Category: Uncategorized

For Immediate Release – July 15, 2020

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

FAIRFAX, VA – The Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) and dozens of Fairfax City residents were outraged over the granting of a special exception late Tuesday night which paves the way for the elimination of a living stream and forest.

The Fairfax City Council hosted a public hearing on the rezoning and Master Development Plan of the Northfax West property. ANS strongly supports and encourages redevelopment to improve land use economically and environmentally. In this case, however, the economics for the developer appeared to be prioritized over the City’s current ecological protections.

With several Council members reading prepared remarks, Council unanimously approved the development proposal without modifications requested by residents and conservation organizations. “The City encompasses the headwaters of Accotink Creek, home to fish, salamanders, buffered by a forest with birds and other wildlife. They should not have traded away this precious natural space for man-made green infrastructure and stream restorations,” ANS Northern Virginia Conservation Advocate Renee Grebe said.

Although he voted to approve the project, Councilmember Yi, answering without prepared remarks, passionately stated “The way we do things is most concerning to me,” highlighting the desire for independent consultants to help evaluate development projects. “People will walk away thinking ‘The Council did not listen to us.’” He continued: “We heard you and what you said is very important and it’s been weighing on me.”

The City approval
Nearly 70% of the 25 speakers opposed the current proposal and requested a delay to allow for alternative proposals that preserve the A1 section of the North Fork and would not require a special exception to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance. Similarly, nearly 90% of the comments on the City’s comment2Fairfax portal opposed the plan.

This development proposal raised several concerns. The biggest concern is the special exception granted to ignore stream protections, setting a terrible precedent statewide to allow building on protected land as an economic necessity to expand urban areas.

“The City Council did not request alternative development plans from the applicant. Instead, the City chose decades-old solutions for dealing with streams and natural floodplains –simply put the water in a pipe. Green infrastructure and stream restorations should be used to help minimize impacts to our urban streams, not as a replacement for them,” said Grebe.

BACKGROUND
Tucked away from a sea of parking lots and close to a major road intersection is a 5-acre patch of forest and stream that hosts a variety of life, from barred owls to salamanders. This same area, Northfax, is projected to be an area of economic growth within the City of Fairfax. But to grow, redevelopment of the current activity center is needed.

Northfax West is one of the last properties in this area to be rezoned and it includes this portion of the North Fork of Accotink Creek and its associated forested Resource Protection Area. After many years of consolidating more than a dozen individual lots, and a few years of planning the proposal, the Northfax West proposal came before the Planning Commission and City Council for a vote.

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For Immediate Release – July 2, 2020
For more information, contact caroline.brewer@anshome.org, or 240-899-9019, or lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, or 301-523-5394

CHEVY CHASE, MD – The Audubon Naturalist Society's new line-up of summer camps with options that include nature photography and filmography are getting high praise from parents. One mom said her son was "really energized by the interactions in camp, and has continued to spend time outside taking photographs since the camp ended" and called the experience "a great example of how some engagement and guidance really benefits kids."

Nature Film at Home, for rising 7th -9th graders, will be held the week of July 6. Campers will learn how to shoot and edit their own short nature film on their smartphones. Classes will be held via Zoom from 10-11 am and 3-4 pm with an additional 1-2 hours of self-led outdoor prompts and activities per day. The Nature Photography at Home Camp will be offered the week of July 13 for 6th-9th graders. Classes are held via Zoom from 10-11 a.m. and 2-3 p.m. with an additional 1-2 hours of self-led outdoor prompts and activities per day.

Those programs, along with Audubon Advocacy and Backyard Exploration Packs, are part of a new offering of camps in 2020 that give young people around the region the benefit of learning about their surroundings from environmental educators who are carrying out ANS's 123-year-legacy of enjoying, protecting, and teaching about nature.

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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

For Immediate Release – June 24, 2020

Chevy Chase, MD - The Planning Commission this week hosted a public hearing on the rezoning and Master Development Plan of the Northfax West property. Significant concerns were raised by the Audubon Naturalist Society and the public, with nearly three-fourths of the 20 speakers asking for a delay to allow for alternative proposals that preserve more of the natural area. Monday's vote was 6-1 vote in favor of approval.

At the Tuesday, June 23 City Council meeting, several important public hearings scheduled for that evening were postponed until July 14th, including Northfax West and the Farr Avenue road extension.

“This delay is a wise decision by the City Council. It was our chief ask. We hope this means Council members will leave themselves enough time to fully absorb the public’s concerns and explore alternatives to putting this living stream in a culvert underground, while still shaping a valuable Activity Center for the City of Fairfax,” said ANS Northern Virginia Conservation Advocate Renee Grebe. “This project has been underway for a long time and taking a few more months to respond to public input is prudent given the new information we have uncovered.”

City Council discussed a variety of environmental concerns in regards to the Northfax Small Area Plan, particularly in regards to the assumed culverting of the North Fork of Accotink Creek, however, the Council ultimately unanimously approved the Northfax Small Area Plan, paving the way for the Northfax West development plan to now be in line with the City’s vision document which supersedes the Comprehensive Plan.

“This is an unfortunate scenario of the tail wagging the dog. This Small Area Plan should be guiding the City towards a vision, not having a developer guide the City to a vision,” Grebe said.

Additional Background on the Project

Tucked away from a sea of parking lots and close to a major road intersection is a five-acre patch of forest and stream that hosts a variety of life, from barred owls to salamanders. This same area, Northfax, is projected to be an area of economic growth within the City of Fairfax. But to grow, redevelopment of the current activity center is needed.

Northfax West is one of the last properties in this area to be rezoned and it includes this portion of the North Fork of Accotink Creek and its associated forested Resource Protection Area. After many years of consolidating over a dozen individual lots, and a few years of planning the proposal, the Northfax West proposal came before the Planning Commission and City Council for a vote.

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For more information, contact caroline.brewer@anshome.org, or 240-899-9019, Renee Grebe, renee.grebe@anshome.org, 703-960-1741, lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, or 301-523-5394

For Immediate Release – June 3, 2020

Chevy Chase, MD – The Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) is one of several groups leading efforts to save a portion of the Accotink Creek, the 25-mile-long Potomac tributary, along with the nearby four acres of forested riparian habitat in the City of Fairfax. On June 23, the City Council will decide if it will move forward with the Northfax West development plan.

It should be clear that ANS supports major portions of the Northfax West plan to transform acres of impervious parking lot into a more vibrant, ecologically focused activity center with walkable streets, denser development, better use of scarce land, rain gardens, bioswales, and green roofs.

At the same time, the 123-year-old environmental organization says it’s also clear that nature needs to be protected for people and wildlife during redevelopment.  “There’s no way to make up for losing the living headwaters of the Accotink watershed,” said ANS Northern Virginia Conservation Advocate Renee Grebe, in her latest blog post about the proposed plan. “City residents are at risk of losing another natural place of solace, while owls, fish, and salamanders will lose their homes. We have seen with the COVID-19 pandemic that access to nature is a priceless commodity during all times, and especially during the worst of times.”

City of Fairfax Resident Katy Johnson agreed in comments she submitted May 29 to the mayor and council. “We have recently visited the creek and contrary to what was reported at the May 13^th council meeting, we found more fish than we could count, frogs, bugs and a chorus of birds, including a barred owl in the middle of the afternoon, which likely indicates its roost can also be found within the riparian buffer, and many, many other animals rustling to hide away from us.”

ANS has three chief asks of the mayor and council: 1) That a decision to rezone the entire lot be postponed; 2) That the City bring in to the development process an expert ecologist; 3) Alternatives be sought that preserve the healthier, “A1”, section of the stream and better match the city’s Small Area Plan vision and help the city reach its land use and environmental goals.

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For Immediate Release: May 27, 2020

Statement by ANS Executive Director Lisa Alexander

On the day that media and social media exposed a white woman's racist actions, meant to threaten and potentially destroy a black man's life, we at the Audubon Naturalist Society were in the throes of preparing for a first-time virtual celebration of the great Environmental Champion and former ANS Board Member Rachel Carson.

We conceived of a celebration that would bring together the voices of women in science and public affairs who are as diverse as we could manage in the time that we had for planning. What we have managed includes white women, a black woman, a Latina woman, and the works of children. It's not a complete representation of the diversity in our region, certainly not the racial or ethnic diversity, but, for us, it's progress. And this progress is part of our ongoing strategic and humanely-inspired effort to perform something of the Japanese art of kintsugi - the bonding of what is broken -- with gold.

The brokenness of our nation is on display once again. And we at the Audubon Naturalist Society are here to say to our members, supporters, and the communities that make up this wonderful Washington, DC region, that we intend to pour gold into our brokenness, our flaws, our scars, our human fabric. Today we do that by lifting the voices of women in honor of a woman who lifted the voice of humanity. Amy Cooper's reaction to being asked by Christian Cooper (no relation) to leash her dog, in accordance with the rules for dog walking in New York City's Central Park, is shameful, heartbreaking, deeply disturbing, and outrageous. She wounded an innocent man, perhaps for life, and certainly wounded African Americans who have suffered for too long from irrational and deadly fears, based on the color of their skin. Our program today is one of many ways that we continue to act on the need for healing, understanding, and brotherhood. It's just one of our many conscious attempts over the past several years to pour gold into the unmistakable brokenness that is a part of our world and a glaring part of the environmental movement. Our great hope is that all of our friends and supporters will look for ways today, and each day forward, to be that gold that bonds, that heals, and that beautifies our human fabric.

Read about "The Japanese art principle that teaches how to work with failure."

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For more information and to set up interviews with speakers, contact: Caroline Brewer, caroline.brewer@anshome.org, cell: 240-899-9019 or Lisa Goodnight, lglisagoodnight@gmail.com, cell: 301-523-5394

Chevy Chase, MD - The February 27 Taking Nature Black conference will include thought-provoking panel discussions, performances, and the Environmental Champions Awards ceremony with regional and national environmental leaders talking about the pioneering work of African Americans on climate change, environmental justice, and environmental joy! Panelists will address climate change politics, policies, and promosing solutions, urban and rural organic farming, ancestral lands, green careers and renewable energy, youth activism, outdoor adventures and much more!

Click here for the conference program, panelists, and panel descriptions.

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