My wife and I are beef cattle farmers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Two years ago, we enrolled in Virginia’s Agricultural Best Management Practice Cost-Share program. We used this state funding to fence our cattle out of the streams and develop a rotational grazing system. The program opened a huge door of opportunity for […]
FERC held a “scoping” meeting at Stuarts Draft High School on March 19th, 2015. This was an opportunity for members of our community to voice concerns and participate in the democratic process about the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). If it’s built it will bisect Augusta County, Virginia, the place where we live. The news media reported […]
Richmond, Virginia, September 28, 2018: The courtroom was full as the three judges filed in from their chambers behind the bench. The bright green carpet with a perfect zig-zag pattern from a vacuum cleaner stood out. We are Sueing the State Water Control Board I was there to hear first hand all the arguments in four cases […]
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Set To Destroy Old-Growth Forest “At least three hundred trees, older than this nation, will be destroyed if the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) comes through this ridge on our property,” Bill Limpert lamented. We were walking his part of Jack Mountain in Bath County, Virginia. I could smell the old-growth forest as […]
Note: The News Leader of Staunton, Virginia published an op-ed version of this piece on 8/15/2017. It can be found here. Mayhem of Construction Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), if allowed to be built, will be the largest disturbance of land and water in the Commonwealth of Virginia since the Interstate highways were built. Is […]
Imagine paddling a canoe upstream forever. That’s my metaphor for environmental activism. Activists have been paddling against the current with the Clean Water Act on their backs ever since its passage 50 years ago. We have made a lot of progress, but it’s been against the current the whole time—and we are still paddling. The […]
The grazing season is in full swing at Whiskey Creek Angus, and the bulls are in with the ladies. We rotate our two herds of cattle to different pastures about every four to six days depending on the growth of the forage. The tree seedlings we planted last year are doing well because of the […]
Shepherdstown, WV: It used to be part of Virginia before our war against slavery. I’m here, standing on the southern bank of the Potomac River looking at the large windows and columns of the mansion of Ferry Hill Plantation on the northern, Maryland side of the river. I’m mesmerized, staring at it. I can imagine […]
The Virginia State Water Control Board must deny 401 certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). It should have denied 401 certification for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Building these fracked gas pipelines through steep, rough terrain and karst geology is fraught with danger. Construction is already causing massive soil erosion that pollutes our streams, […]
This post has been revised with breakthrough information on how to eliminate House Sparrows from your nesting boxes. It was originally posted in 2017, revised on 4/5/2020, and again today. The House Sparrow is perhaps the most adaptable and prolific bird species on the planet. Often called English Sparrow, its scientific name Passer domesticus is Latin […]