| NNAS got its start in
the late 1960�s. The Rappahannock Garden Club presented a
National Audubon Wildlife film series, which was very well
attended. Evelyn Thurston was president of the garden club.
The interest and enthusiasm exhibited led Evelyn to push for
establishing an Audubon chapter.
The first meeting was in September
of 1970. Dr. Jack T. Thurston (Evelyn�s husband) chaired the
early meetings and was elected as the first president of the
chapter. The group petitioned National Audubon for
certification as a chapter, since they had the necessary 35
people. A provisional charter was received December 16,
1970. At that time, National Audubon considered NNAS the
first chapter in the state of Virginia.
The first Board served for many
years. Replacements were made as deaths and resignations
occurred. No bylaws existed to limit time of service.
Proposed bylaws were first written in June 1973.
Subsequently, a constitution and bylaws were adopted April
25, 1977.
In January 1975, the �Bring Back
Bluebirds to Virginia� campaign was introduced by then
president, Mary Marlar. Fifty bluebird houses were built and
sold for $3 each. They were immediately sold out and
additional boxes had to be constructed. For about the last
ten years, we have built around 1,000 nesting boxes a year.
The 22-acre James tract on
Antipoison Creek was deeded to the chapter on July 1, 1977.
Official name: �Charles Hedges James Wildlife Refuge of the
Northern Neck of Virginia Audubon Society�.
There was an oil spill near Smith
Point in February 1978. NNAS and other organizations
provided volunteers to rescue and treat oil-covered birds. A
�Lessons Learned� report was written by NNAS volunteers and
sent to 60 State agencies.
NNAS was named one of the
beneficiaries of the James Faye estate in October 1978.
There were six beneficiaries in all. NNAS ultimately
received about $600,000 from the estate. The Fayes were
charter members of the chapter. By the end of 2002, almost
$630,000 has been distributed for environmental causes in
the Northern Neck and state-wide. This has been made
possible from earnings on the Faye investment portfolio.
The Northern Neck Audubon
Foundation was established in June of 1993. The Foundation
was formed to provide continuous financial support for
programs meeting the objectives of NNAS. The Foundation
manages the Faye investment portfolio to provide the
financial support. NNAS appoints the Board of Directors of
the Foundation.
Over the years, NNAS has played a
role in establishing Natural Area Preserves (NAP) in the
Northern Neck. One of our members and past Director, Henry
Bashore, coordinated efforts to create Bushmill Stream NAP
in 1989. NNAS contributed $15,000 toward the purchase of
Bushmill Stream. In the mid-90�s, NNAS contributed $10,000
towards the purchase of Hughlett Point NAP. NNAS contributed
$18,000 toward the purchase of Dameron Marsh NAP in 1998. In
addition, Belle Isle State Park, Westmoreland State Park and
Caledon NAP have been supported financially for several
special projects.
NNAS holds six conservation
easements. The first easement is a 70-acre tract at the
headwaters of Chinn�s Mill Pond at the Lancaster/Richmond
county line. The easement protects a blue heron rookery. The
second easement is an eleven-acre tract at the headwaters of Tiper�s Creek. The third easement is a 152-acre farm in
Westmoreland County. The fourth easement is a 1.2-acre tract
in Westmoreland County, which may lead to a larger easement
in the future. The fifth easement is for 1.2 acres of a
property on Rt. 200, off of Carter�s Creek, just east of
Irvington. The sixth easement is an additional 161.13 acres
at Western Branch Preserve in Lancaster County owned by
Bragg INC.
Lancaster County announced, in the
summer of 1999, that Hickory Hollow Nature Trail was to be
developed as an industrial park. NNAS members formed the
core of a group called �Friends of Hickory Hollow� which led
the fight against the industrial park. The citizen protest
was enough to cause Lancaster County to scrap the industrial
park idea. However, it was feared that future supervisors
would promote similar ideas. In September of 1999, NNAS
learned of a state fund that provided matching funds for
land conservation efforts. October was spent developing a
grant request for funds to save Hickory Hollow, permanently.
In December, NNAS got the award (from the Virginia Land
Conservation Foundation) of $179,012 for the purchase of
Hickory Hollow. There were some matching funds from the
county and some contributed attorney fees with the effect
that NNAS added about $140,000 to purchase the property for
$320,000 from the county. Since funds were provided by the
state, Hickory Hollow had to be dedicated as a natural area
preserve. The dedication ceremony took place on July 12,
2000. Hickory Hollow NAP is a 254-acre preserve. |
