Conservation and Beautification

February 2, 2022

Chairman Sharon Scott, Gabriella Garden Club

The 1998 Conservation Workshop, “Native Plants and Invasive Plants,” was held on September 30, 1998, at the Kent-Valentine House. Speakers Bob Lyons and Ted Scott presented a slide lecture on invasive exotic and invasive native plants. They advised attendees what NOT to plant and provided alternatives. The workshop attracted 87 attendees.

The 1998 Conservation Forum was held on October 27-28, 1998, in Charlottesville, chaired by Mary Bruce Glaize. Attendees gathered at the Boar’s Head Inn on Tuesday and headed by bus to the new Thomas Jefferson Parkway trail. Filled with native vegetation and offering scenic views, the two-mile hike was guided by Peter Hatch, Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello. After the tour, the buses headed back up the mountain for a shopping trip in the Monticello garden shop. Cocktails and dinner were offered at Farmington that night.

Wednesday’s Forum, “The Good Earth Primer: The ABCs of Wise Land Use,” was held at the Boar’s Head Inn with speakers Ralph Grossi, President of the American Farmland Trust, and Ed McMahon, Director of the American Greenways program at the Conservation Fund. Mr. Grossi stressed the importance of preserving the diminishing supply of fertile land for farming. Mr. McMahon, cofounder and former president of Scenic America, emphasized smart growth and planning options as targets for wise land use, while entertaining guests with his stunning collection of slides.

Conservation and Beautification Chairman Sharon Scott presented the 1998 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award to the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation of Winchester for serving as an example of how to preserve green space by not developing the land.

The GCV supported a number of bills at 1999 Legislative Day that failed to pass. SB 1283 would have required VDOT to adhere to local zoning regulations when siting telecommunications towers. House Bill HB 1747 would have provided $40 million in state funding to conserve and protect Virginia’s natural areas, green space, forest land and historic areas. On a brighter note, bills dealing with out-of-state waste and garbage management were well received and passed.

The 1999 Conservation Workshop on September 21was chaired by Frances Kemper and featured speakers Jeff Corbin, scientist at Chesapeake Bay Foundation, to discuss pfiesteria (associated with harmful algal blooms and fish kills) and Robbin Marks of the Clean Water Network to discuss feedlot runoff and its effects on water. Four sample resources boxes were available to encourage participation in the committee’s statewide initiative.

The 1999 Conservation Forum was held on October 26-27 in Alexandria. Attendees gathered Tuesday afternoon on the docks of the Torpedo Factory in Old Town to board the riverboat “Miss Christin” for a historic tour downriver to Mount Vernon.  Jim Cummins, Associate Director of the Living Resources Section of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, guided the tour, providing an overview of the environmental health of the waterway. After guided tours of the grounds and gardens, and a candlelight tour of the mansion, the group gathered on the riverside piazza where Lisa Moore, a Director of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, recounted the history of the preservation of Mount Vernon’s viewshed.

Wednesday’s Conservation Forum was held at the Fort Belvoir Officers’ Club. Speakers were Kent Mountford, Senior Scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency, and Ann Pesiri Swanson, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, addressed the crowd.

The 1999 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award was presented to the University of Virginia Foundation, owner of Morven and a significant landowner in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

GCV supported legislation at 2000 Legislative Day to preserve wetlands; to give $20 million year for 2 years to provide dedicated funding for the preservation of Open Spaces; to study tree cutting for billboards; and to stop unregulated draining of wetlands. Legislation passed $15.8 million for land conservation efforts through the Virginia Land Conservation Fund.

Conservation and Beautification Chairman Sharon Scott initiated a statewide GCV educational project during her term to provide resource boxes to elementary schools in each club’s locality, consistent with SOLs.

Scenic Virginia was organized in 1998, by former Conservation and Beautification Chairman Hylah Boyd, to address billboard control, highway beautification and scenic byways. On Hylah’s behalf in 2000, Sharon requested and received approval from the GCV Board of Directors (pending Finance Committee review) to provide $5,000 start-up funds to Scenic Virginia.