Rivanna Forests to Faucets (F2F) Initiative

F2F 2013

admin — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:35:11 +0000

The Forests to Faucets program is continuing in 2013. For more information, check out the F2F Forest Establishment page, or contact David Powell at david.powell@dof.virginia.gov or call 434-977-5193.

F2F 2012

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:16:05 +0000

In the third and final year of the F2F Initiative, the project team will focus on completion of the Optimum Infrastructure Expenditure tool – a capital improvement planning tool to test the impact of green and grey infrastructure expenditures on water supply reservoir pollution.

In addition, payments to landowners for forest establishment and easements will also continue.

Forests to Faucets Expands to Entire Rivanna River Basin of Virginia

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:00:35 +0000

NOVEMBER, 2011 UPDATE…

F2F Technical Session held on Monday, November 28 at VDOF Headquarters in Charlottesville to discuss Forest Conservation Easement Environmental Lift

AUGUST, 2011 UPDATE…

F2F Advisory Council Meeting set for Tuesday, October 18th at 9 a.m. at VDOF Headquarters in Charlottesville.

JUNE, 2011 UPDATE…

F2F payments are now available for qualifying landowners throughout the Rivanna River watershed of Virginia. The Rivanna River watershed is located in Central Virginia on the east slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains and includes within its drainage area the City of Charlottesville and portions of the Counties of Albemarle and Fluvanna.

MAY, 2011 UPDATE…IMPLEMENTATION by farmer Richard Hudson…

APRIL, 2011 UPDATE….

A new payment has just been created for livestock fencing @ $3.50 per linear foot!

For more information, visit the new Payments for Fencing Page…

JANUARY UPDATE…

2011 funding for Forest Establishment projects in the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir Watershed is now available.

Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information, check out the F2F Forest Establishment page, or contact David Powell at david.powell@dof.virginia.gov or call 434-977-5193.

What is F2F?

admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:00:40 +0000

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc. awarded the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) a $400,000 grant to specifically study the link between urban water consumers and rural landowners. The program will provide funds to landowners to improve water-resources related stewardship practices. To provide program support, Conserv has been awarded a 3 year contract from VDOF to provide services for this groundbreaking initiative.

The pilot project will study the link between rural landowners’ financial interests and their forestland management practices in the South Fork Rivanna River (SFRR) Reservoir watershed to municipal water consumers in the City of Charlottesville and the Urban Areas of Albemarle County. The intent of the initiative is to examine the long-term costs and benefits of water resource related stewardship practices on the health of the area’s water supply.

The three-year project will create a Forests to Faucets (F2F) Advisory Council comprised of business, environmental, city, and rural area stakeholders from the area. The F2F Council will offer technical and policy support to VDOF and Conserv. A series of applied projects will be completed to compare the costs and benefits of maintenance and enhancement of watershed health through constructed engineering solutions vs. the costs and benefits of natural infrastructure provided by healthy forests.

For more information, click on the F2F Brochure below or contact VDOF forester David Powell at 434-220-9179.

See a Dateline 29 News Story for an overview of the Initiative.

Image courtesy of the University of Virginia Geostat Center.

Why Pines Lead to Hardwoods

admin — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:39:26 +0000

If your goal is to establish a hardwood forest on open land, it may seem best to begin by planting hardwood seedlings. However, it is better to follow the principles of ‘Forest succession’. Forest succession is a term that describes the basic stages in the development of a forest. When farmland is abandoned, the first plants that move in are grasses and sun-loving herbaceous plants and shrubs. These are followed by fast-growing trees like pines. As pines age and drop their branches, sunlight reaches the forest floor. Seeds from hardwoods like oak and hickory can germinate and grow. These hardwoods eventually overtake the pines and shade them out. The natural progression from cleared land to mature hardwood forest may take 100 years or more! We can manipulate this successional process with a variety of different tools, but it is generally expensive and carries no guarantee of success.

There are two main methods of pushing succession forward: planting pine seedlings or planting hardwood seedlings. Planting hardwood trees requires much more labor, materials and early care; because we are trying to skip a large portion of the natural process. Such expense is best saved for very high priority areas such as establishing hardwood forest buffers immediately adjacent to waterways.

Therefore, we generally recommend afforesting open fields begins with planting a pine forest. When a pine forest is established, it creates a favorable habitat (cover, food and thermal protection) for many wildlife species, such as migratory birds, small mammals and game species.

This forest management technique is used very successfully on our State Forestlands in Virginia. With the exception of specialty areas, a hardwood forest is established naturally on open land by planting pine. Though this may seem strange, it is a very economical way to establish a successful hardwood forest over the long term.

The Virginia Department of Forestry can assist you in establishing forests on your property both economically and naturally. To begin your project, please contact us at 434-220-9035 or email me at David.Powell@dof.virginia.gov.

- By David Powell and Nelson Shaw, VDOF