One of my favorite harbingers of spring is listening for the chorus from a frog known as the spring peeper. Peepers inhabit forested wetlands where their tadpoles can thrive. One such place in the James River Park System lies between the Buttermilk Trail and the Norfolk Southern train tracks just east of Reedy Creek. There’s an ephemeral wetland there, and pretty soon –like within the month — you’ll hear the incredibly loud chorus, especially at dusk and dawn. But don’t get too close! The moment the frogs sense an approaching predator, they clam up entirely.

Which brings me to today’s announcement: Maymont is looking for citizen scientists to help them count their frogs. FrogWatch USA is a long-term frog and toad monitoring program that collects data on local species, helping scientists in their battle to stop amphibian decline. If this sounds appealing, you can join the local chapter at Maymont to help with the effort.

Sign up for one of their free training sessions, which will include background on FrogWatch, an introduction to the site, and information on how to monitor and identify the calls of local frogs.

FrogWatch Training Dates at Maymont:

Tuesdays, February 21 & 28, 6-8pm (must attend both sessions)
Saturday, February 25, 10am-2:30pm

While FrogWatch is a great after-dark family activity for all ages, training sessions are designed for interested high schoolers and adults. Registration is required.

For more information, email their Environmental Educators or call 804-358-7168.

Yesterday, the 7th annual RVA Environmental Film Festival kicked off with events two movies at the Richmond Public Library. The fest runs through February 12th and ranges all over the city. Tonight, for instance, there’s a showing of Planetary at the University of Richmond’s Ukrop’s Auditorium. It’s a movie described as “a provocative and breathtaking wakeup call, a cross-continental, cinematic journey that explores our cosmic origins and our future as a species.” Other movie venues include the Byrd Theater, the Science Museum of Virginia, the Visual Arts Center and more.

Check out the lineup by clicking here and see what looks interesting. Guaranteed you’ll find something.

I recently exchanged emails with Shihan Wijeyeratne, the Sports Backers‘ Community Engagement Coordinator. He alerted me to an event coming up that Ashland/greater Hanover residents (and those who think our communities are stronger when people have more bike/pedestrian-friendly connections) should be aware of.

A bike in downtown Ashland.

“We’re hosting two ‘Bike Walk Talks’ in the Town of Ashland/Hanover County next month,” Wijeyeratne wrote. “These are informal, happy hour-style events where we hear what residents have to say about changes they would like to see made to the biking and walking environment in Hanover/Ashland. We’re hoping to use these events to build momentum as Hanover County gears up for an update of their comprehensive plan, and as we get ready to launch our next Bike Walk RVA Academy in Hanover this spring.”

And in a blog post on their website, the SBs write: The Hanover County Board of Supervisors recently created a Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen Engagement Committee and will be exploring ways to plan for a more bikeable and walkable county in the upcoming Comprehensive Plan update. And we’ll soon be launching a Bike Walk RVA Academy in Hanover to help increase public engagement and advocacy throughout this process.

We want to tell you more about all of these exciting developments! That’s why we’re hosting two informal “Bike Walk Talk” happy hours in Hanover County over the next month. Please join us, have some food and drink, and let’s discuss how we can work together to make Hanover County a better place to walk, bike, and live for everyone.

More info on Bike Walk Talk: Mechanicsville on February 2

More info on Bike Walk Talk: Ashland on February 9 

Just a friendly reminder, that this Saturday you can join hundreds of crazy people who will voluntarily jump into the James River on a day when the high temperature is 47. It’s part of Keep Virginia’s Beautiful’s Shiver in the River Winter Festival.

Events start at 10 a.m. with a community cleanup along the banks of the James, surrounding areas and neighborhoods, where participants will give an hour of their time to improve RVA’s communities. Following the cleanup, is a 5K at noon. All ages are invited to run or walk while enjoying the beauty of the river area.  This will be the first 5K in Richmond history to cross the new T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge. The event will continue with the James River Jump at 2 pm for those daring enough to enter the chilly river. But don’t worry, if swimming in 38-degree water isn’t for you, Shiver In The River attendees will celebrate in the Winter Festival with heated tents, food & beverage trucks, and entertainment in an environmentally friendly atmosphere. Registration and details can be found by clicking here.

Dominion Riverrock announced today the full list of music acts performing at this year’s festival. On Friday, May 19th, The SteelDrivers will take the stage at 8:30 p.m., and on Saturday, May 20th, Hard Working Americans will be the headliner, taking the stage at 8 p.m. The ninth annual outdoor sports and music festival will be held on Brown’s Island and Historic Tredegar in Richmond, May 19-21. All concerts are free and open to the public.

From the Sports Backers’ press release: Touring in support of their most recent album ‘Rest In Chaos,’ the follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 2014, Hard Working Americans offers a sound invoking the past, present, and future of rock’n’roll music. The group combines the talents of Todd Snider, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and Duane Trucks, Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s Neal Casal, Great American Taxi’s Chad Staehly, and Jesse Aycock to form a unique blues and southern rock sound and stage experience.

The SteelDrivers, winner of the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, are a group of seasoned and distinguished veterans who blend their bluegrass roots with country, soul, and other contemporary influences. The result is a hybrid sound described as ‘new music with old feeling’ that was born in Nashville and has been embraced across the country.

Dominion Riverrock Music Lineup
Friday, May 19

6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Front Country

7:15 – 8:15 p.m.
Larry Keel Experience

8:30 – 9:45 p.m.
The SteelDrivers

Saturday, May 20

1:00 – 1:45 p.m.
The Bush League

2:15 – 3:00 p.m.
Camp Howard

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.
Jouwala Collective

4:45 – 5:45 p.m.
Los Colognes

6:15 – 7:30 p.m.
The London Souls

8:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Hard Working Americans

Sunday, May 21

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
The Folly

2:20 – 3:20 p.m.
The Trongone Band

3:40 – 5:00 p.m.
Cris Jacobs Band

Virginia High School Mountain Biking event at Forest Hill Park, April 19, 2016.

Richmond offers plenty of recreational choices for anyone who wants to get outdoors. Its network of trails is extremely popular and has helped bring several beneficial economic events to Richmond, including Dominion Riverrock, XTERRA and more.

The oldest, the Buttermilk Trail, has been a part of the James River Park since the early 1980s. But the city did not commit to building trails that could officially accommodate mountain bikers until the late 1990s.

The popularity of those early trails prompted the JRPS to appoint its first trails manager in 2003 (Nathan Burrell). Citizens helped to push for more trails and volunteers did much of the work. But for all the people out riding trails in Richmond, park usage statistics show that mountain bikes are in the minority. According to numbers provided by the city’s parks department, walkers and runners outnumber mountain bikers three to one on the Buttermilk Trail. Only one in four users on North Bank is a biker.

“Everything we do is an effort to manage the growing number of people going out on the trails,” said Mike Burton, the city’s trails manager since 2013. “Even though they are the minority users, mountain bikes are always on our mind as we plan trail work.”

Burton said all of the JRPS and trail crew staffers are trail users and mountain bikers, which helps illustrate their dedication and determination to continue to maintain the popular trails network. He said the majority of the work they do is done to just keep the trails open.

The city maintains more than 42 miles of trail, including single track, connector roads, and trails entering parks. This includes more than 20 miles of trail in the James River Park at North Bank (opened 2005), Belle Isle (1999), Ancarrow’s Landing (Poop Loop trail, 2014), Pony Pasture, The Wetlands, and Huguenot Flatwater. The crew maintains trail in other city parks, including Forest Hill (rebuilt 2009), Byrd (Dogwood Dell, 2011), Powhite (1995-99), Larus (2005), and Bryan.

“We are known for having a challenging network of trails in the center of an urban area,” said Burrell, who is now the James River Park manager. “We offer a wide range of skill sets throughout the trail system.”

Burrell said building a facility like the skills park on Belle Isle (which opened in 2012) was an effort to offer a more beginner-friendly training area for new and young riders. The trail crew has also been working to introduce more trail that caters to different types of riders.

“You could spend your life building technical trails, but we only have a staff of two,” Burton said, referring to Andrew Alli, the other full time trail crew staffer. “Every time we add new trail, we also add more maintenance, and there is so much demand for the trails we have now.”

***

For those interested in learning more and giving their input about the trails network, the city will host a forum Wednesday, Feb. 1, from 7-8:30 p.m. at The Carillon in Byrd Park. Hosted by the City of Richmond and the James River Park trail crew, the event is expected to be an open discussion about the Richmond trails network.

Representatives from the mountain bike, trail runners, and hiking groups are scheduled to be on the panel. The forum will be moderated by Brantley Tyndall, community outreach coordinator for Richmond Sports Backers’ Bike Walk RVA. Topics will include:

• History, ownership, and roles of the city’s trails system
• Diversity of users, their needs, and park visitation volume
• Sustainability, maintenance and trail design

A Q&A session will allow the public to voice their ideas & concerns. In advance of the forum, submit your questions.

***

RVAMORE volunteers work at Poop Loop.

The trails crew is constantly looking for ways to add new trails, but as the network increases, maintenance also increases, which creates the need for more help from volunteer groups, like RVAMORE and the James River Hikers.

In 2016, the trail system received nearly 1,500 documented hours from volunteer groups, a figure that Burton said was very low because the hours for many projects were not tallied. Project managers occasionally forget to share signup sheets or volunteers forget to sign in, missing a chance to document their efforts.

Without volunteers, Burrell said Richmond’s trails network would not exist. For 2016, the parks department used $22 per hour to calculate the value of volunteer time (less than a national figure of $23.56). Often a volunteer project would include a member of the park staff and anywhere from five to 20 volunteers, depending on the work needed to accomplish.

Other projects earned more than 4,900 hours for park maintenance and another 2,850 from long-term volunteers and interns. All totaled, the park counted 9,270 volunteer hours, which equates to about 4.85 permanent employees (considering the average permanent employee works approximately 2,000 hours per year), according to parks department documentation.

“Our job is to be stewards of the land,” Burton said. “Most trail work includes preventing erosion and making it more sustainable.” Once the crew works on a section of trail, the hope is to avoid having to revisit the site to continue to make repairs.

Burrell said the three key factors to trail sustainability include: environmental (immediate and long-term impact to surroundings); economic (cost of the trail work); and social (which involves many factors, including removing poor sight lines, tight trail corridors, dangerous junctions — anywhere trail users could get hurt from collisions).

That often means that can’t justify building technical features and alternate expert trails in the city network because mountain bikes are still the minority users in the park. Where necessary, there are a few sections of trail where hikers and bikers are separated, such as in Buttermilk Heights (including the area near the stone porch switchback), the Netherwood Quarry (east of 42nd Street, includes a ramp for bikes or stairs for hikers), and another on the North Bank Trail.

Burrell said the crew tends to choose permanent materials when they do build new trail features. “We try use the existing materials within the park as much as we can. Rock features play into the natural features of an adventure recreation park. We have a finite amount of land to work with and we have to manage it as best we can.”

DISCLAIMER: Phil Riggan is a member of rvaMORE and other volunteer groups in the city.

YCC members doing work at Shenandoah River State Park. Credit: Va. State Parks.

Got a kid into the outdoors? Applications are being accepted for two three-week summer sessions of the award-winning Virginia State Parks Youth Conservation Corps. The application deadline is March 1.

The program will be held June 25 to July 15 and July 23 to Aug. 13.

Teams of 10 participants will be chosen from current high school students between the ages of 14 and 17. Each same-sex crew is led by three trained, adult crew leaders. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in protecting Virginia’s environment. While no prior experience is necessary, participants will work outside, and the service is physically demanding. A positive attitude, an interest in learning, curiosity about interpreting nature, and the physical ability and desire to work outdoors are also important factors in the selection process.

YCC crew members are provided room, board, T-shirts and equipment. They receive a $500 stipend at the end of the three weeks. YCC participants help with assorted park projects, including wildlife and fisheries habitat improvement, trail and campground construction and restoration, timber and shoreline improvement, and landscape beautification. The YCC is modeled after the federal service program AmeriCorps and the depression era Civilian Conservation Corps that built the original six Virginia State Parks.

Click here for more information.

Considering the current polar weather we’re experience, it seems a perfect time to remind everyone that Richmond’s favorite polar plunge is approaching fast! The Shiver in the River at Historic Tredegar (put on by our friends at Keep Virginia Beautiful) is scheduled for Saturday, January 28^th. This winter there will be three components: a Community Cleanup, a 5K Run/Walk, and the James River Jump (i.e. plunging into the freezing-a$$ James).

Starting at 10 a.m. with a community cleanup along the banks of the James, surrounding areas and neighborhoods, participants will give an hour of their time to improve RVA’s communities. Following the cleanup, is the 5K at noon, where all ages will be able to run or walk while enjoying the beauty of the river area.  This will be the first 5K in Richmond history to cross the new T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge.  The event will continue with the James River Jump at 2 pm for those daring enough to enter the chilly river. But don’t worry if swimming in 38-degree water isn’t for you, Shiver In The River attendees will celebrate in the Winter Festival with heated tents, food & beverage trucks, and entertainment in an environmentally friendly atmosphere. Registration and details can be found by clicking here.

Got some time tomorrow afternoon? Fan of autumn colors? Our good friend Hunter Davis has put together a fall-themed photography exhibit at Crossroads Coffee and Ice Cream tomorrow starting at noon. Davis has invited a number of well-known and talented local photographers to showcase their autumn-color best. The catch is that all the pictures have to be from this fall. So, if you really wanted to, you could check out a few great pics at Crossroads, then head out to RVA’s trails and waterways in search of those beautiful spots. Here’s the flyer: