Policy on the #NNK

Celebrating First Day outside is a great way to start the year. State parks and other public spaces provide a wide range of outdoor activities. And don’t forget small, local town parks. Belle Isle State Park (1632 Belle Isle Rd, Lancaster) Explore Belle Isle : Information about the myriad activities available at the park are available from the camp store. Activities include park pack adventures, biking, hiking and picture taking, and boating (in season). First Day Hike , 9:00-11:00 am: “Celebrate the new year with friends, family and furry companions at Belle Isle State Park’s First Day Hike. We will take a leisurely walk on the wooded Camp Spur and White Oak Swamp Trails while we think about our intentions for 2024. Join us after the hike for light refreshments, a cozy campfire and personal goal setting ceremony. Parking fees are waived on January 1st!” First Day Hike - The Quiet One , 1:00-2:00 pm: “Our second First Day Hike is a little more on the quiet side for an...

There’s a new sub-reddit: r/NNK_Life . Sub is for those who live, visit, and/or love the Northern Neck, Virginia, USA. Talk about wildlife, boat hacks, fishing wisdom, local topics, beautiful sunsets, waterman stories, seafood, kayaking, whatever, as long as it is inclusive of our members and doesn’t divide our audience. Leave religion, and politics for another social group. There are plenty of places for that dialog. thanks and enjoy our community :) To post and comment, you’ll need a Reddit account and will have to join the sub.

Chesapeake Legal Alliance (CLA) has filed a petition for rulemaking to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to save menhaden and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. CLA worked with a number of fishing and conservation groups on the petition which “lays out the blueprint for ‘how’ and ‘why’ the agency should be acting.” (Source: Press Release: CLA Files Petition for Rulemaking to Save Menhaden and Bay Ecosystem ) The 42-page petition, available online at CLA Files Petition for Rulemaking in Menhaden Case , sets forth a robust description of the current situation as well as specific recommendations to address this dire situation. VMRC has noticed the petition . The notice identifies five requests by the petitioners Chesapeake Legal Alliance (David Reed) and Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization: Enact a moratorium in the Bay: Set a precautionary moratorium on purse seine landings by the menhaden reduction fleet within the Chesapeake Bay. Require no less than...

Paid internships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are a great way for college students to explore potential career paths. Our summer interns work with NOAA experts for roughly 12 weeks during the summer. They contribute to NOAA’s mission, gain valuable experience, boost their resumes, and try out a potential science career. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office is teaming up with the Chesapeake Research Consortium to offer five Chesapeake-focused internships through two separate internship programs in summer 2024. These paid internships will run from mid-May through mid-August. Applications are due by January 28, 2024. The Ches Bay opportunities are Fish Ecology Intern, Environmental Literacy—Workgroup Intern, Field Technician Intern, Environmental Literacy—Climate Intern, and Partnerships and Engagement Intern. The Partnerships and Engagement Intern has a local focus. This intern will collaborate with organizations in the Choptank Habitat Focus Area on M...

Introduced by R. Lee Ware (chief patron): HB 19 Atlantic menhaden; VIMS, et al., to study ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Marine Resources Commission; study of ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of Atlantic menhaden; report. Directs the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in collaboration with the Marine Resources Commission and certain stakeholders, as provided in the bill, to conduct a three-year study of the ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of the Atlantic menhaden population in the waters of the Commonwealth. The bill requires VIMS to provide a report on its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources no later than October 1, 2027. Virginia Mercury ’s Charlie Paullin covered the prev...

The Department of Environmental Quality is accepting comments on Virginia’s Draft Chesapeake Bay 2024-2025 Milestones. Comments are due December 19 . According to the public notice , Virginia is committed to setting and working towards two-year Milestones to improve water quality in accordance with the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). These milestones are part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) accountability framework designed to ensure that the nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment allocations of the TMDL will be met. All the documents and information about submitting comments are on Virginia Townhall website, link above. DEQ states that the draft milestones “will be submitted to EPA no later than January 16, 2024 and will be available on DEQ’s Chesapeake Bay Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Milestones webpage .” Photo: Gordon Leggett / Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

TSR (Tropical Storm Risk) predicts the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will be “very active with activity about 30% above the 1991-2020 30-year norm and around 50% above the long-term 1950-2023 norm.” (source: email announcing forecast) According to the forecast summary, page 1 of Extended Range Forecast for North Atlantic Hurricane Activity in 2024 (PDF): This forecast has high uncertainty due to uncertainty in how warm the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea sea surface temperatures will be in August-September 2024 and by how much this will influence the strength of the Caribbean trade winds. The organization’s specific forecast is shown in the image below. TSR’s forecast update for the 2024 North Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be made Monday April 8, 2024. Sign up for TSR Alerts and Seasonal Forecasts .

Virginia Mercury has reported the proposed addition of 12 plants to the state’s noxious weeds list. Learn all about it: “Virginia proposes adding 12 plants, including kudzu, to noxious weeds list” . Of the 12, nine have been found on the NNK: Two-horned trapa, garlic mustard, Chinese yam, autumn olive, bicolor lespedeza, Japanese honeysuckle, common reed, kudzu, and Japanese knotweed. The Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora contains a range of information including native status, common name, and habitat. The site also indicates where in the state the plant has been seen.

The Department of Environmental Quality seeks community input on ways to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas air emissions. There are several ways to share your ideas: Tuesday, January 9 , 6:00-7:30 pm: Virtual Community Meeting ( register ) Email questions/comments by January 31: CPRG@deq.virginia.gov Community Input on Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions in Virginia survey DEQ will use community feedback to create a short-term priority action plan which includes projects that would then compete for part of a $4.3 billion EPA implementation fund. Visit Climate Pollution Reduction Grant for grant process updates.

Join the PFAS Lunch & Learn Tuesday, December 12 at Noon to learn about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), toxic chemicals, pose significant risks to human health and the environment. Sponsors Potomac Riverkeeper Network, Rockbridge Conservation, Southern Environmental Law Center, Virginia Conservation Network, and Wild Virginia have put together a panel of scientific and environmental policy experts to answer specific questions about these forever chemicals in Virginia. Panelists will also discuss what can be done to prevent further contamination while protecting public health. Register for this free event .

Lancaster County’s Wetlands Board meets Thursday, December 14 at 9:30 am (Board of Supervisors Meeting Room, Lancaster County Administration Building, 8311 Mary Ball Road, Lancaster). Read the agenda . Read the packet (PDF) (189 pp). One item on the agenda is a mailing to new waterfront property owners about the responsibilities of owning waterfront property. Read the Riparian Property Owner Letter (PDF) and the Riparian Property Owners Brochure (PDF). The brochure is a decent primer on responsibly living on the water, summarizing RPA (Resource Protection Area), general wetlands and waterfront guidelines, and riparian buffers. With several modifications, the brochure could be significantly better. Suggested mods include a new design (with no or little reverse printing, for example) and tightened-up content.

As of December 1, three pieces of legislation have been prefiled: SJ 4 Commending the Westmoreland Volunteer Fire Department. , introduced by Senator-elect Richard H. Stuart (R-25) SJ 7 Celebrating the life of Granville Edison Fisher, Jr. , introduced by Senator-elect Richard H. Stuart (R-25) SJ 8 Celebrating the life of Ronald Lee Jett. , introduced by Senator-elect Richard H. Stuart (R-25)