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Chesapeake Bay |
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SIERRAThe Newsletter Of | |||
| The Fall is our most productive time, so we do some in-depth planning to make the most of it. However, before we get to our Fall schedule I need to pass onto you the exciting things we accomplished this last Summer. We did some highly successful fund raisers. We participated in a wine fest at the Beach and we did a beer pull for OPSAIL 2000. Both were lots of fund and very profitable. We have a committee to determine the most productive way to use these resources. In addition, we did a couple significant service outings. We made several visits to the Back Bay Refuge Environmental Education Center and prepared the area and planted an excellent butterfly garden and we made several visits to the Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve in Portsmouth to assist with the establishment of a huge butterfly garden there. Finally, we have been doing background work in preparation for Fall projects for Black Bears and Monarch Butterflies. It was a very satisfying Summer. This Fall we are going to be very active with Black Bears, Monarch Butterflies, trips to the Dismal Swamp and Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuges and to Chippokes Plantation State Park. With our recently earned resources we are going to be active supporting local school environmental clubs and projects, attempting to get involved with school science/environmental fairs, and recognizing smart growth developers. We will also give consideration to the November elections. Unfortunately, local congressional candidates have had a dismal record on the environment and it is difficult determining the difference between the parties. On the national level, Sierra Club has finally after long deliberations come out in favor of Gore. Gore has not done as much for the environment has hoped for, but Bush's record is of major concern to the Club. Once again the Republicans have obfuscated the English language in such a way has to sound good when in fact their actions are destructive. Come and join us. Our real emphasis is on making this area the best we can. Fred Adams
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| The black bears of Virginia are finally getting the attention they deserve. If you have great habitat for these bears then you have great habitat for lots of creatures. The state is developing a black bear management plan for the entire state. Of particular interest to our Chesapeake Bay Group is the population at the Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The carrying capacity for black bears is at its maximum and some what over. The result is the immature males are being politely asked by the older males to go somewhere else, just anywhere else! The result is an occasional and very regrettable lost of one of these creatures. The Refuge management has had to consider a brief hunting period to prevent this situation. There is another course of action and that is developing a linkage from the Refuge to the numerous lands owned by the state and by the Nature Conservancy in the vicinity of North West River and the North Landing River areas. The key to this is the creation of a "wildlife corridor" under the new highway 17. After much debate, VDOT is finally willing to consider the idea. The issue is where should this corridor be. That's where Virginia Tech experts and the Chesapeake Bay Group come in. Virginia Tech has two projects: one is, where are the bears leaving the Refuge and, what is the current population in the Refuge. The means to make these determinations is very labor intensive. For determining the corridor an eight mile path is needed through thick brush. To determine the population about 100 stations are required. Of the two the wildlife corridor is the most important, because it is the linkage to other lands for all creatures. This should help create a more healthy gene pool for these species. Our September program and outing are in support of the black bears at Dismal Swamp Refuge. We are very fortunate to have as speaker Mike Lane who is the recognized expert for bears at this Refuge and who is participating in the state's efforts to create a state wide black bear program. The program is at the Virginia Beach Central Library at 7:00 PM on Monday the 11th of September. The outing is on Saturday, the 30th of September. We will meet at 8:30 AM in the K-Mart parking lot in Kempsriver Crossing Shopping Center, and then caravan to the Dismal Swamp.
Bring binoculars and something to drink and to eat. We will be at the refuge for about 2 and a half hours, will return to Kempsville by noon. |
Thursday, September 14, 2000
6:00 Reception; 7:00 Lecture
Fox Family IMAX 3-D Theater, Main Building
Virginia Marine Science Museum
717 General Booth Boulevard, Virginia Beach
| Retired Duke Professor Orrin Pilkey, a widely recognized expert on the Virginia and North Carolina coastlines, will present a talk on the future of Sandbridge, the Outer Banks, and the Virginia Beach shores. A retired professor of geology at Duke University, Pilkey now heads the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines. He is a widely recognized and often controversial authority on the adverse effects of development on coastlines. Pilkey is regularly interviewed by the national media after a hurricane for his assessment of the damage. A prolific author, Pilkey's series Living with the Shores, features 22 books. This program is sponsored by the Duke Alumni Club of Hampton Roads and is open to all members of the Virginia Marine Science Museum. The cost is $6 per person and includes light hors d'oeuvres. Please mail checks to Jessica Browning at 1324 Graydon Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23507. Questions? Call Jessica at (757) 625-0133. Directions to the Virginia Marine Museum: From Interstate 64, take Interstate 264 East towards Virginia Beach to the Birdneck Road exit (Exit #22). Turn right onto Birdneck Road and continue to General Booth Blvd. Turn left and the Museum is 1/2 mile on your left at 717 General Booth Blvd. |
| Identifying wild flowers is fun and surprisingly easy. We will be discussing a couple of Virginia species at each of our Fall programs. Come and see first hand how much fun and satisfaction there is knowing our own wild flowers. This will add greatly to your enjoyment of outdoor activities. This is an activity that is easy to get hooked on. Let's get hooked together. |
Several Sierrans from the Chesapeake Bay Group provided invaluable assistance with planting about 300 plants at the Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve in Portsmouth. Members included: Barbara Dupuy, Alice Stott, Don Jeffries, Arron Henry and Fred Adams. Additional, assistance was provided by members of the preserves foundation. More work remains on mulching, installing paths and adding an area of the butterfly garden with host plants.
| One of Nature's great events is the migration of Monarch Butterflies. No one knows how they do it. It takes four or five generations to make the complete migration. No monarch has ever done the entire trip before. It is a navigation system in the genes. Nature has this kind of ability. Who knows all the ways Nature may help us in the future. Now the phenomenon of the migration is in danger. There are several reasons. Most of all it is a loss of habitat in Mexico and to some extent in North America. The Chesapeake Bay Group is taking on the task as one of its key efforts this year of doing something to help save the monarchs. There are several things that can be done to assist. These include: making counts, raising them, tagging, recapturing, supporting the projects at the University of Minnesota that address plant quality and survivability, of assisting the Journey North project of determining the pick and end of migration times. Come to the October meeting and learn much more about this amazing creature and how you can help the situation. Our October outing will be a visit to the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge and observe the migration and how they are tagged and recaptured. A specific task that we have been informed would be most helpful would be to monitor the Monarchs that come across to First Landing State Park. Come and see if this is the kind of project you would be interested in participating in during October. The date of the meeting is Monday, the 2nd of October, at the Virginia Beach Central Library and the time is 7-9 PM. |
| This will be a fascinating, fun and informative outing. We are going to the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge to observe the Monarch butterfly migration and observe tagging and recapturing by Audubon naturalist Mark Graham. Mark comes every year from Northern Virginia. Others up the coast tag the monarchs, so there is always the potential for a recapture. Tagging is hard to put into words; you have to see it! The morning is a good time to observe the monarchs. They are moving slowly because the air has not warmed up. As the day warms up they become more active. We will meet at the Southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The date is Saturday 14 October, the time is 8:30 AM. We will car pool across. Bring a lunch and something to drink. This would also be a good time to bring a camera and binoculars. We will be back by about 12:30. |
| Don your hiking boots and join the fun navigating the Noland Trail. This six mile trail through the area adjacent to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News is an easy but interesting walk, one section skirting the James River. Meet in the Mariner's Museum parking lot at 10:00 AM on Saturday, October 28th. For more information, call Alice Stott, 481-7319. |