Blog Posts

Land Trusts: for People and Nature

3/5/2018

Photo by Tom Earnhardt

--by Chuck Roe
Private land trusts are on the front lines in defending and advocating for the protection of the most extraordinary natural areas and ecological treasures in the southern U.S. Beyond landowners, no one is more important than private land trusts and conservancies in safeguarding our natural heritage.
I compose this essay in reaction to reading the recently adopted Land Trust Alliance (LTA) Strategic Plan for 2018-22. That plan and its proposed action steps are meritorious, ambitious, and logical in progressive evolution from the national association’s previous strategic plan. But I see a glaring omission in the LTA Plan’s introductory statement of purpose for the land trusts of America . . . >Read more HERE.

0 Comments

NC & VA renew partnership to protect second largest estuary in North America

2/16/2018

0 Comments

Against a backdrop of mutual challenges in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary from climate change and budget shortfalls, an updated partnership between Virginia and North Carolina is starting to flex its collaborative muscle with important border-blind issues: wetlands, algal blooms, and fish travel. A memorandum of understanding signed late last year paves the way. This article by Catherine Kozak from the Coastal Review Online tells the story . . . READ HERE.

Photo by Tom Earnhardt

0 Comments

Nature Needs Half: E.O. Wilson Sparks a Movement to Conserve Our Largest Landscape

11/10/2017

0 Comments

--by Brenda Barrett
On October 23, 2017 conservationists gathered at National Geographic headquarters for an event called "Half Earth Day." Held six months after Earth Day, the "half"-themed event highlighted renowned biologist, naturalist, and author E.O. Wilson's big idea that fully half the planet must be declared protected marine and land habitats in order to save 80 percent of the world's species. This is landscape scale conservation at its most ambitious -- at the planetary level. READ MORE.

0 Comments

Torpedoes in Our Clean Water

10/24/2017

0 Comments

--by Bobby Whitescarver. Note: A different version of this essay was published as an OPED piece distributed by the Bay Journal News Service on October 17, 2017. Read that article here.

The Clean Water Act is now 45 years old, born in the U.S. Congress on October 18, 1972. Sometime before that date, the river of my childhood – the Roanoke River in southwestern Virginia – had been declared a fire hazard because of pollution.

I learned to water-ski on that river, or rather on one of the manmade lakes along its winding path. It was 1965 and I remember one of those skiing lessons in particular. Dad was the spotter, and his friend George was the driver. I jumped in the water and waited for the handles of the ski rope. When the tips of my skis were up and my butt down, I yelled, “forward!” As the boat began pulling me, I saw banana peels and “floaters” – human waste – drifting past. I was ten years old, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. “Hit it,” I shouted, now doubly motivated to get up and out of the water.

America now has perhaps the best wastewater treatment in the world. . . .

0 Comments

In Sympathy and Response to Recent Storms

9/13/2017

0 Comments

Our hearts go out to all the communities recently impacted by catastrophic hurricanes and floods. The magnitude of devastation is shocking. Many of us are contributing to disaster relief funds, and wondering what more we can do. As climate change contributes to more intense storm events, there will be increased need for land conservation and water protection groups to be involved in community-based disaster preparedness and emergency response, and also in proactive conservation planning and public education to reduce vulnerabilities to flood and storm disasters. Many land and water conservation groups already are collaborating across sectors to build resilient ecological and social systems that mitigate the impact of natural disasters before they occur.
--Chuck Roe, President, Southern Conservation Partners

0 Comments

Caring about Nature

6/5/2017

0 Comments

Findings of the new “The Nature of Americans” study are disturbing and challenging, if we believe that a thriving and appreciated natural environment is crucial to the quality of life, health, well-being, prosperity, and productivity of Americans. Employing focus group, online, and in-person surveys conducted in 2015 and 16, the study found that “profound changes are occurring in the American public’s connections to nature, the outdoors, and wildlife. Participation in traditional nature-based recreation is stagnant or declining, Americans are spending more time indoors, and they are using electronic media more than ever before.”
Our work and mission to protect and restore environmental assets, natural resources, and recreational opportunities in nature depend upon community support and a caring public. If the American public stops caring, our environmental stewardship goals will not be attainable.
But the report also offers hope and action recommendations for reconnecting people to nature–-especially youth and future generations. The study confirms that despite many societal forces contributing to disconnection between people and nature, Americans of all backgrounds continue to recognize the value and importance of nature to their lives and desire to have nature-based experiences.
READ MORE about the major findings and recommendations for action presented by “The Nature of Americans” study.