Conservation and Beautification

February 8, 2022

Chairman Sue Cecil, The Boxwood Garden Club

A conservation survey was sent to a small sampling of GCV members the summer of 2000 revealing top environmental concerns — air and water pollution, land use, out-of-state trash, billboard, wetlands, Chesapeake Bay, recycling and invasive plants.

The 2000 Conservation Workshop was held on September 13 at the Kent-Valentine House. Kay Slaughter, president of Virginia Conservation Network, provided information about legislative issues facing the 2001 General Assembly.

Martha Wingfield, a member of the Ashland Garden Club and GCV’s representative on Virginia Conservation Network’s board, chaired the Virginia Environmental Assembly on September 16, where one senatorial candidate dropped out at the last minute, forcing Martha to drop the other candidate from the agenda.

The 2000 Conservation Forum, held on October 23-24, at the Hotel Roanoke was initially off to a shaky start when the invited speaker, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, regretted at the last minute and a resulting date change conflicted with VMFA’s “Fine Arts and Flowers.” Fortunately, Forum Chairman Rosemary Wallinger, the Spotswood Garden Club, was able to keep the event on track. The first day included an afternoon at Explore Park, a magnificent 1100-acre park opened to the public on July 2, 1994. The park contains 15 separate sites, some constructed, some reconstructed, all geared to teaching visitors historical, cultural and environmental lessons in an entertaining, “real world” setting. Explore Park’s founding director, Dr. Rupert Cutler, stressed the importance of updating Virginia’s state conservation and forest regulatory laws.

The Tuesday Forum in the Hotel Roanoke ballroom featured two speakers. Dr. Richard C. Collins, Director of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation, UVA School of Architecture, and coauthor of America’s Downtowns: Growth, Politics and Preservation, stressed that in today’s complex and litigious world, workable, sustainable solutions for growth management and environmental issues are best attained with lasting results through mediation and intelligent conflict resolution techniques. The second speaker of the morning, Dr. Dana Beach, founder and Executive Director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League presented slides and statistics relating to growth patterns and problems with sprawl.

Sue presented the 2000 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award to two recipients. The first, Georgie Hughes Morgan, a lower school science teacher at Nansemond Suffolk Academy, has directed the Nansemond River Garden Club’s Summer Ecology Camp for the past 14 years. The second recipient was the Alexandria Seaport Foundation whose mission is “using the power and the beauty of the Potomac River waterfront with Alexandria’s wealth of maritime history to benefit the Northern Virginia Community.”

Legislative Day January 24, 2001, was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. GCV supported legislation on dedicated funding for land conservation. Unfortunately, legislative barring the use of rotating billboards was vetoed and a bill regulating air emissions from new power plants was sent for broader study. The good news? Wildlife cheered when all efforts to weaken the non-tidal wetlands protection program were rebuffed.

Sue reviewed committee activities at the 2001 Annual Meeting, summarized 2001 Legislative Day and outlined upcoming areas of concern: a permanently funded conservation fund, the proliferation of new power plants on the heels of deregulation, non-source point pollution problems and brownfield issues.  She also urged attendees to support legislation that sets limits on interstate trash and to support funding for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The 2001 Conservation Workshop was held on September 12 at the Kent-Valentine House with speaker Lisa M. Guthrie, Executive Director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, who presented “Lobbying for Success.” The attendees then broke into six roundtables, each given an issue to be presented to a legislator. Delegate Albert Pollard of Whitestone agreed to be the legislator who had to be convinced. Attendees appreciated his attendance in that the September 11 attacks had occurred the day before, and, especially, because his first child was born just four days prior.

The 2001 Conservation Forum, “Reclamation, Restoration, Revitalization,” was held on October 29-30, at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, chaired by Mary Anne Kellam. Monday afternoon arrivals enjoyed a guided bus tour of properties in downtown Richmond that included reclaimed properties (old warehouses and a cement factory), restored properties (canals) and revitalized properties (Shockoe Slip). Cocktails, dinner and a talk by Lewis Ginter greenhouse manager Ed Olsen followed on Monday night.

Tuesday speakers were Alan Front of the Trust for Public Land and Robin Miller, president of Development Resources Corporation. Attendees learned about federal and state brownfield legislation.  (Virginia Code defines “brownfield” as real property; the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.) Chapter 12.1 § 10.1-1230

The 2001 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award was presented to Nancy Hugo, garden columnist for the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Legislative Day February 6, 2002 focused on permanent funding for land conservation, water quality improvements, natural resources protection and sound land use legislation. Key speakers were Gerry McCarthy, Director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment; Tayloe Murphy, Secretary of Natural Resources; and Davie Whitehurst, Director of the Wildlife Diversity Department of Inland Game and Fisheries. Funding for the proposed Birding and Hiking Trail was needed to complete the planning phase of the trail from the Eastern Shore to the mountains.