- Upcoming Events
- 2/10/2024 - Saturday - Adopt-A-Park @ Indian River Park - Invasives
- 2/17/2024 - Saturday - Great Backyard Bird Count - Guided Hike
- News
- January Roundup
- Benefit of Trees
- *New* Action Alert: Support Tree Bills in General Assembly
Upcoming Events
Saturday, Feb 10: Adopt-A-Park @ Indian River Park - Invasive Species Workshop
- Time: 9:00 am to Noon
- Location: Meet at the Indian River Park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.
- Learn to identify various invasive plant species that threaten Indian River Park and natural areas across the Tidewater region. Those found in the park include English Ivy, Chinese Privet, Multifloral Rose, Linden Viburnum, and others.
- Then we'll have a work effort to clear some outbreaks of the English Ivy. The more volunteers that come out the more that we can accomplish!
- Please wear closed-toe shoes, long pants, a hat and bring work gloves. We'll be working both to remove Ivy on the ground and on trees. Bring pruning clippers, loppers, screwdrivers (which are amazingly useful in prying ivy off tree trunks) and/or pruning saws if you have them. We will have water and snacks but we also always encourage folks to bring their own water in reusable bottles to minimize use of plastic bottles. Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.
- Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/RH8sPF1G8zCR4Ziq9
Saturday, Feb 17: Great Backyard Bird Count - Guided Hike
- Time: 8:30 am to 10:30 am.
- Location: Meet at the Indian River Community Center, 2250 Old Greenbrier Rd
- It's the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count, a worldwide effort to identify the distribution of birds; as part of this we'll be leading a guided bird walk around the lake between the Indian River Community/Rec Center and the High School.
- Last year we had a real treat with a flock of 18 Ring-necked Ducks on the lake, a first for us at this location, Northern Shoveler ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, Double-Crested Cormorants, Mallards, and lots of Canada Geese. We also saw Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Great Blue Herons, Hooded Merganser, 3 kinds of woodpeckers, various sparrows, an Eastern Towhee, and more.
- We'll have some binoculars and a spotting scope, but do bring your own if you have some!
- Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/n55atYuswhUXUp417 (suggested but not required)
January Roundup
On Thursday, Jan 18 the Friends of Indian River held our Annual Meeting and Volunteer Appreciation Celebration. We reelected our board and officers and then had an excellent discussion about goals for 2024. A sample of the ideas raised included continuing to focus on implementation of the Indian River Small Area Plan, working more with the Elizabeth River Project on their River Star program, protecting existing trees and planting more trees, and more community outreach. Our board will be reviewing the suggestion at its February meeting.
At the end of the month, we had a great Adopt-A-Park event at Indian River Park. 11 energetic volunteers got the garden mulched in about an hour - and then had the energy to pull around 250 lbs of trash out of the wetlands. We thank the volunteers for all the great work!
Benefits of Trees
While trees alone won't solve all the woes of a modern city, they go a long way to making a City a more livable place. The benefits of trees includes:
- Reduced Flooding
- Reduced Urban Heat Islands
- Enhanced Beauty of a Place
- Improved Air Quality
- Improved Water Quality
- Improved Soil Health
- Reduced Noise Pollution
- Improved Walkability and Sense of Community
- Increased Economic Activity in business districts with tree lined streetscapes
- Improved Human Health including reduced incidence of obesity and asthma
- Reduced Stress and Anxiety and overall improved Mental Health
- Reduced symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
- Traffic Calming and fewer Accidents
- Lower Cooling and Heating Costs
- Increased Property Values
- Reduced Violence and Crime
- Improved Academic Performance of students
- Wildlife and Biodiversity benefits
- Storage of Carbon
Action Alert: Support Tree Bills in General Assembly
There are several bills in the General Assembly that would give the City of Chesapeake the option to do more to protect trees and restore tree canopy during development. Current state law limits how much Chesapeake can require of developers during construction. HB1100 would enable all counties, cities, and towns in Virginia to adopt tree conservation ordinances to conserve healthy mature trees during construction projects. HB 529 would increase how much canopy must be replaced when trees are cut down during development. Both these bills will be heard by the full House this week. Please reach out to your Delegates today to ask them to support these bills. Here is a quick action link to send them a message. https://p2a.co/m3lRvxK
Everyone agrees on the many benefits of trees for flood protection, summer heat mitigation, improving the environment, enabling healthier living, and improving the beauty of a place. But the Chesapeake Bay Program Forestry Workgroup, the US Forest Service, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay recently released a Tree Cover Status Report that finds that the City of Chesapeake had a net loss of 332 acres of trees between 2014 and 2018, even factoring in tree planting efforts – about 80 acres per year lost. Just in 2023, the Chesapeake City Council approved 20 development projects that will result in cutting down over 70 acres of mature trees, with the ultimate replanting of about 20 acres, for a net loss of 50 acres to zoning changes. And that doesn’t count trees lost to by-right development, road construction, other infrastructure projects, or homeowners cutting down trees. And this goes on year after year, with a cumulative snowball effect. HB 529 and HB 1100 will give the City of Chesapeake the option to protect more trees and/or require more trees to be planted. Ask your Delegate to support these bills today!
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