaps a grant request could be written for this. A grant request is outstanding for signage along a geology trail and UVA students are doing the research and design. The signs should be compatible to the landscape and attention made not to “clutter” the landscape with signs. The DCR grant should include a request to the state for a brown highway signs designating the trail. A second immediate need would be to complete the bridges to cross Reid’s Creek to expand the trail experience.
• Specific rules for the trail were discussed: “Dogs must be under your control.”

Tails opened from “dawn to dusk.” Camping would only be allowed to significant supporters. Trail etiquette signage should be developed and the Piney River sign was referenced.

• It was determined that permanent toilets are not necessary. It will be much easier and cheaper to rent Port a Johns for the summer use of the trail or for events at Spruce Creek Park. That will be tried this summer. Funding will come from Wintergreen Country Store Land Trust which owns the land leased for Spruce Creek Park.
• It was suggested that RVF ask Peter Agelasto IV to enhance the website so that general unrestricted donations can be made with a check or with a credit card. The website could be referenced on the signage on all Trail kiosks.
• The possibility of the Farmer’s Market at Spruce Creek Park should be pursued. There is no immediate need to offer to provide a permanent structure for the Farmer’s Market; instead the Farmer’s Market if relocated could continue use of a tent as it currently does. (Note: During the afternoon visit to Spruce Creek Park, various locations of the Farmer’s Market were discussed. Concerns for parking, road visibility and road noise were considered. The choice should be the Farmer’s Market Board but the RVF Board felt a market would be best on the highway frontage and not back off Glenthorn Loop. As use of Spruce Creek Park develops, permanent buildings to be used for events, etc. can be discussed for the open area of Spruce Creek Park.
• “Postponing and deferring” is the best way to go. By doing this, the Board can learn better the needs of the Loop Trail and Spruce Creek Park and would know best the way to spend funds available.

At the end of the meeting, it was pointed out again that the Board should work to find ways to “enhance the experience” of the Loop Trail and Spruce Creek Park and look for a connection to the Model Farm as it develops. They should find ways to finance opportunities to fund projects and educational opportunities at these sites. And most importantly, the Board should help the RVF set an example seen by the community of being good stewards of the land and of sharing the assets of the beautiful Rockfish Valley with those that live within and visit.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Rawls Agelasto

Recording Secretary

LILLY was born May 11, 2005. She arrived at the Rockfish Vally in June 2005. She is the mascott of the Rockfish Valley Foundation. She has spend the winter at her barn on the East side of the highway at Rockfish Valley Farm with her Friends Bambi and Buddy. She will move to her summer home on the West side of Rt 151 as soon as her sheep arrive.

The Chairman reported that the Rockfish Valley Loop Trail system has been mowed. The Camille Memorial Trail Head parking has stabilized. It seems as many as 100 are using that section of the trail each week.

We have come a long way with maps and signage and the website. More and better signage and trail directions are a priority but until fencing is installed , issues will remain. Laminated maps have been added and trail maps printed. The Kiosk at Spruce Creek Park was updated with a large aerial map and other information. A permanent map along with many other enhancements awaits grant funding.

Our Virginia Blue Bird Trail is being monitored weekly by volunteers under the direction of Millie Colella. More than 50 bluebirds have fledged. Bird houses will be increased from 21 currently as soon as the fencing project is completed. Two bat boxes were received from Chris. The Volunteer system is working well. A special note of thanks to Pete Gatje for his outstanding leadership. John Hauser from Rockbridge plans to start fencing in July. This major project supported in part by funds from VDOT, CREP and Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District and will define the trail and create pastures for livestock. David Magann is waiting to put in his well and extend our alternative water source to pastures.

The loop trails run along the Rockfish River and Reid’s Creek as well as Glenthorne Loop and the Rockfish Valley Highway. All Contiguous waterways and roads have been adopted through various State Agency programs and volunteers have done several clean ups. Our volunteer system is growing. VDOT is nearing completion of its repair to the river project and will watch the structures for years to come. There was considerable damage from a storm event last November. The stream should be even more stable and attractive as the result of this second effort.

Signage is important and tells a story of what is what. The VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has recognized our birding trail and signage is being installed on Rt 151. We have signs recognizing the Conservation Easement granted to Virginia Outdoor Foundation and the Virginia Blue Bird Trail signs have been received. Signs for recognition of the Virginia Adopt a Stream program for the South Fork of the Rockfish River and Reid’s Creek are expected in weeks from the Commonwealth of VA Dept of Conservation and Recreation. VDOT Adopt a Highway signs are in place. The advertising of the trails improvement grant from VA Dept of Conservation and Recreation has been delayed until around July 1 but since there is no word from the Internal Revenue Service as to issuance of the 501c3 status, the delay is not too bad. The number of applications is large as a result Katrina. In the interim, Virginia Organizing Project, with offices in Chalottesville, Virginia has agreed to serve as a conduit for funds received from successful grant applications in the meantime.

We are excited about the potential of The Master Naturalist Program here and a feasibility study is progressing. Check out virginiamasternaturalist.org. A decision should be clear before the end of July. Local partnerships and a new hire by Nelson 4-H will make a difference. We are getting great support from Michelle Prysby out of the Charlottesville headquarters of MN and our board member, Michael Lachance is working closely with us on the feasibility study. Most likely there will be a public forum once a decision is made and the Coordinating Committee formed. The mission of MN fits well with our mission and we have seen much community interest for the program already. Our site seems perfect for the program and we are seeking additional partners.

A warm season grasses project with Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage is planned for the spring. Switch grass as well as blended warm season grasses will allow for habitat studies and serve as a border for the trails along Reid’s Creek and the Rockfish River. Resources and plans for egg laying chickens and beef cattle for the model farm are also coming into focus. We will pursue a 4-H project for the chickens.

On a personal note, it is very gratifying to see the number of person on the trails. After the fencing is complete it will be appropriate to publish limitations and trail etiquette rules. We received our first cash gift January 29,2006 from the Blue Ridge Sierra Club and recently were offered 3 picnic tables for the trail heads by an individual who had walked the trail. He has expressed interest to become more involved later this year and we look forward to that. There have been a great number of positive comments and it is obvious that the loop trail system is serving a need that had gone unsupported in Nelson County and the Rockfish Valley in particular. More volunteers and support are welcome.

Respectfully,

Peter A. Agelasto III
June 2006

The VDOT work along the Rockfish is winding down. Their project cost is close to $2,000,000. The field work for the “as built” survey along the two miles of reconstructed Rockfish River was completed this week and there are about 250 marked stakes along the river trail. By the end of the year this survey will have been put on paper and we will have a copy. It will include cross sections, elevations and location of conservation easement boundaries.

The FENCE project is 95% complete and is over 1.5 miles of board and woven wire fencing. The trail is now more easily identified as being between the fences and the waterways. We are in bad need of signage however. We do have signs to post: Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Birding Trail, VA. Blue Bird Society Trail, Virginia Outdoor Foundation Conservation easement, Adopt A Stream for both Rockfish and Reid’s Creek, and after December 6, 2006 brass plaques that acknowledge the registration of the farm and buildings with VA Department of Historic Resources and U.S. Department of Interior. ELK HILL will join the Old Wintergreen Country Store at Spruce Creek Park trail head as an historic property registered in the Rockfish Valley. It joins River Bluff (circa 1795) which received this designation over a decade ago.

Visitation is beyond expectation even with the lack of signage. I estimate 100 persons a week and maybe 20 dogs. Problems are minimal. Knock on wood. We have our public foundation letter from the IRS and are a 501c3 eligible for tax deductible gifts. Our volunteer system is started but needs energy. We fledged 57 bluebirds and countless other birds from our trail boxes. Plans are underway for planting of riparian buffer areas with 300 trees in February and I will report more on that.

Plans for the Virginia Master Naturalist Chapter have reached the point that the Rockfish Valley Foundation as the initiating partner has coordinated and will attend the meeting to propose The Central Blue Ridge Chapter on October 18th, confirm a name for the proposed chapter, form the local coordinating committee, and petition the State Steering committee for approval. First training course could be Fall 2007. If you have not done so please learn more about VMN program at virginiamasternaturalist.org. This is a great concept, successful in a dozen other states and a perfect fit for our mission.

A Board of Trustees annual meeting needs to be held. An added impetus is our successful bid at a silent auction for The Wintergreen Nature Foundation of a dinner for 14 prepared by Chef Ellen English. It will be a treat to have her at Elk Hill. A meeting in November or early December would be great but I suspect it will be near impossible to get a date available to all. Let’s shoot for January when the air will be nippy … a work agenda could include burning several debris piles and bundling up for trail tours.

The VA Department of Conservation and Recreation Grant timing is back on track. I am advised it might be posted for January applications. We will seek $60,000 and it is very competitive. If we are awarded funds we could acquire ECO toilets at two trail heads ($15000 each), kiosks, maps, signage, trail maps, bridge improvements and last but not least a multi step exercise system at Spruce Creek Park. The grant requires a partial match. We already have an offer of picnic tables and a cash gift which will help there.

Our initiatives at the University of Virginia are moving slowly in the Department of Environmental Science. We have the Eco Club undertaking a small project this term and promises for two faculty members with larger projects next term. Top on our list is a Geology Trail and interpretative kiosk and markers for the geology of the valley, the water courses and Hurricane Camille.

There are a number of policy issues and plans to be discussed and determined at the annual meeting:

1. Friend raising for volunteers and fund raising with an annual fund
event
2. Areas for dogs on leash
3. Hours of access
4. Rules, picnic tables; special events such as a kite flying event, night sky star gazing, and a 5K run.
5. Plan to enlarge the trail system as conceived.
6. T-Shirt design and review of website. Son Peter and his staff are working to update the web site now.
7. Intern for 2007. Our internships for the last two years were a big help.
8. Birding Trail improvements

The idea for the annual meeting is for the eight Trustees to meet each other, enjoy a celebration dinner, visit the project and take trail tours as well as undertake some business. We will send out some dates in the near future. If anyone already has void weekends in January please let me know.

Respectfully Submitted,

Peter A. Agelasto III
Chairman
Rockfish Valley Foundation

The future of the trail system and utilization of the Rockfish Valley as a laboratory and educational venue depends on the success of 4 grants that are being sought. Each grant will add a critical block to the wall of success and although independent, each builds on the other. It is appropriate that the first grant application goes to the Community Foundation of the Blue Ridge which raises funds here in Nelson and funds worthwhile projects in Nelson County as well as Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro. A grant of $4000 is being sought for a kiosk, trail map at the Camille Trail Head and signage to mark the trails along the Rockfish The lack thereof is the major deficiency of the trail system.

The second application will be to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation for $4000 and BamaWorks for $3000. The former grant would allow us to tell the story of Hurricane Camille which devastated this area and took the lives of two people at the Trail Head. The project would include a Department of Historic Resources Highway Marker and geologic interpretive materials along the trail and at the kiosk relating to Camille. The geology trail would be funded by the BAMA Works grant and would feature a rock collection of indigenous rocks and interpretative signage along the trail which would present the geologic history and formation of the Rockfish Valley, the Rockfish Fault and plate tectonics. The research and design is being done by two students of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Virginia for class credit. Members of the Environmental Club at UVA are undertaking a year of monitoring 11 miles of the Rockfish River, which has been listed as an impaired stream in Virginia. This is being done in coordination with the VA Department of Environmental Quality and the Nelson County Service Authority which operates the Wintergreen Treatment Plant. The goal of this project is to identify hot spots along the Rockfish and to be chosen for a DEQ monitoring program for 2008. Grants will be sought in future years to clean up waste water problems in Nellysford and Beech Grove. The loop trail system will bring awareness to the situation and build support for the solutions.

In February 2007 a fourth grant will be applied for through the VA Department of Conservation and Recreation in the amount of $60,000. 00. This large and important grant would be used for environmental toilets at the Camille Trail Head and the Spruce Creek park Trail Head, an exercise station trail, and improvements to parking areas, additional signage and further development of the trail system.

The lack of access for the public to enjoy the beauty and environment of the county has been a big problem. Hopefully our projects will encourage others to provide access to waterways, trails and picnic spots.

The second item to report on is proposals for interesting events in 2007. Your chairman and Michael Lachance, a Trustee of the Foundation and chapter advisor to the proposed Central Blue Ridge Chapter of the new VA Master Naturalist Program, will attend a two day conference in January with representatives of other founding chapters. Our initiative to create the Central Blue Ridge Chapter lead to a partnership between the Rockfish Valley Foundation, The Wintergreen Nature Foundation, Nature Camp, Wildlife Center of Virginia and the U S Forest Service/ Blue Ridge Parkway and Sherando Lake and others to form the chapter. The first class with its 40 hour natural science curriculum would occur in the fall of 2007. Land adjoining the loop trails is available as class room, laboratory and environmental site and a place where graduates of the program could give their future volunteer time. Other events to be discussed at the upcoming annual meeting of the Trustees include a Paint Out in partnership with Spruce Creek Gallery, a Walk A Thon extending upstream and around the valley as a special fundraising event, a kite flying family day and an evening of starry nights and camp fire songs. 2007 promises to be a watershed (pun intended) year for the Rockfish Valley Foundation. I must add that all hinges on the success of the grant process which is not guaranteed to say the least. All the grants are very competitive but we feel we have a very compelling story. Funding would have a major impact on rural tourism and community building in one of the most special parts of the state of Virginia.

The last thing I should mention is the expansion of the VA Blue Bird Society Trails. Added bird houses and volunteers are identified. Almost 3 dozen houses will be monitored in 2007. This VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries recognized trail has come a long way since its dedication by Connie Brennan and David Whitehurst of DGIF in September 2005. A bird sanctuary may be proposed for the S. Rockfish Valley as well and already the annual County butterfly count takes place along part of the trail. Other initiatives and programs are under way or being considered and all of this will be possible if the grant applications are successful. We have our fingers crossed.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter A. Agelasto III

PS. Just yesterday we decided to create a special section of the website for posting historic photos of the South Rockfish Valley. We are looking for photos. With the registration of ELK HILL and the old Wintergreen Country Store as historic landmarks, there is more awareness of the great agricultural past of the South Rockfish Valley. It is hoped that local residents will provide photos and enjoy seeing those posted by others. I have been told the area would qualify as an historic district and it appears that more than a dozen other dwellings and farms are eligible for recognition. Stay tuned.

Signage still remains inadequate. However, the Camille Historic Marker is now installed by the parking area and soon DGIF will provide birding trail signs north and south of the trail head. No definite word when VDOT will put the base stone on the parking area, but drainage problems were reduced during the renovation of the compacted construction roadway in the fields which adjoin the trail.

TRAIL BRIDGES. Recent trail improvements include the decking of both Reid Creek bridges. Matthew Wood and his crew did fine work. David Morris, a retired UVA professor of engineering, contributed structural advice and visited the bridges after completion. I am happy to say we structurally overbuilt the bridges and the completed bridges have made the loop trail accessible to anyone. Funding came from the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.

INVASIVES. The river restoration project unleashed invasive plant populations including garlic mustard, thistles, lespedeza and spotted knot weed. The Central Blue Ridge Master Naturalist Chapter volunteers have spent nearly 50 hours eradicating invasives. I have spent an additional 50 or more hours doing the same. The job will take several years but work continues. Invasives crowd out native plants along the Rockfish and Reid’s Creek. They are also a problem in the warm season grass project. Some additional effort seems required in that area.

BIRDING. This is our number 1 success story. Our birding committee consists of Tim Hodge, Allen Hale, Paul Davis, Jeff Trolinger, Marshall Feintich, Millie Collela and myself. We are developing a bird walk schedule for the fall. Bird walks have taken place; Marshall’s fabulous photos are posted on his website and will be linked to the RVF website; and a list of species that have been sighted is posted on the kiosk. Guest bird hike leaders and enhanced habitat are all in the works. Paul Davis and his blue bird boxes were featured in Nelson County Life. It is a great committee and we have a very important birding trail.

Additionally, the birth of over 100 birds in the 42 Blue Bird trail boxes has been a success that will surely be exceeded. You have not seen anything until you see the face of a youngster who is shown the babies being tended by their mothers.

Less, you think the birding committee does not have enough going on, there is discussion about creation of a bird sanctuary in the Valley. Not only are we interested but we have the support of several adjacent neighborhoods. It is safe to say this will happen. It just takes time and energy.

PASTURE COMPACTION. Unfortunately, heavy equipment during the river restoration compacted the soil inside the sheep pasture and upstream along the Rockfish River. Renovation has been completed with rock removal and soil additions but the upstream trail is currently closed to allow the new seed mixture to take hold. When the trail is re-opened, dogs may be allowed only on a leash upstream of the bridge or with specific permission. Dogs will continue to be allowed off leash downstream even though that impacts birding. That too may change.

EAST HAY FIELD RENOVATION. The Reid’s Creek trail borders the 43 acre field. This field is being renovated through a series of crop plantings. Recently the first crop – winter wheat – was harvested. It was a bumper crop of 181 bales of wheat and 35 bales of fescue/orchard grass. Sudan grass will be planted next and harvested in July. Later a hay mix of orchard grass, timothy, clover and rye will be planted in early fall. We have had the advice and support of Augusta Farm Co-op and several laboratories for soil sampling and plant study. We expect the hay field to become the best it can be with the first crop in 2009. After that crop is cut, we will consider adding a one mile loop around that field and connect it to the trail head at the bridge. This field is also an option for the proposed spring 2009 kite flying event. Planning will begin for that once a committee is formed.

SPRUCE CREEK PARK DEVELOPMENT. Louie’s Place, a dog park, has two hurdles to overcome. The first is zoning which the County says must be changed to allow a dog park. The second is funding. Initial efforts to seek a commitment for a challenge grant were not successful. This status and future options will be discussed by the Dog Park committee. A Croquet Court development is underway. Stan Driver has been improving the site, and Hank Gibb and I visited a court in Charlottesville and discussed turf and nutrient options with the owner and his grounds’ keeper. A plan should be determined in the next weeks and play on the court start in the near future. Work is currently being done to make the turf better and to build interest.

CAPACITY BUILDING, PUBLIC RELATIONS and EVENTS. Our first Starry Night was held on May 16^th and the efforts of Charlottesville Astronomical Society were much appreciated. They are good teachers and have incredible equipment. A second event will be planned for the fall. Thanks in particular go to local residents David Miller and John Avallone. We learned a lot during and after – in particular that publicity is critical and that there is much interest in regular star watch events in the Rockfish Valley. Michael McConkey contributed camp fire music. This should become a signature event for the community.

Charlotte Rae and I are working hard to create a publicity template for events. It will be used for the bird walks and starry night program in the fall and the kite event next spring. In the interim we will seek a major story on Rockfish Valley Foundation in the local press.

MASTER PLAN AND BROCHURE. We are so fortunate to have McKee Carson providing certain pro bono services for development of a Master Plan and for laying out a much needed brochure with a trail map. We are indebted to Hunter McCardle and Eugene Ryang for their guidance and work. We must also acknowledge with deep gratitude a recent unsolicited gift of $1000 which will help defray printing of a 6 panel brochure. This will be included in the mailing for the Fall Community Fund Drive. It will also be available, hopefully by September, for visitors to the trail.

FALL COMMUNITY FUND DRIVE. A request to the community to support operations, events and trail development is necessary. The bridges provide naming opportunities to bring in funds to support events, operations and trail development. For example, the pedestrian bridge could be named by a donor of a $5000 gift and the vehicular bridge named with a $10,000 gift. The cost of the two was nearly $10,000. Kiosks can be named, trails can be named. We are also considering an annual party at ELK HILL for donors of more than $250. I will need your input on how to design and undertake this campaign. Specific projects will be identified and funds sought to complete them.

OTHER ITEMS. Picnic tables are being delivered as a gift to the Foundation. The web site is being refreshed and redesigned by Bluewall LLC. No grant filings are planned until 2009 but hopefully, the master plan will prioritize and identify that direction.

FUTURE PLANS. The feasibility of a Community Water Summit is being considered. I am meeting with several other non profits and foundations to consider this. The concept would be a community facilitated workshop focused on both ground and surface water issues in the Rockfish Valley. Several desired outcomes have been identified and we will have a discussion with potential partners in the next several months. The Community Water Summit would be held in late winter.

Our ability to reach out to others and to partner in our undertakings is important and has been successful. Earl Swift , Stephan Bechtel, our local supervisors, geologists and environmentalists, heads of other Nelson groups – we have been and we need to continue working with all of them. An example of this is our intention to dedicate the Camille historic marker on August 19. Please mark it on your calendar. We may keep it low key or we may bring in someone to speak from the VA Dept of Historic Resources to comment on the area and our plan for an historic district in the South Rockfish Valley. Already our committee of Russ Reid, Bob Carter and Elizabeth Richardson has done research, viewed the area and put the concept into an action plan.

We are proud to be one of the initiating partners of the The Central Blue Ridge Master Naturalist Chapter. Through its volunteers and programs, more environmental activities will take place on the Foundation lands. In August we will apply for a DEQ grant for water monitoring equipment. It will permit us to continue our education on water quality in the Valley.

In closing, we must seek operation and development funds from the community in order to accomplish our mission to enhance the trails, the website, the programs and events we know are important. Capacity building is the key, volunteers are critical to all our efforts, and the growth of Rockfish Valley Foundation dictates that we seek financial support from the community in order to grow our success.

As usual, we appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Peter A. Agelasto III

Founding chairman, Rockfish Valley Foundation

The last year has been an eventful time for the Rockfish Valley Foundation.

I thought what I would do is prepare a summary and send it out before the board meeting.

It’s organized with some of the highlights of the past 12 months, a calendar of sorts followed by future plans:

1. Biggest success of 2007 – we were the initiating partner in creation of Central Blue Ridge Master Naturalist Chapter. (Both Betsy and I graduated in the first class of 20 people. It is already a success. It would not happen without the efforts of Michael Lachance and Charlotte Rae. Charlotte has agreed to become something of the organizational leader for the foundation contributing a few hours each week. More about that later.

2. Biggest surprise – it is a tie: receipt of two significant individual and unsolicited gifts which are being used for trail head development and birding trail development and the chairman being asked to serve on the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation Board.

3. Biggest disappointment: grant rejection by VA Department of Conservation and recreation. Propose to reapply and we may be in a far better position.

4. Biggest challenge – organizing and implementing invasive plant project to begin this spring. More than ½ dozen volunteers from Master Naturalist program. All have taken a workshop. VDOT has a commitment but no plan. They will adopt our plan if we have one. Resources include Virginia DCR, DEQ as well as VDOT, Ruth Douglas and others from Ivy Creek, books, pamphlets etc. We need a plan.

5. Biggest investment: VDOT completion of river work – field remediation from equipment compaction and stream edge planting. Also Nelson county Service Authority restoration of 40 acre pasture – you will see winter wheat growing. Spreading of biosolids has been terminated. Field requires extensive work over 12 moths to restore and balance the field to acceptable level of hay production.

6. Most exciting current project: Update of map and master planning opportunity. Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission employee, Cory Anderson, is creating a new map and has also been retained on a piece work basis by RVF. He and Charlotte will be participating in the visit by McKee Carson landscape planners from Charlottesville. If that goes well I shall ask them to make a presentation to the board. Goal: succes