RESTORATION
WATER REPORTER MAP
Post your pics of the Rappahannock River and see community engagement.
Water Reporter empowers everyday citizens to take actions that protect and improve water quality in our community. Members use Water Reporter to organize stream cleanups and lead restoration efforts right in their backyards.
Mountain Run Initiative: Improving water quality in Culpeper
Throughout 2020, Friends of the Rappahannock held several events focused on Mountain Run, which is part of our larger goals of our Mountain Run Initiative. Mountain Run is a large tributary to the Rappahannock River and runs right through downtown Culpeper. Like most...
Cost-share programs available to improve your farm, forests and waterways
If you own, lease, manage, or support a farming operation in the Rappahannock River watershed, there are lots of opportunities to improve the natural resources of your farm, forests, and waterways which lead to the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay. There’s...
There is a Season – VACS 2021 Program
The coronavirus pandemic has given us time to slow down and reflect on life. The seasons are still coming and going “Turn, Turn, Turn," now is the season when Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) are taking a look at conservation projects needed on our...
ChesBay Report Card: The Rappahannock’s grade tanked in 2019. Here are four lessons we can learn from this.
The University of Maryland’s newly published 2019 Chesapeake Bay Report Card found that the water quality in the Rappahannock River fell significantly between 2018 and 2019, from a C grade to a D, based on 7 indicators of water quality. It’s hard to sugar coat this....
Caroline High School and FOR partner to give out saplings
The Caroline High School Science Department, under the leadership of Robin Didlake, partnered with Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) and NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) in 2018 to conduct Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE)...
Upper Rappahannock Report Card: A surprise grade sparks community action
At Friends of the Rappahannock, we love Rappahannock County Park in Little Washington. It has everything we look for in a riverfront park, including trails, a large forest buffer, native plant gardens, and lots of interpretive signage to help visitors understand the...
Building natural defenses against natural disasters
Hurricanes and other coastal storms are a fact of life in the coastal South. Over the past few years, nearby states like North Carolina and New Jersey took direct hits from major storms and incurred millions of dollars in flood damage. Luckily, in 2019, no hurricanes...
FOR receives $810,000 grant for continued pollution reduction efforts
Friends of the Rappahannock is excited to announce that we have been awarded an $810,000 Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund. NFWF's Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund awarded a...
Growing Trees and Family Traditions in Madison County
When Paul Goodall walks his farm, he has a lot to remember. As he crosses the hilly pastures, Paul remembers to check his water troughs for overflow, inspect his cattle fence, and monitor the growth of a stand of newly planted trees. On a 600 acre farm, something...
Oyster Restoration VIP River Experience
“If you look closely across the bow you can see we are about to be surrounded by them” said Captain Moncure as he guided the River Steward boat across an oyster reef in Carter’s Creek. My friends and I had signed up to spend a day with Friends of the Rappahannock...
Another Big Fall Cleanup in the Books!
Everyone was in great spirits as they descended on Old Mill Park on Sunday October 7th for our annual Big Fall Cleanup. We couldn’t have asked for better weather or volunteers. Everyone was excited to do a little hard work and have a good time. Over 230 volunteers...
FOR interns help with oyster restoration
I am a rising senior at the University of Mary Washington and I'm majoring in biology. I started working with Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) this summer because I’ve always had an interest in wildlife and the environment and a passion for conserving it. This summer...
Protecting our Wildlife and Waterways from Plastic Pollution: OUR COMMON AGENDA
The health of Virginia’s rivers and streams is paramount to a strong economy and environment. The Commonwealth is blessed with natural aquatic wonders such as the James River and the Chesapeake Bay and has a storied history of responsible water...
Rebuilding Virginia’s Oyster Population Through Restoration and Replenishment Efforts: OUR COMMON AGENDA
The native oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is one of the Chesapeake Bay’s keystone species and of great ecological, economical, and historical importance in the Commonwealth. Fortunately, during the 2018 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly...
Meeting Virginia’s Growing Need to Tackle Polluted Runoff: OUR COMMON AGENDA
Virginians rely on local waterways in a variety of ways: clean drinking water, seafood production, and recreational tourism. Virginia is the largest seafood producer on the East Coast and the third largest in the United States — this is an example of an industry that...
Volunteers needed for upcoming River Cleanups
Friends of the Rappahannock was founded in 1985 as a group of citizens cleaning up trash along the river in Fredericksburg. Since then, we’ve grown to an organization of over 2,000 members and eight full time staff operating across sixteen counties, but we remain true...
Remington river cleanup is a huge success
Some days the workplace is at the office, and some days you get to spend outside working the field alongside great people.Another Rappahannock River Cleanup was completed on Friday May 25, 2018 thanks to incredible partners and volunteers. Friends and...
Planting and paddling toward a cleaner river
How do you write about a feeling? It's the feeling you get when a well-scripted plan meets a group of hard-working volunteers; when work meets play meets growth; when education meets restoration meets recreation in a symphony of dirty hands, elbow grease, and...
Students work hard to install a living shoreline
Shoreline projects in the tidal Rappahannock River watershed require quite a bit of coordination. On a recent living shoreline project along Hill’s Creek in Lancaster County, Friends of the Rappahannock and the Northern Neck Technical Center needed the sun, the moon,...
Headwaters Stream Initiative Spring Preview
At Friends of the Rappahannock, we like to say that restoring a watershed is like cleaning a car. To do it right, you have to start at the top and work your way down. At the top of our watershed is the “headwaters” of the Rappahannock River system, which starts in the...