Category: NEWS MEDIA

ANS Will Keep Up The Pressure

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date August 27, 2020

For more information and to arrange interviews with speakers, contact caroline.brewer@anshome.org, or 240-899-9019, eliza.cava@anshome.org, or 202-503-9141, or lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, or 301-523-5394

For Immediate Release – August 27, 2020

Chevy Chase, MD – Lisa Alexander, the executive director of the Audubon Naturalist Society, on Tuesday, Aug. 25 voiced the organization’s opposition to the Beltway/I-270 expansion project that will lock in traffic and development patterns for the next 50 years, impose enormous financial risks, and threaten the lives of people, wildlife, and the environment.

“In the face of dual crises of Climate Change and the Covid Pandemic, expanding a roadway at the expense of water quality, parkland and tree cover is short-sighted,” Alexander said in her testimony which was included in WTOP’s coverage of the issue.

Eliza Cava, ANS’s Director of Conservation, will offer additional testimony at a hearing scheduled for September 3. She’ll discuss how the proposed expansion would increase air pollution, noise pollution, and stormwater pollution. The Beltway I-495/I-270 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS ) is out for public comment review until Oct. 8. ANS is part of a coalition that has been working toward providing alternatives to the expansion and demanding a more transparent process. ANS’s Beltway Blog offers information on how to testify/submit written comment.

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

About ANS: Throughout its history, ANS has championed nature for all by playing a pivotal role in conserving our region's iconic natural places from development including the C&O Canal, Dyke Marsh and, most recently, Ten Mile Creek. Past ANS member and board president, Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, is credited with launching the now global environmental movement. ANS's nature experts provide hundreds of opportunities each year for children and adults to enjoy, learn about, and protect the environment.

Climate Crisis CONSERVATION NEWS ALERT Virginia

Is the Fairfax City Council Bored with Fighting Climate Change?

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date July 7, 2020

For Immediate Release – July 7, 2020

For more information, contact caroline.brewer@anshome.org, or 240-899-9019, or Renee Grebe, renee.grebe@anshome.org, 703-261-4668; or lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, or 301-523-5394

FAIRFAX, VA – Environmental groups throughout the region are joining forces with the Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) and dozens of residents who have spoken out against the destruction of a portion of the Accotink Creek and forest in a proposed development in Fairfax City.

The Fairfax City Council is to decide at a hearing on July 14 if it will move forward with the Northfax West development plan, which calls for removing nearly five acres of protected riparian habitat, while permanently burying the North Fork of the Accotink Creek, home to fish, salamanders, and frogs. The plot of land and stream might seem small, but it represents a precious natural space that needs to be protected to enhance human health and well-being, provided by the existence of wildlife.

The Audubon Naturalist Society has made a key ask of the mayor and council: Deny or postponed a decision on this application to ensure alternatives are sought which preserve the healthier, “A1” section of the stream. Doing so better matches the city’s Northfax Small Area Plan vision to help the city reach its land use and environmental goals.

In June, ANS submitted an 18-page letter in opposition to the plan which would bury the creek and destroy the forest. It testified at two nights of public hearings related to that plan and is submitting a new three-page letter to the Fairfax City Council this week outlining strong opposition to a significant waiver of stream protections put in place in 1990. If granted, that waiver would set a terrible precedent that could imperil streams and their forested buffers throughout the state. Sixteen environmental groups have signed on.

“Once a building burns, you can never get back the original or its contents. And once we bury streams and destroy forests, it’s nearly impossible to get them back, to get back all the wildlife they supported, to get back the cleaner, breathable air that they provide,” said ANS Northern Virginia Advocate Renee Grebe. “A decision by the Fairfax City Council in favor of this project as proposed would set a terrible precedent for protecting streams and forested buffers. In the face of overwhelming evidence of climate change and the need to preserve natural spaces for our own mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Is the Council saying to the people of this region that it doesn’t care?”

Renee Grebe, Northern Virginia Conservation Advocate Audubon Naturalist Society Audubon Society of Northern Virginia Chesapeake Legal Alliance Clean Fairfax Clean Water Action Climate Reality Project, NOVA Chapter Earth Rise Indivisible EcoAction Arlington EcoLogics Design and Consulting, LLC Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions Friends of Accotink Creek Green Muslims Natural Resources Defense Council Potomac Riverkeeper Network The Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection Waterkeepers Chesapeake

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

NEWS ALERT NEWS MEDIA NEWS RELEASE RACHEL CARSON

Rachel Carson Birthday

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date May 21, 2020

For more information, contact caroline.brewer@anshome.org, or 240-899-9019, or lglisagoodnight@anshome.org, or 301-523-5394

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 21, 2020

Chevy Chase, MD – To honor the life and legacy of Rachel Carson, the mother of the modern environmental movement, the Audubon Naturalist Society is throwing her a Zoom birthday party starting at noon ET on May 27. Click here to register.

ANS has long and precious relationship with Carson who was a beloved member, former board president, and friend to many esteemed members of the organization. The celebration, hosted by ANS Executive Director Lisa Alexander, will feature women leaders and women in science reflecting on Carson’s contributions to the world and their own careers. Special invited guests include Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who succeeded in getting a National Park Service panel honoring Carson established in DC’s Glover Archbold Park and her Definitive Biographer Linda Lear, a longtime ANS member.

ANS will pay homage to Rachel Carson by spotlighting women to be speakers who are persevering in her footsteps and forging their own paths. The pre-birthday celebration kicks off Memorial Day weekend with social media posts and the release of engagement tools, such as the region’s FIRST interactive map of places in the Washington, D.C. region that honor Carson or that she in some way touched, along with downloadable activities for children and families

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

NEWS ALERT NEWS MEDIA NEWS RELEASE

ANS Virtual Tree Tour

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date April 1, 2020

For Immediate Release: April 1, 2020
For more information, contact caroline.brewer@anshome.org, or 240-899-9019, or Alison Pearce, Director of Restoration, alison.pearce@anshome.org, 301-704-5864 or lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, or 301-523-5394.

CHEVY CHASE, MD – Just in time to ease some of the stress and anxiety of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Audubon Naturalist Society is launching a virtual tree tour, featuring photos, histories, and uses of 21 trees on its sanctuary.

Featured trees include natives, such as the American beech, sassafras, and white oak, Maryland’s state tree, which can live up to 500 years and grow up to 100 feet tall, and a 240-year-old walnut tree. “Learning to identify local trees is a great way to be in touch with your natural environment and develop a ‘sense of place,' about where you live,” says ANS Restoration Director Alison Pearce, who oversaw development of the tour, which includes Montgomery County Champion Trees. “We have had a printed tree tour brochure available in the past, but things have changed. We have technology that allows for a more interactive and convenient online format and now seems the perfect time to make it accessible to the region.”

In addition to providing natural beauty, shade, and food for wildlife, such as birds, pollinators, and squirrels, studies have found that trees offer a bounty of other benefits, including playing a huge role, of course, in mitigating the effects of climate change. Click here to begin your adventure in the new ANS Virtual Tree Tour.

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

ANS IN THE NEWS NEWS ALERT NEWS MEDIA NEWS RELEASE Uncategorized

Join ANS for Earth Hour

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date March 27, 2020

For Immediate Release: March 27, 2020
For more information, contact Caroline.brewer@anshome.org or lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, 301-523-5394.

CHEVY CHASE, MD – The Audubon Naturalist Society encourages the public to observe Earth Hour as part of ongoing efforts to combat climate change.

WHAT IS EARTH HOUR?

The event itself is quite simple. Businesses, organizations, and individuals are asked to turn off home and building lights for at least one hour. Earth Hour's mission is to (virtually) unite people and bring awareness about the need to take action for our planet in the midst of climate change.

WHEN IS EARTH HOUR?

Saturday, March 28, 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm.

WHAT CAN I DO DURING EARTH HOUR?

Read about ANS’s 7 Actions for Climate Change: ANS Climate Crisis Flyer
Sign the Earth Hour Pledge: https://www.earthhour.org/voice
Watch the stars: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/stargazing-basics/family-projects-and-experiments/
Follow #EarthHour2020 #EarthHour2020ANS #ANS #Connect2Earth #ClimateChange

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

CONSERVATION NEWS ALERT NEWS MEDIA

ANS to testify before the Maryland legislature

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date February 26, 2019

For Immediate Release – February 26, 2019

For more information, contact Caroline Brewer, Director of Marketing and Communications, caroline.brewer@anshome.org or Eliza Cava, Director of Conservation, eliza.cava@anshome.org.

CHEVY CHASE, MD - ANS's Director of Conservation, Eliza Cava, as a member of the Stormwater Partners Network of Montgomery County, will testify before the Maryland legislature tomorrow regarding proposals for the Capital Beltway expansion on I-495 and I-270 in Maryland. This State Highway Administration (SHA) effort is proceeding rapidly and with little opportunity for public input. In effect, Cava and the Stormwater Partners Network are insisting that any changes to or expansions of Interstates 495 and 270 comply with current state and county stormwater design statutes and principles as part of an open and transparent process, which is the least the public has a right to expect.

As it stands, the coalition of civic and environmental groups believe the proposal is too large and too important to get wrong, because if not done in a reasonable and appropriate manner, it would leave current and future generations of Marylanders paying the cost of a degraded environment and communities. ANS and the Stormwater Partners urge Support of HB 695/SB 788 with amendments to strengthen stormwater analysis provisions, as well as HB91 to mitigate the harms of highway expansion.

“Big highways have locked our region into a pattern of increasing suburban sprawl for two generations. In this era of climate change, it is irresponsible to barrel ahead with bigger, wider highways without concern for consequences for the future. Bigger roads mean more traffic and sprawl. Plus more pavement will create hotter temperatures and more floods in our communities. This bill is critical to ensure we don’t repeat the mistakes of the 1950s,” said Cava.

Maryland has had a law to protect forests since 1991, but it’s got loopholes and is not doing the job it needs to do. ANS's Conservation Director Eliza Cava is making herself available to talk to the media beginning today to discuss what Maryland lawmakers need to do to ensure that more trees, “the lungs of our forests,” are better protected. Cava will be in Annapolis on Wednesday, February 27, with a coalition of other environmentalists to press legislators to pass three bills, HB120/SB203, HB272/SB234, and SB729, that will make the Forest Conservation Act much stronger.

"Our native forest ecosystems clean our air and purify our drinking water. They form the bedrock of healthy environments for people and nature. Maryland’s groundbreaking Forest Conservation Act is meant precisely to preserve our forests alongside communities and now it’s time to close the loopholes that are devastating our forests, which are the lungs of our earth,” said Cava.

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

About ANS: Throughout its history, ANS has played a pivotal role in conserving our region's iconic natural places from development including the C&O Canal, Dyke Marsh and, most recently, Ten Mile Creek. Past ANS member and board president, Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, is credited with launching the now global environmental movement. ANS's nature experts provide hundreds of opportunities each year for children and adults to enjoy, learn about, and protect the environment.

STATEMENT

ANS Statement on Amazon

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date November 16, 2018

For Immediate Release: November 15, 2018
For more information, contact Caroline Brewer at caroline.brewer@anshome.org, Lisa Alexander at lisa.alexander@anshome.org, or Eliza Cava, eliza.cava@anshome.org, or 202-503-9141, cell, or 301-652-9188 x22, office.

CHEVY CHASE, MD – In response to Amazon’s announcement this week that it would bring half of its second headquarters (“HQ2”) to the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) Executive Director Lisa Alexander issued the following statement.

“As we all settle in to review and analyze the details surrounding HQ2, ANS will be looking closely for the potential impacts to environmental and human health. One thing we know for sure is, more flushes and showers are on the way, and that could be a serious matter.”

Alexander noted that even before all the details are known, ANS is urging area leaders, planners, and voters to start seeking answers to the following questions:

What will the environmental and community impacts be in Crystal City? How will we ensure that the redeveloped buildings will be bird-safe and use best environmental practices, including green infrastructure to capture polluted runoff from rainstorms? How will Amazon work to grow and enhance tree canopy and green space in and around Crystal City and make it available and accessible to all?
What will the environmental and community impacts be in the greater DC region? While this decision will be made by one jurisdiction, it affects all three. How will area leaders ensure that enough housing is constructed close to transit to counteract the trend toward sprawl? How will area leaders ensure that housing remains affordable so that those with fewer resources are not driven out to agricultural exurbs and then forced to endure long, polluting commutes on new pavement?

Alexander concluded, “Many in our region are rightly focused on housing affordability and transit access. We need to understand that these are also environmental issues. Sprawl development threatens the quality of our drinking water, threatens wildlife habitats, and creates conditions that could lead to horrible flooding. So that’s why we need to ensure that planning is put in place immediately to ward off these dangers, and also help people at all income levels live close to jobs that pay a living wage.”

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

STATEMENT

Dogue Creek Development Delayed

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date October 23, 2018

For Immediate Release: October 23, 2018

Contact: Caroline Brewer, caroline.brewer@anshome.org or Monica Billger at monica.billger@anshome.org

Hearing set for Wednesday, October 24 at 7:30 now cancelled.
The commission will vote in a private meeting tomorrow on the postponement.

Chevy Chase, MD – The Audubon Naturalist Society released the following statement after being alerted to the news that the Fairfax County Planning Commission received a request to delay the proposed amendment to develop 8800 Richmond Highway from Developer Mark Viani.

“Regardless of what the reason for indefinitely postponing the plan amendment, we know that the proposed plan was a terrible, awful, horrible idea,” says Monica Billger, ANS’s Northern Virginia Advocacy Manager. “A floodplain is a floodplain, and this site is CLEARLY a bad place to develop. We consider this a victory for the residents and property owners in the Dogue Creek area, and for all of the wildlife supported by Dogue Creek and nearby green spaces. We do not want Fairfax County to become like Houston and pave all its floodplains. We will continue to encourage the Planning Commission to deny this amendment and set the RIGHT precedent that will allow Fairfax County to stand by its thoughtful and award-winning planning processes and continue to value environmental protection for its residents and wildlife.”

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

NEWS RELEASE Uncategorized

Development Could Lead to More Flooding in NOVA

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date October 16, 2018

For Immediate Release – October 16, 2018
For more information, contactcarolinebrewer@anshome.org or 301-652-9188, ext. 23, or Monica Billger, monica.billger@anshome.org

CHEVY CHASE, MD – The Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) is taking a stand to protect Dogue Creek from an ill-conceived plan to build on five acres at 8800 Richmond Highway. The proposal, which goes against longstanding county policies, calls for building 43 townhouses and adding 41,000 cubic yards of fill to the 100-year floodplain at Dogue Creek.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission would have to amend the comprehensive plan to allow the project to move forward. Approving the development could place nearby homes and properties at greater risk of flooding, set a precedent that paves the way for more development in floodplains and sensitive environmental areas near Dogue Creek and all over the county, and raise flood insurance costs.

“This is a terrible, awful, horrible idea,” says Monica Billger, ANS’s Northern Virginia Advocacy Manager, “for more reasons than we can count, but one is enough. We teach children that when you put something in water, the water spreads. In this case, it could spread far and fast enough to threaten communities, especially downstream properties. Does anyone remember this past summer in Virginia, when stormwater forced people out of their cars? Or last year in Houston with Hurricane Harvey? Harvey alone cost $125 billion in damage and the loss of nearly 70 lives. We don’t want Harvey-type damage in Northern Virginia. Flood me once, shame on me. Flood me twice, shame on you. This is a terrible idea whose time should never come.”

What: Contact ANS to learn more and attend with us, alongside local and regional friends, who oppose this development in the floodplain, during the next public hearing on the proposal.

Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

Location: Fairfax County Government Center

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

NEWS RELEASE

Secretary Grumbles

Post author By Vince Robinson
Post date September 25, 2018

For Immediate Release – September 25, 2018

For more information, contact Caroline Brewer at carolinebrewer@anshome.org or 301-652-9188, ext. 23, or Mark Shaffer at mark.shaffer1@maryland.gov

CHEVY CHASE, MD – Ben Grumbles, Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, will tour Audubon Naturalist Society’s headquarters at Woodend Nature Sanctuary to learn more about ANS’s innovative “tree-safe” rain garden and other green infrastructure projects. ANS’s year-old rain garden features more than 300 native trees and shrubs and two lengthy compost-filled berms that filter and slow polluted stormwater, a technology that is essential to help this region combat the flooding and other damage done to property, homes, businesses, and roads during severe storms and hurricanes, like the ones we’ve experienced just this summer.

ANS also is in the process of restoring its meadows and forests by planting thousands of new trees, shrubs, wildflowers and native plants, which the Secretary will get to see during his tour. The sanctuary is bursting with rich and ever-expanding biodiversity that’s already attracting more pollinators, insects, and birds. And, the region’s longest serving independent environmental group is planning to restore its Clean Drinking Stream to improve wildlife habitat and educational opportunities. The rain garden and other green infrastructure projects are designed as demonstration projects for local homeowners and residents, and the sanctuary is a year-round outdoor classroom open to all.

WHAT: Secretary of the Department of the Environment will tour ANS’s nature sanctuary
WHEN: Tuesday, September 25, 2:15 p.m.
WHERE: ANS headquarters at Woodend Sanctuary, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
WHO: Maryland’s Secretary for the Department of the Environment Ben Grumbles, MDE's Deputy Secretary Horacio Tablada, ANS Executive Director Lisa Alexander, ANS Conservation Director Eliza Cava, and ANS Restoration Director Alison Pearce.

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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/AudubonNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.

NEWS ALERT

ANS WILL KEEP UP THE PRESSURE TO ALTER 'SHORT-SIGHTED' BELTWAY/I-270 EXPANSION

NEWS ALERT

IS THE FAIRFAX CITY COUNCIL BORED WITH NEED
TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE, PROTECT STREAMS, AND CLEANER AIR?

NEWS ALERT

CELEBRATING RACHEL CARSON WITH PIONEERING WOMEN AND NEW ONLINE APP

NEWS ALERT

DURING THIS TIME OF GREAT UNEASE, GO ONLINE AND GET CLOSER TO TREES

NEWS ALERT

NO LIGHTS SATURDAY NIGHT: JOIN ANS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD FOR PLANET-LOVING EARTH HOUR

NEWS ALERT

Gov. Hogan's Beltway Expansion, Climate Change and Destruction of Trees on ANS's MD Legislature Agenda Tomorrow

STATEMENT

More flushes and showers on the way with Amazon HQ2

STATEMENT

Alexandria's Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day Just Got Better!

ANS celebrates news that Fairfax County Planning Commission Received Request to Indefinitely Delay Proposed Amendment to Develop 8800 Richmond Highway from Developer Mark Viani

NEWS RELEASE

Terrible, Awful, Horrible Development Proposal
Could Lead to More Flooding and Worse in NOVA

NEWS RELEASE

Stormwater Flooding and Pollution on His Mind:

NEWS ALERT

ANS WILL KEEP UP THE PRESSURE TO ALTER 'SHORT-SIGHTED' BELTWAY/I-270 EXPANSION

NEWS ALERT

IS THE FAIRFAX CITY COUNCIL BORED WITH NEED TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE, PROTECT STREAMS, AND CLEANER AIR?

NEWS ALERT

CELEBRATING RACHEL CARSON WITH PIONEERING WOMEN AND NEW ONLINE APP

NEWS ALERT

DURING THIS TIME OF GREAT UNEASE, GO ONLINE AND GET CLOSER TO TREES

NEWS ALERT

NO LIGHTS SATURDAY NIGHT: JOIN ANS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD FOR PLANET-LOVING EARTH HOUR

NEWS ALERT

Gov. Hogan's Beltway Expansion, Climate Change and Destruction of Trees on ANS's MD Legislature Agenda Tomorrow

STATEMENT

More flushes and showers on the way with Amazon HQ2

STATEMENT

Alexandria's Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day Just Got Better!

ANS celebrates news that Fairfax County Planning Commission Received Request to Indefinitely Delay Proposed Amendment to Develop 8800 Richmond Highway from Developer Mark Viani

NEWS RELEASE

Terrible, Awful, Horrible Development Proposal Could Lead to More Flooding and Worse in NOVA

NEWS RELEASE

Stormwater Flooding and Pollution on His Mind:

IS THE FAIRFAX CITY COUNCIL BORED WITH NEED
TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE, PROTECT STREAMS, AND CLEANER AIR?

Terrible, Awful, Horrible Development Proposal
Could Lead to More Flooding and Worse in NOVA