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Conservation

State Adopt-A-Highway Program

All Fredericksburg/Rappahannock Chapter Izaak Walton League members, we have a great program to assist us in promoting conservation of our land. Our Chapter has a two mile stretch of roadway on Orange Plank Road to support the Virginia effort to keep our highways free of trash. This piece of highway is our part of the State Adopt-A-Highway Program. Our stretch of road is identified by signs and begins at the intersection of Longstreet Drive and Orange Plank Road (Rt 621) and goes for two miles toward the Orange County line. The end of the two mile stretch is also identified by a standard Adopt-A-Highway sign. Our responsibility as part of the program is to organize a cleanup, as a minimum, four times a year. The VDOT will supply the bags, safety vests and notification signs for each cleanup effort. I will be the point of contact. This effort can be joined by other organizations as well. If the Boy Scouts or other groups would like to schedule a service project at a date and time of their choosing, we can accommodate that as well. Conservation is important and this is just one way to provide a needed service to our community as well as taking care of our beautiful roadways.

The scheduled Adopt-A-Highway clean-up dates for 2012 are:

• 7 April
• 9 June
• 8 September
• 8 December

Safety and comfort details

1. All must wear a bright orange safety vest for visibility (vest are provided by VDOT and issued to the IWL POC).
2. The IWL POC must place the VDOT road pickup signs on the route prior to beginning the clean up.
3. We will clean just one side of the road at a time for safety purposes.
4. Orange bags will be provided to the POC for distribution.
5. When a bag is full, just tie it off and leave it on the side of the road.
6. Please stay a safe distance off the road to avoid traffic.
7. Wear appropriate personal clothing to protect you from the elements and the environment. -Recommend long sleeve shirt and long pants, hat, gloves, boots, bottle of water and a energy bar. Also bring a pick up stick for ease of lifting items.

We will always meet at the Izaak Walton League clubhouse at 0900 on the morning of the events and convoy as a group over to the location. Once in the parking site a quick safety brief is conducted and bags and vests are distributed. We usually work until about noon depending on the weather. We have a good time and get to meet other members of our chapter. I look forward to the next event. See you there! Thanks,

Michael J Sullivan
Chair for Conservation
Fredericksburg/Rappahannock Chapter
Izaak Walton League
mjs2516@comcast.net
Cell 717 756-6435

Notes from the December 3 2011 Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup

On 3 December 2011. The day was perfect. The sky is clear and the temperature in the 50s. Our "Road Warriors" were full of energy and ready to tackle Orange Plank Road. From 0900 to 1130 our team scoured the sides of the road for everything that wasn't supposed to be there. Car parts, bottles, cans, full peanut butter jars and more were just a few of the strange things that got removed. 14 bags of junk were prepared for removal today. Thanks to all our volunteers for their time and effort. This end of the county is now a little nicer place to live.

Great Turn-Out: (Not in order) Bill McClellan, Ed Zeigler, Ron Herndon, Mike Dunlap, Rick McKearney, Mike Sullivan (taking photo)

Notes from the September 3 2011 Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup

On 3 September the Chapter road warriors met at the clubhouse and headed out to tackle the Orange Plank Road. The day was overcast and 78 degrees, perfect! We expected to find a ton of junk and we were not disappointed. After about 2 1/2 hours of collecting just about every imaginable thing on the roadway we called it a day. With over 14 bags full of trash we considered this a very successful day. Thank you to all the volunteers for providing their time and effort. The roadway certainly looks great and we made a difference by improving our environment.

Great Turn-Out: (names not in order) David Romo, Jackson Weiss, Abbey Lousiak, Sean Applegate, Austin Applegate, Jeff Blose, Bill McClellan, George Lear and Mike Sullivan (taking photo)

Notes from the April 9 2011 Cleanup

April 9th and it's 50 degrees and overcast. The spirits of the seven "Road Warriors" is high and confident. Today the Fredericksburg/Rappahannock Chapter of the Izaak Walton League took on our two mile stretch of Orange Plank Road. The seven members below started out at 9AM and convoyed over to the site. After 2 1/2 hours of collecting every kind of can, bottle, plastic and paper product known to man, we had over 25 orange bags filled to capacity. We had a great time and the weather did hold for us. Thanks to all the volunteers who gave their time today to make our little piece of the planet a better place.

The "Road Warriors" are: Garry Ellis, Bill McClellan, Darrell Schultz, Ron Herndon, George Lear, Dan Eichelberger and Mike Sullivan (taking photo)

Bat Boxes and Bee Boxes

On Saturday, May 14, Scouts built and mounted bat boxes and bee boxes at Walton Park.

View pictures here

Tree Planting

On 2 April six hearty souls gathered at the Fredericksburg/Rappahannock Chapter of the Izaak Walton League to plant some deciduous trees. We had 10 river birch, 5 pin oak and 5 northern red oak. The folks braved three seasons in the one hour it took us to plant the trees. It was clear and sunny to begin the planting. It then turned windy and cold and finally it hailed on us for a minute or so. In the end, all trees were put in the ground on the west side of the pond about 3-12 feet off the path. According to the Virginia Department of Forestry, we can expect about 50% of the trees to make it. Thanks to all the conservation volunteers who took the time to make our Izaak Walton Chapter little bit better today.