The Forest Service has published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, inviting public comment on the following topic:

Given that climate change and related stressors are resulting in increasing impacts with rapid and variable rates of change on national forests and grasslands, how should the Forest Service adapt current policies to protect, conserve, and manage the national forests and grasslands for climate resilience, so that the Agency can provide for ecological integrity and support social and economic sustainability over time?
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Please consider letting the Forest Service know that protecting old growth forests will promote climate resilience. They are accepting comments until July 20, 2023.
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What are the special values [of old growth]? Most of us have long valued stands of mature, tall, large diameter trees on our national forest, for their aesthetic and their recreational values, plus their superior characteristics in providing food for various wildlife species, in ability to purify the air, in preventing erosion and at the same time enabling the soil to retain, then slowly release precipitation, in harboring increased microscopic life in the undisturbed soil (the basic element in the food chain), and other factors that biologists with their scientific understanding know.
                                                                                                   -Ernie Dickerman, February 1998

​You may send comments by any of the following methods by July 20.
Preferred: Federal eRulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov .
Mail: Director, Policy Office, 201 14th Street SW, Mailstop 1108, Washington, DC 20250–1124.

Date:  Sat., June 3 (Rain date - June 4)

Time:  10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (give 1 hour of your time)

Place: Mile-a-Minute patch on Hankey Mountain (see map along with detailed route instructions below)

Who:  We need 50 Wild Oak Trail users to help pull a patch of Mile-a-Minute vine, a fast-spreading, high-priority, non-native invasive plant, before it spreads along the trail network and into the special natural areas in the proposed Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area (SMNSA).

In September, a trail user discovered a patch of Mile-a-Minute Vine on Hankey Mountain.  This is the first known occurrence of this invasive plant in the proposed SMNSA.  This vine can grow up to 26 feet a year, smother out native plants, and ruin our forests.  It is called  "Kudzu of the north".

Trail users can spread invasives like this when we pick up seeds in our boot treads, bike tires, and horse hooves and unintentionally drop them along trails.  We are asking all trail users - hikers, bikers, equestrians, trail runners, and hunters - to gather on Hankey Mountain on June 3 to stop this unwanted invasive in its tracks before it spreads to other trails and natural areas.

The Mile-a-Minute patch is on both sides of the Wild Oak National Recreation Trail near the summit of Hankey Mountain.  It is 4 miles from North River Campground, and it can also be accessed from several other trail heads, described in detail below.   We invite participants to hike, bike, run, or ride a horse to the patch, pull Mile-a-Minute for 1 hour, and then continue your day of recreation and fun.  People with 4WD vehicles can drive most of the way using FR 425 from North River Campground.

We will have a Virginia Native Plant Society expert at the infestation to instruct participants in identification of Mile-a-Minute and assign each person an area to pull.

In addition to wiping out this patch of Mile-a-Minute, we want as many trail users as possible to learn to identify and report new occurrences of this plant while they are small and easy to control.

Please join this collective effort to evict this notorious plant from the Shenandoah Mountain area.

Questions?   Contact Lynn Cameron, (540) 830-4524.
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Together we can do this!

MARCH 09 2023
​Warner & Kaine Reintroduce Bill to Protect Wilderness in Bath County | 2023-03-09 (senate.gov)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine reintroduced the Virginia Wilderness Additions Act, legislation that would add a total of 5,600 acres to the existing Rough Mountain and Rich Hole wilderness areas within the George Washington National Forest in Bath County, Virginia.
“It’s crucial that we preserve Virginia’s natural treasures, which are essential to the economy and way of life in communities across the Commonwealth,” the senators said. “We’re thankful for the input, advice, and good-faith work by local officials and conservationists who have come together over the years to create this plan to better preserve land within the George Washington National Forest. We look forward to continuing to work together to include this legislation in this year’s Farm Bill so we can get it across the finish line.”
A wilderness designation is the highest level of protection for public land under federal law. These additions were recommended by the U.S. Forest Service in 2014 and endorsed by members of the George Washington National Forest Stakeholder Collaborative, a group of forest users that started work together over a decade ago to agree on acceptable locations in the George Washington National Forest for wilderness, timber harvest, trails, and other uses.  
The Farm Bill is a multiyear government funding bill for programs pertaining to conservation, crops, and nutrition, among others. Congress is expected to pass a Farm Bill in 2023.
In each of the last three Congresses, the legislation has passed through one chamber, either the Senate or the House of Representatives, but has yet to pass through the both chambers during a single session. In January 2020, as part of the 116th Congress, the Senate passed Warner and Kaine’s bill, but the legislation was not taken up in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 117th Congress, the House passed a version of this bill as part of broader package of environmental bills, but it was not taken up in the Senate.
Full text of the legislation is available here.

Interested in Wilderness in Virginia? We are happy to come out and talk about what Wilderness is, where to find it in Virginia, and all we do to protect it. Email info@vawilderness.org for more information.

​Mark your calendars! Join SAWS for a volunteer work day in Rich Hole Wilderness, just outside of Lexington, VA on Saturday, January 21st at 9 am. We’ll be working on clearing some big downed trees from the with crosscut saws. Email Eric Giebelstein EricGiebelstein@wildernessstewards.org for more information and to sign up today!

From VNPS:
Our 2022 fundraiser is underway! Help us protect over 30,000 acres for the creation of Shenandoah National Scenic Area for future generations to enjoy!

This year VNPS will partner with the Virginia Wilderness Committee (VWC) and the Friends of Shenandoah Mountain (FSM) to help protect and preserve four key wilderness areas in the proposed Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area of Virginia.

Although the US Forest Service owns this land, private individuals and companies own the underground mineral rights and can develop and extract those minerals. As long as there is the possibility of development and mining, the Forest Service will not protect these lands by designating them as a National Scenic Area or Wilderness Area.
We hope to help VWC and FSM with our financial assistance to acquire mineral rights from the current owners and transfer those rights to the Forest Service. They have already had success in acquiring mineral rights in these areas and need our help to continue identifying mineral rights ownership and to purchase the rights for four tracts that have been identified.

​https://vnps.org/vwcfund/

A local conservation photography class has been documenting biodiversity on Shenandoah Mountain this semester. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

​On a Wednesday afternoon in October, I caravanned westward with two cars full of photography students – passing Reddish Knob and parking about an hour's drive into the mountains.

[sounds of chatting, car doors closing, group walking]

To read the rest, click on the link below.

In mid-August, members of VWC gathered at Braley Pond for our Annual Meeting. We discussed current projects of purchasing mineral rights, designating rural historic areas, strategizing for new recreation plans, identifying mountain treasures, and initiating historical markers. We also celebrated the two bills which are currently in congress awaiting traction. Most importantly, for the coming year, the Nomination Committee again presented John Hutchinson as president, Steve Johnson as vice president, Ron Stoltzfus as treasurer, and Tom Engle as secretary. VWC members unanimously approved the Committee’s slate of nominations. We all expressed appreciation to these officers for their continued service and are thankful to be guided by this great group of Wilderness-loving folks.
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To learn more about our board members, please click here.