October 1 2020 at 12:00 pm - 12:00 pm. Trees strengthen our community by increasing property values, making public spaces more livable and improving our environment. Register in advance for free trees through this Friends of the Rappahannock tree giveaway. Trees will become available during the month of October.

October 1 2020 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm. Connect with fellow connectivity advocates, planners and interesting people in the Albemarle/Charlottesville area via online web chat (Google Hangouts Meet). We will hear from Kyle Lawrence, of the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition. He will tell us about SVBC’s efforts to get more people moving, while bringing people together and getting new infrastructure built.

In a follow up to Prince William Conservation Alliance's program in July with photographer and author Dudley Edmonston, they bring you This Land IS Your Land, a community conversation with prominent local nature enthusiasts of color.

Attend this event hosted by the Piedmont group of the Sierra Club. The MVP is a 42-inch, 303-mile pipeline that is proposed to carry 2 million cubic feet of fracked natural gas per day, making it one of the largest pipelines in the country. Kirk Bowers, PE, Virginia Chapter Pipelines Committee Co-Chair, will present the history of the campaign that has kept the MVP from being built, along with updates about ongoing activities.

Loudoun residents: Chair Phyllis Randall and Supervisor Turner will host a climate action webinar on Thursday, October 8. Join the discussion to shape the direction of potential environmental policy and provide practical steps to move Loudoun forward on climate and energy issues.

Attend one of the three October orientation sessions to learn about becoming an Extension Master Gardener in 2021. Extension Master Gardeners are volunteer educators of the Virginia Cooperative Extension, dedicated to working through community outreach education and promoting science-based environmentally sound horticulture practices and sustainable landscape management.

This session is hosted by Rapidan River Extension for residents of the Albemarle-Charlottesville area and five neighboring counties (Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, Madison and Orange).

On October 10 at 7 PM, Climate Reality leaders Natalie Pien and Tiziana Bottino will join former US Vice President Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project for 24 Hours of Reality: Countdown to the Future, a digital and global conversation about the climate crisis and its solutions in communities around the world.

Attend one of the three October orientation sessions to learn about becoming an Extension Master Gardener in 2021. Extension Master Gardeners are volunteer educators of the Virginia Cooperative Extension, dedicated to working through community outreach education and promoting science-based environmentally sound horticulture practices and sustainable landscape management.

This session is hosted by Rapidan River Extension for residents of the Albemarle-Charlottesville area and five neighboring counties (Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, Madison and Orange).

Join American Farmland Trust and your local conservation agencies at an upcoming *Virtual Women for the Land Learning Circles in Virginia. This session will be split up into two days - October 20 & 22 and will focus on services available to women landowners in Virginia, with a particular emphasis on Loudoun and Prince William counties.

October 22, 2020 at 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. Partner Event. Pour yourself a beverage and meet your new park superintendent, Pat Kenney, formerly Deputy Superintendent at Yellowstone National Park. Pat and Kevin Soviak, Shenandoah's Deputy Superintendent, will share updates and insights on the state of Shenandoah National Park.

You know the value of native plants, trees, and sustainable landscaping techniques. But now what? What can you do to begin working with your HOA or Condo Association to encourage them to take the next steps in investing in this approach? Join Plant NOVA Natives for an engaging session on ecologically sustainable community master planning and land management in Loudoun County.

Virginia Cooperative Extension is providing this water quality clinic for residents in and around: Clarke County, Frederick County, Page County, Shenandoah County, and Warren County. Cost: $60/sample kit. Pre-registration required.

October 26, 2020 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. During the first half of the meeting, Coalition representatives will discuss ongoing issues, most notably an upcoming (this winter) Mobility Summit, and we will share updates about new projects of mutual interest. At about 5:15 p.m., we will hear from Heather Barrar, from the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River (FOLAR). Heather will tell us about FOLAR’s approach to Collective Impact and their efforts to connect upland residents to the river and surrounding parklands.

October 28, 2020 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm. The annual Smart Growth Social has been the Coalition for Smarter Growth's most popular party of the year! Of course, this year it will take place over Zoom, but we all feel the need to reconnect with friends and allies in our community in these strange and difficult times.