What's New in 2008?

2008 Scholarship recipients Announced The Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District Announces the 2008 Scholarship Recipients. Click here to learn more.
District Sponsored Team Earns Honors at Area and State Envirothon Competitions On Tuesday, April 22 Culpeper SWCD sponsored a team at the Area II Envirothon comprised of students from Wakefield Country Day School in Rappahannock County. The team placed third overall, which earned a spot at the State Competition on May 18-19 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. Click here for the press release. The press release includes competition results and pictures.
Rain Barrel Workshops The Culpeper SWCD held 2 workshops in June 2008. The first one was held on Saturday June 7 at the Madison County Fairgrounds in Madison. The 2nd one was held Saturday June 28 at Lake of the Woods in Orange.  If you are interested in attending a future workshop, please click here to send an email to Stephanie DeNicola or can the District office at 540-825-8591. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND EITHER WORKSHOP.
3rd Rain Barrel Workshop Held The Culpeper SWCD held its 3rd "Build Your Own Rain Barrel" workshop in Rappahannock County on April 26. Many thanks to Cliff Miller, owner of Mt. Vernon Farm in Sperryville, for lending the use of his barn for the workshop at the last minute. Forty-one (41) people purchased 63 barrels. The barrels were received from Mt Olive Pickle Company, Pepsi and George's Inc.
2007 Conservation Awards held The 2007 Culpeper District's Conservation Awards were held on Thursday November, 2007. For details visit here.
Rain Barrel Workshop Culpeper SWCD and Virginia Cooperative Extension sponsored its 2nd Build Your Own Rain Barrel workshop on Saturday October 20. Click here to see the Power Point presentation from the meeting (the file is in Adobe). Due to the overwhelming demand for rain barrels, we are taking names for a waiting list. Call the District office at 540-825-8591 for more information or to be put on the waiting list.
Annual Report available The Culpeper SWCD Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 is available online here.
2007 Scholarship recipients Announced The Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District Announces the 2007 Scholarship Recipients. Click here to learn more.
New Pond Planning Brochure In 2007, the District produced a new brochure on pond planning. Download the brochure here. For multiple copies, contact the District at 540-825-8591
District & Partners Receive State Awards Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District and its Partners were recognized with state awards at the Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts' Annual Meeting in Roanoke. For details, click here.
Woods in Your Backyard brochure Virginia Cooperative Extension, along with Maryland and Pennsylvania Extensions, developed a manual and workbook for owners of 10 acres or less in the Mid-Atlantic Region. For more information, contact Adam Downing at adowning@vt.edu or visit www.naturalresources.umd.edu/backyard.cfm.

Blueprint

 During Strategic Planning sessions, participants asked for the District's suggestions on regional soil & water conservation issues. The outcome, Blueprint for Regional Soil & Water Conservation, was distributed in September. To view it online click here. To request a print copy, send an e-mail to Stephanie.DeNicola@va.nacdnet.net or call 540-825-8591.
Rainwater Harvesting Guide The Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District published a great guide called A Homeowner's Manual of Ideas for Harvesting Rainwater. Through a grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) the Culpeper SWCD was able to re-publish this guide in the fall of 2005.

The link is too large for this website but you can call our office at 540-825-8591 for the file on a CD.
Rain Garden Guide The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) recently printed a technical guide on raingardens. Visit the VDOF website here or contact the Culpeper SWCD office at 540-825-8591 for a CD with the guide.
Soil Surveys Available Digital soil surveys are now available for our member counties of Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock. The CD includes the surveys in Adobe PDF. Each CD costs $26.25. This price includes sales tax. Contact the District at 540-825-8591.
Reporting Pollution Check out our guide to Reporting Pollution for information about who to call  if you are concerned about a potential pollution issue affecting a local body of water.
Movin' Dirt Are you thinking about moving dirt? Check out our new brochure, called Movin' Dirt, for guidelines and contact information for the District's service area. 

Resource Contacts

 Check out our Landowner Resource Guide for a list of phone numbers and other contact information about resources that are available to the community for dealing with conservation issues in the Rappahannock River Watershed.

Visit the Upper Rappahannock Stream Monitoring Program established by the Culpeper and John Marshall SWCD's, the Rappahannock Conservation Council and local volunteers.