ADVOCACY

In order to fulfill our mission to be the voice and active force for a healthy and scenic Rappahannock River, our advocacy program depends on all of our river friends to speak up and take action. In 2016 this role took on many faces as our staff, members and volunteers could be found in every corner of the watershed.

Our network of volunteers and interns selflessly gave 7,667 hours to support programs and attend outreach events, such as the Urbanna Oyster Festival (Middlesex County), Rock the River (Fredericksburg), From the Rapp, For the Rapp (Fauquier County), Trout Heritage Day (Madison County) and Cat Point Creek Kayak Crawl (Richmond County).

Our voice was heard at the state capitol as we worked with partners and elected officials to support new incentives for living shorelines, adopt new state regulations on fracking and secure millions of dollars for agricultural conservation practices and stormwater local assistance funding. Our membership experienced record growth in 2016 with over 100 newcomers joining our river family of 969 memberships representing almost every county in the watershed.

Thank you for working a booth, leading a trip, picking up littler, making phone calls, planting trees, writing letters, attending an event or donating your time. Because of you, our voice is strong and we are an active force!

RESTORATION

2016 was among the most successful years for our Restoration Program. The scope, variety, scale, funding and partner participation of our projects have grown and diversified in exceptional ways.

Our Student Stream Team and volunteers planted over 850 trees to restore riparian buffer areas along headwater streams, beautify our riverfront public parks, and mitigate stormwater runoff in our urban areas.

We worked on the water with partners to restore 1 acre of oyster reef in Carter’s Creek, which was selected as one of the Governor McAuliffe’s 1000 Virginia Treasures and we continue to lead the charge on the promotion and installation of Living Shorelines throughout the Commonwealth.

Our Rainscape Retrofit program installed over 15 green infrastructure projects at schools, neighborhoods and public areas across the watershed to address polluted stormwater runoff from urban and suburban areas and promote the use of innovative best management practices.

Our River Cleanup Program was put to the test as we came together across the watershed to remove over 25,000 pounds of trash and help our local communities recover from a series of natural disasters.

These projects work to address pollution sources, restore habitat for fish and wildlife and protect the health of the Rappahannock River for generations to come.

EDUCATION

Each year our education team gets closer to our goal to serve all schools “from the Blue Ridge to the Bay.” In 2016, FOR’s education programs reached farther than ever! Not only did we lead education programs and create partnerships across the watershed, we brought students and teachers from their region of the watershed to other regions, reinforcing the idea that the watershed is a system that includes the people, land and water.

We all live downstream from someone! In 2016, over 6,000 students experienced an FOR education program, including 1,374 underserved youth, 88 teachers and administrators participated in professional development activities, 77 youth enjoyed week-long summer camp programs, 23 different schools were impacted by our education team, 14 municipalities were served with our education programs, and 4 school districts received Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences supported by FOR throughout our watershed.

Dear 2017, you have a lot to live up to!