Protect your property with riparian buffers

Protecting Virginia’s waterways starts right here on you property. Riparian buffers, strips of trees, shrubs, or grasses planted along streams and
rivers.

Help keep our water clean by filtering runoff, trapping sediment, and reducing pollutants before they reach local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

These natural buffers also:

  • Help stabilize streambanks and reduce erosion
  • Filter excess nutrients and improve water quality
  • Provide valuable habitat for wildlife and support biodiversity

The Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program can help landowners install these conservation practices through financial assistance:

  • Forested buffers – Up to 95% cost-share reimbursement, plus incentive payments of up to $580 per acre.
  • Grass filter strips – Up to 100% cost-share reimbursement, plus an additional $80 per acre incentive.

Healthy streams mean healthier communities, thriving farms, and a stronger Chesapeake Bay.

Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District to learn how you can participate.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

Shenandoah takes top rank in National Park reviews

photo credit Scott Bradley Hesson with permission

For National Parks Week, Travel Lemming, an online travel guide with over 10 million annual readers, ranked all 63 National Parks from around the country.

Taking home the #1 ranking based on their data-backed review process was Virginia’s only entry to the list, Shenandoah National Park.

Rankings consisted of data from six different categories including affordability, accessibility, biodiversity, crowds, reviews, and weather.

SNP took home the top overall rating with exceptional scores in 3 categories.

The park was ranked 2nd in affordability, 6th in biodiversity with over 2500 unique species, and 7th in accessibility due to the easy drive from multiple airports.

SNP was the 19th best reviewed park with an average rating of 4.77 out of 5.

Big name, iconic parks like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite all finished outside the top 15 largely due to complaints of overcrowding and cost of travel.

To view the full rankings, click here.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.