The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is seeking volunteers to raise underwater bay grasses in their homes, schools, or businesses as part of CBF’s Grasses for the Masses restoration program.  The program puts volunteers to work to help restore underwater grasses, submerged plants vital to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem that have been seriously depleted over the years.

Planting grasses in the Bay.

Volunteers will attend one of several upcoming workshops in Richmond, Northern Virginia, or Hampton Roads. They will receive a self-contained kit, seeds, and instruction, and then will nurture their grass sprouts until they are mature enough to be transplanted to nearby rivers in late spring. There is a $40 fee per grass growing unit, which includes a one-year CBF membership. Volunteers can register and pay the program fee online.

Workshops will be held in the Richmond area on Jan. 16 and Feb. 1 at the REI store in Glen Allen, and on Feb. 8 at CBF’s downtown Richmond office.

Underwater grasses are among the most critical natural resources in the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams. Just as people rely on their immune system to help fight off illness, the Bay relies on a system of underwater grasses to help fight the harmful effects of pollution that is washed into the Bay’s tributaries. The grasses also provide food and shelter for important Bay species, such as blue crabs, fish, and waterfowl.

Unfortunately the Bay’s underwater grasses have been severely depleted by pollution and cloudy water. Volunteers can help restore and heal the Bay by participating in CBF’s Grasses for the Masses program, growing the grasses from seed and later planting them in tributaries of the Bay.

For more information, contact Aimee Bushman at 804-780-1392 or abushman@cbf.org.

The Virginia State Parks launched a fully redesigned website this morning at 10 a.m. The new site aims to be more interactive, easier to navigate and faster to search for park-specific offerings. Click here to check it out.

False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach.

This is the website’s most significant redesign since it was launched in 1993 by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, which manages the 36 Virginia state parks.

“Over the years – for two decades – we’ve made minor changes to the website in response to public feedback, state policy, industry standards, social media and other factors,” said DCR Web Coordinator Steve Hawks. “But this year-long redesign process is a major overhaul of nearly every aspect of the website, resulting in a streamlined, simpler design.”

The new design is more user-friendly and will allow users to better customize searches for very specific amenities, while the search results are instantly viewable. Last year, the Virginia State Parks website received more than 9.5 million page views, and is among the leading tourism websites in Virginia.

“With more than 8.8 million visitors last year, Virginia State Parks attract visitors from across the country and around the globe,” said DCR State Parks Director Joe Elton. “For many people, their visit to a state park begins with a visit to our website, so we’re pleased to enhance the experience of both desktop and mobile users with a more responsive design, faster-loading pages and easier access to park photos and videos.”

Virginia State Parks once again set a new attendance record with 8,871,822 visitors in 2013, 6 percent higher than 2012’s record attendance of 8,366,179. Virginia’s 36 state parks are managed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

“In many ways outdoor recreation is weather-driven, and last year we saw the weather impact attendance,” said DCR State Parks Director Joe Elton. “Unseasonable rain in June and July kept people away from state parks, but then mild weather in the fall allowed people the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and everything state parks have to offer, from an afternoon hike to overnight stays in our cabins, lodges and campsites.”

The view from a ridge in Grayson Highlands State Park.

Day-use attendance in 2013 also reached a record level, increasing to 7,779,790 up 7 percent from 7,264,264 in 2012.

While state parks are a convenient stop for nearby neighbors or a reasonable alternative for vacationing families and couples during difficult financial times, statewide the parks remain an economic force that affects local communities.

Virginia State Parks directly and indirectly had an economic impact of $206 million in 2013, a 4 percent increase over the previous record $198 million in 2012.

“Our state parks are popular because they promote a healthy lifestyle and healthy environment, and they stimulate outdoor recreation and tourism spending important to the health of our economy.” Elton said. “State parks help local economies generate more than $12 for every $1 of general fund money allocated to state parks in the state budget.”

Click here to see attendance figures for each state park.

We’ll be watching to see if you sign up. (Okay, not really.)

Last week we launched our first weekly RichmondOutside.com newsletter. Subscribers found out about drones descending on Virginia, learned some details about the courses for the 2015 World Road Cycling Championships and were invited to explore Henrico’s Deep Bottom Park on our Destinations page.

If you haven’t signed up for our email newsletter, here’s a good chance. Every Thursday we’ll give you a roundup of the past week in Outdoors news in Central Virginia as well as highlights from around the world. It’s a great way to stay plugged in, and all you have to do is open your open your email and click. Sweet, right?

Friend of the program Phil Riggan has his annual outdoors year in review up over at Richmond.com. He did a great job chronicling the year that was in RVA outdoor news.

Nathan Burrell. Credit: Phil Riggan

Highlights of 2013 included: Nathan Burrell taking over for Ralph White as superintendent of the James River Park System; the announcement of the Pocahontas Ride Center; the Sports Backers naming Max Hepp-Buchanan director of their Bike Walk RVA program (look for Max’s first monthly column in RichmondOutside.com in January); the ribbon cutting ceremony for the western trailhead of the Va. Capital Trail at Great Shiplock Park; and record numbers of participants for the Cap2Cap bike ride and the James River Association’s Splash and Dash.

The tables were turned, writes Barrett Mohrmann in today’s Lynchburg News and Advance, on a Bedford County hunter when a black bear bit him and his hounds.

Dwayne Karns, 32, was hunting with dogs in the area of Suck Mountain in Bedford when the incident occurred, said Sgt. Brian Young, of the Virginia Department of Inland Game and Fisheries.

Young called the attack provoked and said Bedford residents should not feel alarmed. This marks the only instance this year in which someone has been bitten by a bear.

I wrote about black bears from time to time when I was the outdoors columnist for the Times-Dispatch. The topic always generated a good number of reader emails. Many Central Virginians were surprised to learn, no matter how many times I wrote about it, that black bears are A) the only bear species in Virginia and B) are not confined to the mountainous parts of the state or the Great Dismal Swamp (though that is where they are found in the largest numbers). I once wrote about a huge black bear taken in Powhatan Co. near the Chesterfield line. Ralph White once told me about seeing a black bear in Pony Pasture Park. And I remember a few years back when I black bear was hit by a motorist on I-95 in the city.

Black bears, like coyotes, are among us.

Back in 2011, Jaime Sajecki, the game department’s black bear project leader, estimated that Virginia’s black bear population numbered 16,000animals and was growing at an annual rate of around 9.5 percent.

Who doesn’t love a ribbon cutting?

I was among the large crowd that turned out on Tuesday to mark the official opening of the new and improved Great Shiplock Park. The park has long been a James River Park parcel and now it’s the Richmond trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail as well.

$550,000 (give or take) of private donations was what it took to turn the park from drab to lushly landscaped. The Capital Trail was regarded and resurfaced through the park; old canal stones were added for accents; Whit Brooks of Whitworth Cycles designed and welded custom bike racks. There are benches and shady spots to sit in, and the view of the James River and Kanawha Canal was enhanced with some hardcore weed whacking and creative landscaping. Also, with the addition of some metal ramps, the bridge the crosses the canal to Chapel Island is now handicapped accessible.

While there is still a long way to go before the trail is complete (est. summer 2015 finish), this was a big step toward that end.

In Mayor Jones’ remarks he mentioned “news” about additional projects that were in the Riverfront Plan. He mentioned Chapel Island (attached to Great Shiplock via that bridge) and Brown’s Island specifically. Since pretty much everyone who new what the mayor was talking about was in the crowd, I started asking around. Tyler Potterfield, with the city’s Planning and Preservation Division, said he’d be glad to tell me about it after he got clearance from the mayor’s press office. Nathan Burrell, JRPS superintendent, was able to speak more generally about upcoming projects.

The first, he said, is continuing the main, wide trail that runs through the middle of Chapel Island upstream along the river. “Essentially, it’s a connection between here and (the) 14th Street (takeout),” Burrell said.

Chapel Island is owned by the Department of Utilities, and the JRPS manages its eastern end. But there’s a fence blocking off the western end currently. The trail connecting Chapel to the 14th Street Takeout will eventually go through there, along the river and over or around the Shockoe Creek outflow. Burrell also said there’s talk of terracing on Chapel Island to allow fishermen, for instance, to get down to the river’s edge.

Sweet bike racks.

Running concurrently with the work on Chapel Island will be an even more exciting project on Brown’s Island: The refurbishment and completion of the bridge over the Vepco levy from Brown’s Island to the Manchester Climbing Wall area. Not familiar with the bridge? If you’ve been to Brown’s Island, you probably have seen the “Three Days April” historical walkway that juts south over the river from the park. The southern end of that would connect with the old Vepco Levy bridge but there’s a huge gap. The idea is to connect the two sides of the river with a bridge for bikes and pedestrians only.

The timing on all this, said Burrell: “I know the contract has been signed so I guess in the next half year or so.”

Look for more details when I get the chance to talk with Tyler Potterfield in the next couple of days.

The aching-to-be-connected Vepco Levy Bridge from Brown’s Island to Manchester.

Credit: innvirginia.com

If you’re into travelling Virginia to peep leaves, the Department of Forestry maintains a cool resource on their site. Fall Foliage in Virginia offers a map of when leaves should change by region, a chart of which trees turn which colors and a list of other leaf-peeping resources. And this year, for the first time, the DOF has tasked its foresters with producing a number of off-the-beaten-path fall foliage tours. Here’s what they said in a recent press release:

As cooler temperatures arrive and the leaves on the trees begin to change color, visitors come from near and far to admire Virginia’s autumn splendor. Foresters with the Virginia Department of Forestry have developed local scenic driving tours as an alternative to well-known, and well-traveled, locations.

“Fall is a wonderful time of year to come out and enjoy and experience the outdoors,” said Jack Kauffman, a VDOF forester in Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties. “Although you can see seasonal leaf color in your neighborhood or park, travelers looking for the ‘undiscovered gems’ all over Virginia may find those gems in our tours.”

Each of these tours – designed by a local VDOF forester – is sure to exceed your expectations and fill your eyes with wide swatches of vibrant yellows, reds and oranges. And, because these recommended drives are “off the beaten path,” you’ll be able to enjoy a leisurely trip without the hassles of a lot of traffic on the road or large crowds at stops along  the way.

Scenic driving tours are listed for the following areas:

• Charlottesville and Culpeper Area: counties of Greene and Madison
• Harrisonburg area: counties of Rockingham and Shenandoah
• Lexington area: Bath County
• Roanoke area: counties of Bedford, Craig and Franklin
• Staunton area: Highland County

If you’re debating between the 59-mile and 29- versions, or maybe you’re worried 100 miles is a bit too far, here’s a reason to choose the 59-mile ride for Saturday’s annual Gran fondo — the Martin’s Tour of Richmond. The group announced yesterday that two members of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team, Brad White and Jonny Clarke, will attend the Tour.

“We are looking forward to being a part of this year’s MARTIN’s Tour of Richmond,” said UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team rider, Jonny Clarke. “In addition to participating in the activities surrounding the Tour, my teammate Brad White and I will be involved in a few activities in the Richmond community. This is something we do throughout the year on behalf of our title sponsor, UnitedHealthcare, and are happy to engage a community that is so supportive of cycling.”

In advance of the event, Clarke and White will participate in an “athlete Q&A” on the MARTIN’S Tour of Richmond Facebook page, where they will respond to fan questions on the page. Before the event, on Friday, October 4, the two will visit Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Richmond’s east end to talk to the students about cycling safety, goal setting, and the importance of exercise. Then, the duo will head to Richmond Raceway Complex to take part in a Q&A session from 5:30-6 p.m. during packet pick-up.

In its inaugural year in 2012, the event drew nearly 1,000 riders. Both riders will participate in the 59-mile ride on Saturday. After the ride, Clarke and White will hold an autograph session at 2 p.m. at the UnitedHealthcare Post Ride Party for riders and others in attendance.

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Two Sundays ago I penned my final column as Outdoors columnist for the Times-Dispatch. Actually, I penned the column the prior week, re-read it, edited it, agonized over it. Then finally I sent it to my editors for publication. It was kind of surreal, knowing that the job I lived and loved for six years was coming to an end. But the good news is that (I hope) this website stands to benefit. I’ve brought a new partner — Ryan Abrahamsen of Terrain360.com — on board for a full revamp and reimagining of the site. We hope to have that rolled out by the end of October at the latest.

Credit: Rich Young.

But while the look will change, the basic concept will remain. We still want RichmondOutside.com be the go-to resource, the one-stop shop, for everything outdoors related in Central Virginia. We’ll be adding maps and really upping our photo and video content. And once we get things up and running, we want you to participate. When you take the family down to Pocahontas State Park, check out our Pocahontas SP Destination page and tell us about the experience. If a storm has blown trees down all over the trails in Powhite Park, let us know. If you were out catfishing near Pony Pasture, go to our new and improved Fishing page and tell us about it. We want the new RichmondOutside.com to be the beginning of a group conversation about the outdoors in the Richmond area.

In the meantime, we’ll still offer all the outdoors-related news and features we always have. Tomorrow, for instance, look for a new feature by Scott Turner of True Timber Tree Service. And next week I hope to report from the James River Association’s pontoon boat on efforts to document the return of sturgeon to the James River.

Very soon we’ll embark together on an adventure that Richmond is uniquely qualified to offer. Whether you’re a boater, hiker, biker, bird watcher, geocacher, rock climber, dog walker or someone who just generally likes to spend time outside, RVA is as good a place to do what you love — while still enjoying the fruits of a large metro area — as any I know. We intend to tell your stories here at Richmond Outside.com. Stay tuned.