RD28 - Biennial Executive Summary of the Foundation for Virginia's Natural Resources (FVNR) January 1, 2010


Executive Summary:
The Foundation for Virginia’s Natural Resources § 10.1-2135 - § 10.1-2139 has completed its third and fourth years of operation. Its Board of Trustees is comprised of 13 members, each representing a major river basin of the Commonwealth. The Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry and the Secretary of Natural Resources are also ex-officio Board members for their terms. Two Board member positions are awaiting appointment.

The advisory task force has been active in our operations and several volunteer experts have lent us their assistance.

The Board has met on six occasions since the beginning of 2008. The winter meeting of 2009 was scheduled twice and inclement weather prevented a successful meeting on both occasions. The fall meeting of 2009 was scheduled but lack of a quorum caused the Chair to cancel the meeting. Lee Stephens (York) served admirably as Vice-Chair for the extent of the two-year term and was replaced in that position by Ed Davis (Upper Tennessee). Eleanor Brown was elected Treasurer by Board vote.

The FVNR website has improved. Neosentials, a small web development company based in Harrisonburg, has been very generous with us, knowing that we are very limited in our budget. Also, Gary Kappesser, a hydro-geologist recently retired from the U. S. Forest Service, has been willing to volunteer his services with web development issues. We appreciate the generosity of both Gary and Neosentials. Frohling and Robertson, a well respected Virginia engineering firm, had representatives at our summer 2009 Board meeting and expressed a willingness to assist us in developing our web site. We appreciate their interest and look forward to their assistance.

All FVNR Board members have been active in promoting the mission of FVNR. Some of the ways are:

• Attending meetings of civic and grass roots groups to introduce them to our goals.
• Contacted potential sponsors such as local businesses and philanthropists.
• Contacted school systems throughout their respective basins to determine the need for outdoor classrooms and citizen monitoring.
• Participated with the existing watershed roundtables to coordinate activities.
• Several Board members have written articles for journals to promote FVNR.

There has been much discussion about creating a parallel non-profit organization to complement FVNR. Legislation was successfully introduced by Senator Emmett Hanger in the 2009 session of the General Assembly to facilitate that action. With that authority, Board members and Attorneys Lee Stephens and Eleanor Brown have formed a Virginia nonstock corporation and are in the process of making application to IRS for designation as a § 501(c)(3) charity. The FVNR Board still needs to find individuals with expertise in natural resource protection and fund raising who would be willing to serve on the new Board. \

Development of a grant request protocol and criteria for approval has been developed by the Board during this period. It was later modified in October 2008 to specify that "The Foundation, in its sole discretion, will only consider projects that foster non-regulatory collaboration."

FVNR now has a “catalog” of projects that have been recommended for approval by the Grants Committee and accepted by full Board vote.

Outdoor classrooms and projects that compliment agriculture, forestry, and historic preservation continue to be the highest priority for FVNR Board members.

There has been very little success in fund raising for FVNR during this period.
A $1,000.00 restricted donation received in late 2008 partially funded a grant project (outdoor learning area) for one applicant in July of 2009. Since we have not been successful in finding all of the support needed for any of our projects during this period, the Board decided to give $500.00 to each of 10 applicants to assist them with their projects. Disbursement to seven applicants was made in early fall of 2009 (three are still pending). Recipients were very grateful.

The FVNR is poised to make a big difference in Virginia. The fact that the State has to make budget cuts to compensate for the deficit is a perfect illustration of why the Foundation is necessary. The volunteer Board members will continue to travel and speak to the need for public/private partnerships in non-regulatory natural resource protection. Many very valuable non-regulatory programs are crippled or in limbo due to the poor economy. There are many opportunities that need to be brought to fruit as we attempt to engage interested citizens who want to be involved in natural resource protection in a meaningful way.

The Board of FVNR would like to re-emphasize our appreciation to our State agency and advisory task force agency members for their active participation in our development efforts. At the risk of missing someone, the Chair would like to thank Ann Regn from DEQ’s Office of Environmental Education, Gary Kappesser, Nancy Bell formerly of the Virginia Museum of Natural History, and Senator Emmett Hanger. In particular we would like to express our appreciation for the administrative support supplied to FVNR by the Virginia Department of Forestry and DOF employee Brenda Taylor for her interest and excellent work to further our mission.

The dedication of the FVNR Board members is especially appreciated by the current Chair. Much time, effort, and travel expense has been contributed by these individuals. We hope that the mission of FVNR will be a meaningful part of the McDonnell Administration’s natural resource protection policy.