Krebser Fund

On The Ground Updates – December 2023

On The Ground Updates – December 2023

A series of short land use and conservation updates from around the PEC region.

2022 Highlights

2022 Highlights

Learn about our efforts to expand conservation and restoration efforts, empower local communities, invest in public access, and connect consumers to local farms in 2022.

Fall tree plantings + Orvis Giveback days

Fall tree plantings + Orvis Giveback days

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.

Working Together for Clean Water and the Brook Trout

Working Together for Clean Water and the Brook Trout

PEC has been working with state agencies, partner organizations and landowners to improve fish passage across the Piedmont, one barrier at a time.

Appalachian Conservation Corps blaze new trail at Rappahannock County Park

Appalachian Conservation Corps blaze new trail at Rappahannock County Park

Rappahannock County Park has been visited recently by the Appalachian Conservation Corps (ACC), an AmeriCorps program of Conservation Legacy. The Piedmont Environmental Council, PEC’s Krebser Fund for Rappahannock County and Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) have partnered with the ACC to bring a crew of 6 young adults to the Piedmont region for tree plantings and trail maintenance projects.

The Little Park that Could

The Little Park that Could

Along the Rush River in the town of Washington, just a few miles east of the Shenandoah National Park, the 7.3-acre Rappahannock County Park is best known by locals for its pirate-ship playground, skate park, tennis courts, and picnic area. But, it has also come into focus recently for its natural beauty.

A Fish Runs Through It

As the fog broke on a brisk November morning in Madison County, more than three dozen people arrived at the Whiteoak Canyon trailhead ready to celebrate the new, 35-foot, open-span bridge over Cedar Run. They marveled at the sounds of water bubbling over the rocky streambed from the north side of the bridge to the south. Many walked upright beneath the sturdy, brown, steel-framed structure. And all excitedly searched the deep pools for our guests of honor—the native brook trout, a species of concern on Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan.