Owners of woodlands large and small can learn how to maximize their property’s potential at the 14th annual Woods and Wildlife Conference put on by the Virginia Department of Forestry. This educational event will be held Saturday, Feb. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Germanna Community College’s Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper.

Construction of a boardwalk over Neabsco Creek to connect Rippon Landing Community Park to the Julie A. Metz Wetlands Preserve has begun. The nearly mile-long boardwalk is scheduled to be completed by December 2018. When completed, the boardwalk will become part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

Virginia State Parks Director Craig Seaver was quoted as saying in a news release, “The weather will be great, state parks will look beautiful, and it will be a wonderful time for people to focus on what’s really important – family, health and making memories that last a lifetime.”

PWC Parks and Recreation will host a free two-day Trail Building Seminar with 
Dr. Jeremy Wimpey, Applied Trails Research, September 9th and 10th, at the Hellwig Administration Building, George Hellwig Memorial Park, 14420 Bristow Rd., Manassas VA 20112.

Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) and Master Gardeners are offering a presentation on “Planting the Right Trees, Shrubs and Perennials next to Streams and Ponds” on Tuesday, August 15 at 6 pm under the pavilion at Rady Park, 725 Fauquier Road, Warrenton, VA.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors has voted to execute two rights-of-way permits, granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, to build and improve trails in the Occoquan Bay and Featherstone National Wildlife refuges.

Governor Terry McAuliffe announced July 14 that Virginia will receive $834,991 in federal funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Coastal Resilience Grant appropriations to reduce the impacts of storm flooding through natural and nature-based infrastructure.

Supervisors recently awarded a $3.8-million contract to J.D. James Inc. to build the new boardwalk over Neabsco Creek to connect Rippon Landing Community Park to the Julie A. Metz Wetlands Preserve. The ¾ - mile long, 10-foot-wide, elevated boardwalk will become part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail that stretches between the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake Bay.