Prince William County school officials, School Board members, and sponsoring organizations will dedicate the new 1.1-mile Discovery Trail that runs from Coles Elementary School to Colgan High School on Thursday, Oct. 20.

There is one lucky owl flying around Prince William County–thanks to the help of kind residents and the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. The bird was hit by a car this summer, rescued, rehabilitated and released back into the wild this past weekend at Silver Lake Regional Park in Haymarket.

Keeping a forest in the family will be the topic of a two-day short course that will be held October 5 and October 12 at The Inn at Willow Grove in Orange, Va. Attendees will learn what they need to do to successfully pass their land on to the next generation of their family members without breaking up the land or losing it due to tax burdens.

Prince William Conservation Alliance will host an open house at its headquarters, 2241F Tackett’s Mill Drive, Woodbridge, Sept. 21, 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Natural Bridge, one of the iconic and historic sites in the United States, and 1343 surrounding acres will become the 37th Virginia State Park during a public ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24.

recognition of 811 Day on Aug. 11, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative and VA811, also known as Miss Utility of Virginia, remind homeowners and contractors to call 811, or 800-552-3120, before digging to landscape, build decks, or do anything that could damage underground utility equipment. Calling 811 before digging is the law.

Although the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) has not been found in Virginia, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) encourages residents to check for this invasive pest by looking for signs in their trees and firewood transported from other states.

Some 604 acres of the 900-acre Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship land preserve, donated by the Robert and Dee Leggett Foundation to the Old Dominion Land Conservancy, were acquired June 14 by Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The plan is to use the acreage located in western Loudoun County for a new Virginia State Park.