As PEC’s Tree Planting and Stewardship Coordinator, I’d like to invite you to join our conservation team this fall to plant native trees and shrubs along waterways in the Virginia Piedmont. We’re looking for volunteers to help out on four different days in October and November.
Plantings for the Piedmont
PEC and some of our partner organizations offer programs across our 9-county region that provide free technical assistance, project design, materials, and labor for the planting of native trees and shrubs in riparian zones on qualifying properties.
Fall 2022 Tree Planting Opportunities
We’re so excited to announce four volunteer tree plantings for the fall! Planting native trees and shrubs along streams, rivers, and ponds – also known as riparian buffers – is a way to help clean water and connect wildlife habitat. Our tree plantings will take place in Clarke, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties in October and November.
Earth Day Tree Planting at the Volgenau Property
Last week, with the help of 56 volunteers, we planted 550 trees along the banks of Thumb Run on the Volgenau property in Fauquier County.
Planting Trees at Thunder Lane Farm for Earth Month
On Thursday, April 14 and Friday, April 15, 23 volunteers joined The Piedmont Environmental Council at Thunder Lane Farm in Culpeper, VA for an Earth Month-inspired tree planting.
The streams that run through the farm are tributaries to Mountain Run, part of the Rappahannock River, which is a major drinking water supply for the City of Fredericksburg and other downstream communities. The addition of 568 native trees by volunteers will help improve air and water quality and wildlife habitat for years to come.
The Piedmont Environmental Council plants trees in partnership with the Friends of the Rappahannock each spring and fall as part of our Headwater Stream Initiative. If you’d like to participate, visit pecva.org/buffers.
2022 Bluebell Walk
On April 9, 2022, The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Julian W. Scheer Fauquier Land Conservation Fund hosted its annual “Bluebell Walk on Cedar Run” at Bonny Brook Farm in Catlett, VA.
April Tree Planting Opportunities
For the month of April, we have three new and fast-approaching volunteer opportunities to help us plant trees.
Re-aligning Land and Nature at the Holden Farm in Loudoun County
In 2021, the Holdens partnered with The Piedmont Environmental Council to permanently conserve their rolling 35-acre farm just south of the historic Quaker village of Lincoln.
Rappahannock Headwater Stream Initiative
The Headwater Stream Initiative is a joint project of The Piedmont Environmental Council and Friends of the Rappahannock.
James River Buffer Program
Our partners at the James River Association, Virginia Department of Forestry, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation are working with landowners across the middle and upper James watershed to restore or create forest buffers that improve the quality of local waterways.
Potomac Planting Program
The Potomac Planting Program includes properties in the Potomac River watershed of Clarke, Loudoun and Fauquier counties.