All ash trees in Virginia are susceptible to the deadly Emerald Ash Borer unless treated– every Ash Tree in this region will likely die in the next several years! Join us and experts from other divisions of The Davey Tree Expert Company on October 21, 2014 to learn how to recognize signs of infestation and how to treat trees to protect them, as well as lessons learned from other areas dealing with this beetle. 

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The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is in the process of modifying the state’s wetlands permit regulations to improve and streamline the process. Mike Rolband and Dan Lucey are representing the Homebuilders Association of Virginia (HBAV) on the Citizen Advisory Group (CAG) formed to advise DEQ on these changes.

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On April 21, 2014, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule to define the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The proposed rule is intended to clarify policy that was based on a number of Supreme Court decisions, including Solid Waste of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and most recently Rapanos v. United States. According to the agencies, the proposed rule “would enhance protection for the nation’s public health and aquatic resources, and increase CWA program predictability and consistency by increasing clarity as to the scope of waters of the U.S. protected under the Act.”

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The landscape of Virginia includes thousands of abandoned historic cemeteries dating from the 17th century foundation of the colony through the first half of the 20th century, when the practice of burying the deceased on home farms and in small churchyard cemeteries remained common. According to 1989 survey by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR), at least 2000 such cemeteries exist in Virginia. Lacking obvious identifying elements, such as engraved headstones and well-marked boundaries, and often overgrown with dense vegetation - many of these cemeteries essentially disappear from the landscape.

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If you are planning to develop property in Northern Virginia that has a clear, moderate to fast-flowing perennial stream and a relatively undisturbed floodplain, you may need a survey for the wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) this winter - or your wetlands permitting may be delayed up to a year!

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In 2012 the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) published a new National Wetland Plant List (2012 NWPL), superseding the 1988 NWPL previously published by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. One of the most significant changes to the 2012 NWPL for our region included the change in indicator status of Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) from Facultative-minus (FAC-) to Facultative (FAC) in the Eastern Mountains and Piedmont (EMP) Region and in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain (AGCP) Region (a switch from being considered a non-wetland plant to a wetland plant). Since Japanese honeysuckle is a very common plant found in a variety of habitats and plant communities in our region, the change in indicator status from FAC- to FAC had the potential to result in a positive dominance test for hydrophytic (i.e., wetland) vegetation when this plant occurred as a dominant species and potentially expand the wetland boundary.

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