- Native Plant Center online
- Digital Atlas of VA Flora
- The value of green space to human health
- The Future of Gardening (the role of lawn in American landscaping)
- Ecosystem Gardening (includes sub-link to Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens)
- NEW Guide to Frogs and Toads of VA
- Feeding Deer — illegal from Sept. 1 to Jan. 7
Native Plant Center
This is an online searchable resource that’s based on the booklet you received during your training, Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping
http://www.nativeplantcenter.net/
Since its release in 2003, the demand for the Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping has never waned. Citizens, schools, non-profit organizations, communities and government agencies use the guide to find the native plants that met their local conditions and interests in order to create landscapes to attract wildlife and reduce the amount of pollutants going into the Chesapeake Bay. In response to this, the entire resource has been put online into a searchable, user-friendly online database– the Native Plant Center. In it’s soft release, the portal offers the option to search by region, plant type, soil conditions, flower color, and more. A geolocator, shopping cart, and community features are still to come.
Digital Atlas of VA Flora
The “Digital Atlas of VA Flora” is now online at www.biol.vt.edu/digital_atlas/ This web site contains plant distribution maps, photos, and tells you whether or not a species is native or introduced. You can also select your county to get a list of species known to occur there. However, there are no common names, everything is listed by scientific name. [Note: at a recent meeting we heard that the long-awaited Flora of VA is expected to be published Nov. 2012, but this fall they’ll start taking advance orders for the first printing. Will let you know when we get the official announcement about advance orders.]
Monograph — Value of Green Space to Human Health
Parks and Other Green Environments: Essential Comp. of a Healthy Human Habitat
Dr. Frances E. (Ming) Kuo
This monograph presents an overview of what scientists have discovered about the relationship between nature and human health, focusing on the most compelling findings. It focuses on three classic indicators of health, drawn from animal research. (48 pages, available for download)
The Future of Gardening: Why Going Native is the Answer
This is the transcript of a talk presented in June 2010 at the Millersville Native Plant Conference, about the role of lawn in American landscaping and how it needs to change:
http://www.millersvillenativeplants.org/2011/04/the-future-of-gardening-by-neil-diboll/
Ecosystem Gardening
Another great web site at www.ecosystemgardening.com Contains articles, discussions about special topics like green roofs and pollinators, and feature pages, such as Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens (www.ecosystemgardening.com/native-plants-and-wildlife-gardens.html)
Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia Now Available
A Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia is a 44 page field guide that covers all 27 species of frogs and toads that inhabit Virginia. Species accounts, descriptions, biology, behavior, habitats and conservation issues are all described and illustrated through more than 80 photographs and drawings. Included is a complimentary CD of The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads. The price is $10.00 and is available through the VDGIF website.
FEEDING DEER:
From: Dixon, Julia (DGIF)
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 11:23 AM
To: A403-DL-DGIF Everyone (DGIF)
Subject: PR — Reminder Deer Feeding Ban Begins Sept 1
For Immediate Release
August 25, 2011
Contacts:
Deer Project Coördinator Matt Knox, 434−525−7522
Deer Project Coördinator Nelson Lafon, 540−248−9295
Reminder: Effective September 1, Feeding Deer Will Be Illegal in Virginia
Richmond, VA — Effective September 1, it will be illegal to feed deer statewide in Virginia. The annual prohibition runs through the first Saturday in January. In addition, it is now illegal to feed deer year-round in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and in the city of Winchester as part of the Department’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) management actions established in April 2010.
This regulation does not restrict the planting of crops such as corn and soybeans, wildlife food plots, and backyard or schoolyard habitats. It is intended to curb the artificial feeding of deer that leads to negative consequences.
Problems with feeding deer include: unnaturally increasing population numbers that damage natural habitats; increasing the likelihood for disease transmission, and increasing human-deer conflicts such as deer/vehicle collisions and diminishing the wild nature of deer.
In addition, feeding deer has law enforcement implications. Deer hunting over bait is illegal in Virginia. Prior to the deer feeding prohibition, distinguishing between who was feeding deer and who was hunting over bait often caused law enforcement problems for the Department’s conservation police officers.
Deer Feeding was Booming Along with the Population
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) Deer Project Coördinators Matt Knox and Nelson Lafon noted when the regulation first took effect in 2006 that, for more than 20 years, the practice of feeding deer had expanded across the eastern United States among both deer hunters and the non-hunting general public. The most common reason for feeding deer is to improve their nutrition and to supplement the habitat’s ability to support more deer; in other words, to increase the carrying capacity for deer.
According to Knox, many people feed deer because they believe it will keep them from starving, but this is not a legitimate reason to feed deer in Virginia. In Virginia, deer die-offs due to winter starvation are rare. In addition, according to Lafon, “We do not need more deer in Virginia. In fact, we need fewer deer in many parts of the state.”
Nelson Lafon completed a revision of the Department’s Deer Management Plan in June 2007. Based on his research, it appears that the citizens of the Commonwealth would like to see deer populations reduced over most of the state. Lafon noted that Virginia’s deer herds could be described as overabundant from a human tolerance perspective and stated that feeding deer only makes this overabundance problem worse.
Is Your Birdfeeder Attracting Deer?
Supplemental feeding artificially concentrates deer on the landscape, leading to over-browsed vegetation, especially in and around feeding sites. Over-browsing destroys habitat needed by other species, including songbirds.
It is not unheard of for deer to take advantage of birdfeeders and begin to eat spilled birdseed. Individuals who inadvertently are feeding deer through their birdfeeders may be requested by VDGIF conservation police officers to remove feeders temporarily until the deer disperse.
Deer Are Wild Animals
In their natural state, deer are wild animals that have a fear of humans because we have preyed upon deer for thousands of years. However, when deer are fed by people, they lose this fear, becoming less wild and often semi-domesticated.
Fed deer are often emboldened to seek human foods, leading them into conflict with people. Despite their gentle appearance, they can become lethally dangerous during mating season capable of goring and slashing with their sharp hooves and antlers. There are numerous cases across the country of individuals injured, and in some cases even killed, by deer they treated as pets.
People often treat the deer they feed as if they own them, even going so far as to name individual deer. Not only does this association diminish the “wildness” of “wildlife”, it also leads to a mistaken notion regarding ownership of wildlife. Deer and other wildlife are owned by all citizens of the Commonwealth and are managed by the Department as a public resource.
Deer Feeding Congregates Animals, Increasing the Spread of Disease
The increase in deer feeding that has taken place in Virginia over the past decade now represents one ofVirginia’s biggest wildlife disease risk factors. Deer feeding sets the stage for maintaining and facilitating the spread of disease.
Diseases are a big issue in deer management today across the United States. Feeding deer invariably leads to the prolonged crowding of animals in a small area, resulting in more direct animal to animal contact and contamination of feeding sites. Deer feeding has been implicated as a major risk factor and contributor in three of the most important deer diseases in North America today. These include tuberculosis, brucellosis, and CWD. Virginia’s first case of CWD was discovered in a doe killed during November 2009, in westernFrederick County less than one mile from the West Virginia line.
Please Don’t Feed Deer
It is clear that the negative consequences of feeding deer outweigh the benefits. If you are not feeding deer, you should not start. If you are currently feeding deer, you should now stop. Feeding deer is against the law between September 1 and the first Saturday in January. If anyone sees or suspects someone of illegally feeding deer during this time period, or observes any wildlife violations, please report it to the Department’s Wildlife Crime Line at 1−800−237−5712.
To learn more about Virginia wildlife regulations visit the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website at www.dgif.virginia.gov.
It is the mission of the VDGIF to maintain optimum populations of all species to serve the needs of the Commonwealth; to provide opportunity for all to enjoy wildlife, inland fish, boating and related outdoor recreation and to work diligently to safeguard the rights of the people to hunt, fish and harvest game as provided for in the Constitution of Virginia; to promote safety for persons and property in connection with boating, hunting and fishing; to provide educational outreach programs and materials that foster an awareness of and appreciation for Virginia’s fish and wildlife resources, their habitats, and hunting, fishing, and boating opportunities.
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