Page 11 – Virginia Outdoors Foundation

Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, City of Lynchburg

When Amy Bonnette leaves her office, she might spot a child hanging out in a tree or hear the shouts of kids playing tag in KinderWoods, a children’s outdoor playspace. “It’s like working in a treehouse,” she says, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bonnette is the executive director of Camp-Kum-Ba-Yah, an urban forest in the heart of Lynchburg and a year-round environmental education resource for area kids aged 5 to 13. Programs include environmental education curricula with local preschools, elementary and middle schools, plus the nature-themed “Young Buds” program for preschoolers.

But the heart of Camp-Kum-Ba-Yah’s programming is its summer camp: a day camp offered in eight week-long sessions, from late June to early August. “It’s a great experience for the kids,” says Bonnette. “Because it’s eight to ten campers in a group with two counselors, the campers and counselors form a close bond.” Week-long scholarships are available, and the camp partners with the Lynchburg Boys and Girls Club, Jubilee and other local non-profit organizations and schools to make sure that all of the area’s children get a chance to come learn and play in the woods.

A typical camp day is full of fun physical challenges: zip line, fishing, climbing wall. Swimming lessons are offered daily in one of the camp’s four pools. Kids help in the vegetable garden and go on scavenger hunts in the woods.

Each group has its own campsite, and most days the kids cook their own lunch over an open fire and fetch water to cook with. “The kids get a sense of empowerment and purpose” by teaming up to cook their meals, Bonnette notes. “They learn to think through meal prep and cleaning, and they try new things.”

The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled camps in 2020, says Bonnette, but campers came back strong in 2021, with 400 individuals attending over the course of the summer. In a normal year, that number is 640. “Kids [in 2021] were so thankful to be outside, to be free, to have those social connections,” she adds. “There are many positive health benefits associated with exploring the woods.”

Bonnette anticipates being back at full capacity in 2022 when, thanks to many individuals and businesses and grants from the Virginia Land Conservation Fund (VLCF) and the Lynchburg Community Foundation, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah will finally own Cosby Woods—land that it has leased from Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship until now.

The woods are named for Bev Cosby, the minister and social justice advocate who founded Camp Kum-Ba-Yah on family land in the 1950s. His question, “Where will the children play?” became more urgent by 1961, when the city closed its public pools as an alternative to integrating them. Rev. Cosby invited families from two local Black churches to use the camp pool, and his vision of a camp for all children continues.

Camp Kum-Ba-Yah now has 42 of its 47 acres protected by an open-space conservation easement granted to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The new 1.7-mile Cosby Trail encircles the camp and is open to the public, extending the benefits of Rev. Cosby’s vision to the entire Lynchburg community.

“We were thrilled to welcome the community to use the trail any time,” Bonnette says. “We want everybody to find a place in these woods.”

Celeste Park, Town of Rocky Mount

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends” evokes a place where we can experience nature and let our imaginations roam. But it also makes clear that to get to the place where the sidewalk ends, first you need the sidewalk.

Celeste Park, a forested space for quiet reflection on 6.5 acres in Rocky Mount, now has that paved connection from downtown thanks to a grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s Preservation Trust Fund.

Since 2006, when 5.5 acres was first donated to the town by Keister and Elizabeth “Ibby” Greer in honor of Keister’s daughter, Celeste, the park that bears Celeste’s name has faced setbacks in reaching its full potential, says Mark Moore, Rocky Mount’s assistant town manager and community development director. “Fundraising opportunities have yielded limited success since the town acquired the property. Funds from VOF jump-started the park revitalization and allowed the town to really bring the park to life.”

A grant from VOF’s Preservation Trust Fund paid for the paved connection, which means walking into Celeste Park from Rocky Mount’s downtown is easier than ever.

Although another acre was added to park land by the Vaughn family, and the town succeeded in adding a parking lot in 2009, the park entrance and trails needed improvement. Meanwhile, Rocky Mount’s downtown began to thrive with the addition of a 460-seat performance center, a bustling farmers’ market, and an increasing number of new shops and restaurants.

Former town cultural and economic development director, Beth Simms, worked with Moore to submit the grant application. She says learning about VOF’s grant programs got the town development office thinking about the park and its proximity to downtown. “Rocky Mount has a vibrant downtown with all these amenities,” she states. “When we saw an opportunity for parks funding through VOF, we started working through the what-ifs and wondered, how much does a sidewalk cost?”

Moore adds that connecting the park to downtown meant improving the entrance as well, “Furnace Creek is really the front door to the park,” he says, “so we’ve done some clearing, added rails to the stream crossing, and improved the signage. We want people to know how to get in.”

Moore says all park signage in town will be updated to match Celeste’s to provide continuity, and there is an Eagle Scout project in the works for benches and wayfinding signs along the three trails that wind through the park. “It’s all tied to the revitalization of downtown,” he adds, “and the park is an extension of the downtown area.”

Railings on the crossing over Furnace Creek make the park’s “front door” more inviting.

Lifelong resident and Rocky Mount Mayor, Steve Angle, is excited about the work going on at Celeste. “Celeste is the largest park in town and has a rich history,” he states. “I’m excited that we can create an inviting place for the community to show off the natural beauty of that property and provide a connection to our downtown.”

The park was named after Celeste Claiborne Greer (1957-1989), whose love of nature helped inspire the Greer’s gift of land to the town.

For Ibby Greer, that connection represents an important part of her and husband Keister’s vision when they first thought of gifting the land to the city. “It’s perfect because we wanted people to be able to access the park by foot,” she states. “I’m just delighted to know that the park will be pulled together in the way we had hoped for when we originally donated the land.”

Simms, who passes the park on her way to and from work, says the Greers’ vision is already a reality. “It was a bit warmer yesterday as I was passing by, and it was so great to see a person walking into the park at the same time as another was walking out. I think there will be a lot more people seeking out the quiet spaces and shade of the park once we get to the spring and summer, and they’ll be using that new sidewalk to get there.”

$1.7 million in grants available for public open space projects

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation is making $1.7 million available from its Preservation Trust Fund (PTF) and Get Outdoors (GO) programs for grants that protect open space for public use.

Of the total, $1.3 million is reserved for PTF Public Access grants, which may be used to acquire land, easements, rights of way, lease agreements, or other interests in real estate that result in significant public access. The real estate interest must either be acquired by a local government or conveyed to VOF to be eligible for funding, and protection must meet the requirements of Virginia’s Open-Space Land Act.

The remaining $400,000 is reserved for GO grants, which may be used to fund infrastructure, studies, planning, and capacity building to enable safe use of, or access to, public open space, as well as for acquisition. GO grants prioritize underserved communities. Individual projects may receive no more than $25,000.

The application deadline for both grant programs is 11:59 p.m. EST, March 11, 2022. Application forms, eligibility requirements, and other materials may be found online at https://vof.org/ptf and https://vof.org/go. VOF encourages potential applicants to contact staff prior to applying to discuss eligibility and seek guidance on producing a successful application. Contact grants@vof.org or (434) 282-7054 with questions or for information on how to apply.

What’s the deal with “no dogs allowed?”

Preserve specialist Taryn’s pups Eddie and Mazikeen

If I had a nickel for every time, I check bringfido.com to see if my pups could join me on an errand or adventure, I’d be one rich dog mom. Usually, I’m the definition of “If my dog can’t come, I’m not going.” My fox terrier mix Eddie got accustomed to joining me at work when I worked at kennels and doggie daycares, so when I took on the preserve specialist position, I knew it would be an adjustment for both of us! That’s because as preserve visitors know, dogs are not permitted on Bull Run Mountain Natural Area Preserve.

On its surface, this might seem like a strange and out-of-touch rule! It’s 2022 and dogs are family after all. You might be forgiven for assuming the staff here are a bunch of Cruella de Vil’s scheming to keep dogs from enjoying this beautiful landscape. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! The no-dog policy has nothing to do with not liking pups, and everything to do with the special and unique purpose of BRMNAP.

The Northern Virginia area is filled with parks that allow and cater to dogs as part of their encouraged recreation activities. I frequent quite a few with Eddie and Mazikeen! But what NOVA isn’t so chalk full of are places that put nature and ecosystem preservation first. As a preserve rather than a park, BRMNAP’s first priority is to protect the ten unique plant communities and the wildlife that call those communities home. In the modern world filled with threats to nature, this is no simple task!

The truth is studies have shown that even the most well-behaved pooches can cause serious harm to sensitive wildlife and plant ecosystems. Their furry little paws pick up and track microscopic plant material that can spread dangerous invasive species, and their mere presence as perceived predators has been shown to drastically alter the behavior and ranges of potential prey animals. Biologists call this “fear ecology” and it essentially means that even if your dog would never hurt a fly, the rabbits, squirrels, deer, and more that call the preserve home can abandon important food/shelter resources if they are near a place frequented by dogs.

Now none of these scientific realities make it any easier when Eddie or Mazikeen hit me with their patented puppy dog eyes. They can’t understand why they don’t get to go everywhere I go and the dog mom guilt is real anytime I head to the movies, an indoor restaurant, or any of the other no dog zones out there! But I know I can make it up to them by taking them to our local parks. They enjoy Leopold’s Preserve just down the road from BRMNAP if you’re in the area and looking for a dog-friendly hike.

I hope this helps clarify why the no-dog policy exists at BRMNAP. If you have any questions about our policies or rules please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at tarynbk@vof.org

Ode to a fallen friend

Photo by Joe VillariLocated at our confluence, our beloved beech was the definition of a trooper.

Its root system half pulled out of the Earth by a windstorm decades ago and its trunk since laying horizontally across Catlett’s Branch. Despite this waterlogged existence, it continued to hang on and keep-on-keeping-on for more than a decade.

Sadly, its time had come and it didn’t leaf out during the spring of 2020.

Our tree lived long and hard, an initial victim of circumstance.

But there is no doubt the stress of being repeatedly climbed upon by visitors (this it didn’t mind much, as it appreciated the company) and ocassionally being carved into by vandals (please don’t carve into trees folks, it hurts them!) quickened its demise.

Our noble beech defyed all odds and lovingly endured so many transgressions, but eventually became tired and spent. Unbeknownst to Preserve staff or visitors, in 2019, it leafed out for the last time.

It performed its last Kreb’s cycle and gave up the ghost.
Photo by Joe Villari

Gone in one way, its spirit is very much still here in 2022. Its essence has now begun to enable others and make their lives possible.

This new life currently includes a diversity of saproxylic insects and fungi (saproxylic species being those that depend on dead wood).

It will continue to host this life right up until the unstoppable flow of the stream slowly moves the very last of the tree’s nutrients down stream. This process will take years and provide us all with the chance to observe this process up close.

So, next time you are on our trails, please do take a moment to reflect by the side of Catlett’s Branch. Think of what our beloved beech tree, in its afterlife, is still providing to its community.

Try to keep an eye out for new fungus, lichens, and/or insects that it may be hosting on any particular day. Also watch for lizards and birds hunting and scavenging around its final resting place. Life still abounds.

Pease encourage others to be kind to our native trees and never carve into them. Instead, challenge these folks to make their own positive mark in their own community. To act in the grand spirit of the beech tree that lived and died on Catlett’s Branch.
Photo by Joe Villari

Recent Scenes from the Preserve

A fruiting American Strawberry Bush captured by intrepid volunteer, Janis Stone!

So many of the Preserve’s thousands of annual visitors capture incredible moments and creatures in photography. Let’s look back at some of the amazing photos captured by visitors this past Fall!

Thanks to the incredibly talented Corbin Pointer (@pointer_shot_media) for this capture of one of our “rodential residents”

Thanks to Smithsonian zoologist Jacob Saucier for this unique shot! A camouflaged looper, caterpillar stage of wavy-lined emerald moth (Synchlora aerate), constructs a sort of ghillie suit out of pieces of its immediate surroundings – in this case some fleabane flower petals!

We love seeing your images and featuring them, so please send us your visual “souvenirs” from BRMNAP.

Rockfish River Access, Nelson County

As the new director of Nelson County’s Parks and Recreation department, Jerry West has a lot on his plate. From getting kids back out and playing sports after the 2020 shutdown, to creating long-awaited public access to the Rockfish River, there are “a million things going on,” he says.

He has a head start on a few of them, thanks to the long-term vision of his predecessors in the job. Currently there is no official public access to the Rockfish—all access points within the county lie on private property—but prior Parks and Recreation directors had established a connection with an area landowner, Janet Hunter, who wants to share her river access with others. Her donation of an access easement on a portion of her riverfront property sparked the county’s successful 2021 application for a $60,000 grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s Get Outdoors program. The funds will create river access for the public with a five-vehicle parking lot at the site.

Having visited the property, West is excited. “I met with Janet Hunter and I was able to see her vision for it, not just what was written on paper,” he says. “It’s in my hands now to make it happen.”

Hunter’s property lies between the river and the road, making it the ideal spot for a small parking lot and river take-out.

Lying just upriver from the Schuyler dam, the site will serve as the takeout point for a potential 10.5-mile bluewater trail along the scenic Rockfish. The county is also exploring options for creating public access points on the way to the site. “It’s the last stop on the river,” West says. “If we want to make that exit point a success, we need to create places upriver to enter.”

The future ramp will be located on an embankment that already slopes gradually down to the river, so West says minimal ground disturbance will be necessary.

With the other recreational opportunities outlined for the middle James in the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Virginia Outdoors Plan—trails at the Fortunes Cove Nature Preserve, the Rockfish Valley Rural Historic District, the Quarry Gardens at Schuyler, and the Walton Mountain Museum and Historic District—the planned blueway could become part of a recreational hub with the Rockfish River as its axis.

As he looks ahead to the big picture of outdoor opportunities in the region, West is also attending to more immediate concerns. “We have youth basketball and cheerleading starting this month with over 160 kids signed up,” he notes. “We are also in the process of planning programs and events for winter, spring and summer. After a long year, I am glad to see things moving forward.”

Three new trustees appointed to VOF Board

Governor Ralph Northam recently appointed three new trustees to VOF’s Board.

Dr. Elizabeth “Sissy” Hinton Crowther, of Northumberland County, has been named Board Chair. She is President Emerita of Rappahannock Community College, principal of Night Sky LLC, and owner-operator of her childhood homeplace, Bruington Farms. Although Sissy has worked in finance and taught at Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University, community college education is where she has left her mark. As President of Rappahannock Community College for 15 years, Sissy was a transformational leader that expanded enrollment, programs, and Education Foundation assets. Sissy pioneered the Guaranteed Admission Agreement statewide, for which she and her colleague received a state commendation. Sissy serves on many non-profit and industry boards and has lent her talents to a long and varied list of governmental appointments. With her free time, Sissy enjoys managing her family farm, raising horses and racing sailboats.

Elsie Delva-Smith, of Middlesex County, works as the Director of Diversity Inclusion and Culture at Christ Church School, recruiting of both students and faculty, serving as a resource for teachers and administration, and much more in service to Christ Church School’s mission to guide each student’s unique journey to self-confidence, purpose, and identity. Elsie previously worked in victim’s advocacy and criminal justice. She is a graduate from Florida International University and is currently working on completing her Ph.D. at Liberty University.

Ali Afonja, of the City of Hampton, is the CEO of Holistic Family Solutions, a mental health services organization that he co-founded with his wife, Stephanie. Holistic Family Solutions combines the best practices in fitness, cognition, nutrition, and spirituality to form a unique blueprint for the treatment of the whole person in body, mind and spirit. Ali is an avid outdoorsman. He loves to kayak, mountain bike, fish and camp. He is the founder of “Sons of York,” a group of African American outdoorsmen that holds workshops and seminars to educate urban youth about nature. He also created the Community Learning Garden in 2014 to teach local youth about the benefits of healthy eating, community service and entrepreneurship. He is a graduate of Norfolk State University and California Southern University.

The new trustees replace Steph Ridder, Brent Thompson, and Beth Obenshain, who concluded two terms of service as permitted by statute.

Visiting the PhotoArk!

I recently had the chance to visit the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley ‘s incredible National Geographic Photo Ark exhibition. Featuring dozens of portraits by award-winning nature photographer, Joel Sartore, Photographer , this unique exhibition showcases wildlife from all over the world, many of whom are endangered or threatened.

By sharing these expressive individuals living in zoos and sanctuaries, Sartore, National Geographic, and the MSV hope to create a personal connection between museum-goers and these animals in need. As part of the project, they encourage patrons to take “selfies” with the portraits and share under the hashtag, #SaveTogether.

Here at VOF’s Preserve, we protect thousands of unique animal, plant, and fungi species – including many regionally threatened populations. We are inspired by this ambitious project, and treasure all the images preserve-goers share with us of the wildlife they encounter here at Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve!

I feel blessed to have such an important exhibit on display in our area, and encourage other nature lovers to go check it out!

Leake’s Mill Park, Goochland County

In 2020 the number of people using mountain bike trails across the country spiked as much as 500 percent compared to the year before, according to Forbes magazine. While some of that was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people taking part in the sport has steadily increased for a decade.

Based on his own experience, RVA Racing team member and coach Dennis Dempsey thinks he knows why. “It’s not just about winning a race,” he says. “It’s about being outside in the trees and fresh air, enjoying the terrain, and encouraging other people to do well.”

RVA Racing ran a fall series of races in the park, and is planning another series for the spring.

Dempsey and his team are part of a growing community of mountain bikers that relies on the 9 miles of single track in Leake’s Mill Park for opportunities to both hone their competitive edge and take in the natural beauty of the trail.

“It’s characteristic of the type of trail a lot of us who have been in the sport for a while cut our teeth on,” Dempsey says. “It’s the kind of trail that keeps you on your toes.”

For beginners, there is a skills park with short loops that circumnavigates the Leake’s Mill parking lot. “If you’re just learning and you need a break, there are lots of bail out points,” Dempsey notes. “You end up at the parking lot and you can try again.”

The mountain biking trails are the newest addition to amenities in the 176-acre park, which also hosts busy athletic fields, multipurpose trails for walkers, and picnic shelters. “It’s unique in the county,” says Parks and Recreation director Jessica Kronberg. “It’s our primary soccer complex and one of the most well-used of our parks. And there is a destination aspect to it because of the mountain biking trails.”

More than half of the park has been protected by a VOF easement since 2010.

The nine miles of mountain biking trails wind through 125 acres of wooded park land without crossing over each other, making them easy to follow.

Mountain biking enthusiast Bob Wheatley knows the destination trails well; he volunteered to design and build them. “It’s really gratifying to see how many people have come to use them,” he says. “There’s lots of usage coming from people who walk and hike, and more mountain bikers all the time.”

He adds that Leake’s Mill has become the home trail for the Goochland County Composite Mountain Biking Team, made up of students in grades 4–12. “It’s a pretty solid team and it’s growing,” says Wheatley. Both experienced and novice bikers make up the team. “We in the mountain biking community just want kids to come out and get on bikes—from the littlest on up.”

Posts to the trail’s Facebook page alert users to downed trees and community trail stewards to their next cleanup project.

Wheatley didn’t just build the trails, he takes care of them, too. He administers the Leake’s Mill Park Trails Facebook page, which gives users trail updates and information about volunteer workdays along with photos. “The community involvement aspect is the most satisfying,” he says. “We’ve become a really cohesive group of trail stewards who help keep them in shape.”

Thanks to their work maintaining the trails, the park has begun to host not only RVA Racing events for mountain bikers, but also marathons for Race Team RVA—an ultramarathon training team who ran their first “Gritty” marathon at Leake’s Mill in November.

A trail user took note of the seasonal return of the trout lily with a post to the trail’s Facebook page.

Dempsey is happy to share and maintain the trails with other types of users. “It’s important to be good trail stewards,” he states. “We know if we don’t support these trails, we’re not going to have them for long.

“Everyone comes to the trails for different reasons,” he adds. “But once you get there you transition from being a user to an advocate to an empowerer. That may mean different things to different people, but the trails are the foundation for any of that to happen.”