Known as America’s ‘founding river,’ the James River is the lifeblood for much of Virginia’s biodiversity, the provider of water to 2.7 million residents, and acts as an abundant source of recreation for many. Though the James has a tumultuous history of pollution, significant progress has been made over the last several decades to restore… Read more
Wild Virginia is excited to welcome Jessica Roberts, the new face of habitat connectivity in our state! She has a background in endangered species population restoration and has many years of experience working in animal husbandry, community-based conservation initiatives, and environmental education program development. Her research with behavior-based management and conservation translocations has been developed… Read more
About a year ago, on August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed by Congress and signed into law. This landmark legislation intended to tackle inflation, lower costs for Americans, accelerate the deployment of clean-energy technology, combat climate change, and advance environmental justice. As we mark the first anniversary of the IRA, let’s… Read more
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – “forever chemicals” – threatens our health and our environment. Initial studies conducted by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have confirmed PFAS contamination in surface waters, groundwater, and drinking water throughout the state. To address this pollution and public health problem,… Read more
Wildlife must be able to move through our landscapes to acquire resources, find genetically diverse mates, and adapt to a changing climate. Roads, development, and other infrastructure can impede wildlife movement and create dangerous scenarios on our roadways for both wildlife and people. Virginia continues to build a network of connected landscapes and reduce human-wildlife… Read more
This is the second in a series of four blogs including policy papers from the annual publication called “Our Common Agenda,” which is organized by the Virginia Conservation Network (VCN) to bring together the many conservation partners from across the state, address pressing environmental concerns, and offer solutions. Wild Virginia led the development of the policy… Read more
This blog is the first of a four-part series reprinting policy papers from “Our Common Agenda,” an annual publication from the Virginia Conservation Network (VCN). This first installment, entitled “Preventing Pipeline Harms,” builds on the hard lessons learned from the fight against the destructive Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) but is designed to look forward, to… Read more
On June 26, 2023, environmental and community organizations filed a response opposing efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice and Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, to dismiss the environmental groups’ pending challenge to the latest biological opinion and incidental take statement under the Endangered Species Act. Also today, the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of… Read more
The U.S. Senate has followed the House of Representatives in approving the dirty deal hatched by Senator Joe Manchin and the Biden White House to force completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) through legislative fiat. Manchin and his allies, including Senate Leader Schumer, extorted their colleagues by jamming this rancid measure into a must-pass… Read more
The MVP is Far from Completion – Great Threats Remain for Virginia Decisions about the future of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) must not rest on false claims that the pipeline is almost complete.[1] Virginia would incur a majority of the new damage if construction is allowed to resume. The table below, based on MVP’s… Read more