Summer! Read about our latest work in NVCT's July newsletter.
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        Northern Virginia Conservation Trust

    Saving Nearby Nature                           July 2017
"Sunset at Lake Accotink," Photo by Christopher Berry - clearlanding.com   
Winning photographer in NVCT's 2016 Nearby Nature Photo Contest   
 News                                               Why nearby nature matters
Can you spot the great blue heron?
Summer in the Heronry
looking for herons
nesting herons
Great blue herons are magnificent birds, with wingspans of 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 feet, and an ability to cruise at 20 to 30 miles an hour. While great blue herons hunt alone, they typically nest in colonies. NVCT owns one of the largest nesting sites in the Chesapeake area, the Potomac Creek Heronry in Stafford County, and the photos above are from a recent visit. The nests, made from sticks and other woody material, can be as big as four feet wide and three feet deep, and are perched 80 to 100 feet up in the tree canopy.
arial view of Chesapeake
Where do you live in the watershed?
Did you know that all of NVCT's service area is within the Chesapeake Bay watershed? More than 100,000 streams, creeks, and rivers thread through the watershed and form an intricate web that connects each of us and our communities to the Bay.  
 
Trivia Question: Four of the five largest rivers in the Chesapeake watershed are in Virginia. Can you name them? Scroll down in this link for the answer, and learn about the sub-watershed where you live:
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/baywatershed
PRIME intern Tony cuellar
High school intern learns about the land
Tony Cuellar, a high junior and PRIME intern from Yorktown High School, is spending a month at the Trust, experiencing land conservation from the ground up. "Being an intern at NVCT has already taught me many neat things about land management and conservation," he says. "It gives me an amazing experience in the work world that will not be forgotten!" 
Tubes protect growing trees
Tree planting helps protect our streams
Land--and conserved land in particular--plays a critical role in protecting water quality. Many conservation easements help keep our drinking water clean by providing buffers along stream banks. On this 85-acre Loudoun County farm protected by an NVCT conservation easement, the landowner converted pasture to forest land by planting more than 3,000 trees along the stream. As the saplings grow into large trees, they will filter pollutants, and they will provide wildlife habitat. The plantings are part of a mitigation bank site program that will generate financial stream compensation credits for unavoidable environmental impacts occurring elsewhere in the Northern Virginia area. 
What we've see on the land                   Saving nearby nature
NVCT display    Farm easement Alexandria
A look around the region (L - R):  Parking lot chalking at our Mom's Organic Market display in Alexandria; urban conservation protecting natural land in Alexandria; conserved land in Prince William County .
We value your support! It's because of you the Trust can continue Saving Nearby Nature. Consider being a "Steward of the Land" as a monthly donor.link to donate page
Please contact us with any questions about the Trust and our work
703-354-5093  |  4022-A Hummer Rd. Annandale, VA 22003  | email [email protected]