A study released on May 18 examines effects on areas close to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) right-of-way during and after construction. Some of the external costs described would be: lost property value along the right-of-way: $779,400 to $2.4 million reduced tax revenues a decrease in economic development ecosystem damage and loss: $119.1 – $130.8… Read more
Large mammals have roamed the Earth for millions of years. From the lions and elephants of the Serengeti, to the bison and grizzly bears of North America, these animals are essential to their surrounding ecosystems. Many are indicator species that signal the health of their ecosystem simply through their presence. These large organisms often control… Read more
On April 6th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected two species of crayfish in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia under the Endangered Species Act. This listing comes in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity. The Big Sandy crayfish and the Guyandotte River crayfish have lost more than half of their… Read more
With the Harrisonburg show a day away, we are quickly approaching the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Virginia. With 3 shows hosted by Wild Virginia, we hope to utilize the different selections of films to convey a story about our planet, our beautiful and precious wild lands, and the people of the communities who… Read more
In an effort to demonstrate the profound impacts of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC) has published an online interactive mapping system detailing the environmental risks and sensitivities associated with the proposed route. As the User Guide points out, this program hopes to “organize and provide access to environmental information and… Read more
Dominion has proposed to adopt an alternative route (GWNF 6) for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) in order to avoid the threatened species in the Cheat and Shenandoah Mountain ranges. In order to avoid these mountains, the new, proposed route will pass through Pocahontas County, cross into Highland County and then into Bath and Augusta… Read more
This week, Congress will be voting an appropriations bill that is slated to include provisions that would that would significantly harm national forests. These appropriations are part of a wider deal to reform federal spending on the wildfire budget, allowing more disaster funds to be used for fire fighting. What this means, however, is that… Read more
As a human species, we seem to be doing our best to overwhelm the natural balances of the earth: we waste about 1/3 of all food produced (and up to 40% in the U.S.), we cut down 46-58,000 square miles of forest a year, and scientists predict global temperature increases as high as 8.6° by 2100. Yet,… Read more
The Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC), headed by retired UVA Senior Scientist Rick Webb, seeks to keep Virginia politicians, government bodies, and Dominion on their toes concerning environmental effects of pipelines and natural gas infrastructure. To identify potential problems, DPMC runs a civilian air force that takes photographs of existing and planned infrastructure sites. In their latest investigative effort, the DPMC… Read more
Dominion has responded to concerns about impacts to the rare Cow Knob salamander with an extreme proposal to drill though Shenandoah Mountain. The so-called horizontal directional drilling would involve two separate sections of 1.3 and 1.1 miles. Damage to Cow Knob salamander habitat would not be completely avoided, a native brook trout stream would be… Read more