Reducing Light Pollution
Have you ever been bothered by glare and over-bright lights from streetlights, commercial businesses or nearby residences? You are not alone. Scientific evidence indicates that people, wildlife and even plants and trees are harmed by light at night.
Photo: Birdcast map showing light intensity and migration routes
Have you ever been bothered by glare and over-bright lights from streetlights, commercial businesses or nearby residences? You are not alone. Scientific evidence indicates that people, wildlife and even plants and trees are harmed by light at night. Read more about the effects of light pollution here.
NVBA provided advice to Loudoun County on ensuring that its proposed lights along the W&OD Trail through Leesburg meet DarkSky International’s Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting.
NVBA joined the Virginia Responsible Streetlight Coalition, an organization that works to reduce light pollution from streetlights. Read our letter urging the association that negotiates with Dominion Energy on streetlight options to advocate for streetlights that meet DarkSky International’s Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting.
Responsible Bike Trail Development
Encouraging alternative forms of transportation is important for combating the problems of climate change, but irresponsible trail design and construction can have devastating effects on important natural habitat.
Photo: Proposed site of the George Snyder Bike Trail, Tom Blackburn
Encouraging alternative forms of transportation is important for combating the problems of climate change, but irresponsible trail design and construction can have devastating effects on important natural habitat.
NVBA has adopted criteria for bicycle and multi-use trails and encourages local authorities to put them into effect. Read the criteria.
NVBA recommended that Fairfax County include responsible bike trail standards in its Active Transportation and Trail Network Map. Read the recommendations.
NVBA recommended that Arlington County include responsible trail standards in its Transportation Plan. Read our comments.
NVBA has opposed the creation of the George Snyder Trail in Fairfax City through one of the last sections of urban forest remaining in the city. The trail would devastate the forest with large amounts of fill dirt added in some areas and large amounts of soil removed to level the trail. It would require cutting down 600 mature trees. Read our testimony on the harm the proposed trail would do.
NVBA opposed the construction of the Cinder Bed Road Bikeway, which would be constructed through a globally rare Acidic Seepage Swamp. Read our comments.
NVBA has joined the Greater Prince William Trail Coalition. We filed comments on Prince William County's Trails Master Plan urging the county to consider our criteria for evaluating proposed bicycle and multi-use trails. Read our comments.
Preventing Window Collisions
More than one billion birds die from collisions with windows in the United States each year. NVBA is taking action to prevent window collisions through Bird Safe NOVA, a partnership of eight northern Virginia environmental organizations
Photo: The glass windows of the Martha Washington Library reflect trees and vegetation, Glenda Booth.
More than one billion birds die from collisions with windows in the United States each year. NVBA is taking action to prevent window collisions through Bird Safe NOVA, a partnership of eight northern Virginia environmental organizations.
Other actions to prevent window collisions include NVBA’s comments on the 2024-2025 update to Arlington’s Green Building Incentive Policy. You can read them here.
Tree Canopy
Mature tree canopy is an important part of healthy habitat for native wildlife, and NVBA joins local organizations in taking action to protect trees.
Photo: Tree canopy, NPS photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Mature tree canopy is an important part of healthy habitat for native wildlife, and NVBA joins local organizations in taking action to protect trees.
Read the comments of nine local environmental organizations, including NVBA, urging cessation of tree cutting along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Here’s the letter.
Deer Management
Failure to implement a deer management program in areas lacking deer’s natural predators threatens the ability of our urban forests to regenerate new trees and understory plants, devastating natural habitat for all species that rely on our forests, including birds, small mammals and invertebrates.
Photo: MarkRay66 via Pixabay
Failure to implement a deer management program in areas lacking deer’s natural predators threatens the ability of our urban forests to regenerate new trees and understory plants, devastating natural habitat for all species that rely on our forests, including birds, small mammals and invertebrates.
Outdoor Cats
Outdoor cats pose a very real threat to birds and other wildlife. This page collects information and articles that detail this concern and ASNV’s efforts to confront it.
Outdoor cats pose a very real threat to birds and other wildlife. This page collects information and articles that detail this concern and ASNV’s efforts to confront it.
Video: Surviving the Wild: Cats & Birds
Click here to view a video from the American Bird Conservancy that discusses the danger that outdoor domestic cats pose to native wildlife, especially birds.
Report of the Free-Roaming Cat Stakeholder Workgroup, January 16, 2023
Fourteen members of a Virginia General Assembly workgroup appointed in 2021 to study problems associated with free-roaming cats have just released a comprehensive report detailing the negative impact of cats on wildlife and public health and recommending legislative solutions. Click here to read the report.
ASNV Adopts Policy on Free-Roaming Cats
ASNV has adopted a policy statement urging Fairfax County to implement measures that would help to reduce the huge number of birds that are killed each year by free-roaming cats. The proposed measures include requiring cats to be treated more like dogs by being licensed and physically restricted when off the property of their owners and taking proactive measures to reduce the numbers of unowned cats in the county.
For more information and background on this policy, please read this document.
Save Birds by Drinking Shade-Grown Coffee
Did you know that you can help birds by drinking coffee? The recent announcements of the loss of 3 billion birds in North America highlight seven things you can do to help save birds, and one of them is drinking shade-grown coffee.
Did you know that you can help birds by drinking coffee? The recent announcements of the loss of 3 billion birds in North America highlight seven things you can do to help save birds, and one of them is drinking shade-grown coffee. But not all shade-grown coffee is equally beneficial to birds. Bird-friendly shade, which includes trees up to 110 feet tall, will provide good habitat for 243 bird species, many of which migrate to North America each spring. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center certifies coffees from plantations that grow organic coffee and provide the best habitat for birds. Look for this Bird Friendly seal when you make your next purchase of coffee and help save our birds!
If you can’t find Bird Friendly coffee in your local store, the Smithsonian National Zoo website can help you find a local retailer. Or you can buy it direct from the National Audubon Society or another online vendor.