VIRGINIA TECH EXTENSION
AGENT HELPS CHILDREN TO SAVE
BAY DUNE
BLACKSBURG, Va., May 11, 2004
- Jeffrey Kirwan of Blacksburg,
Va., associate professor of
forestry and Extension specialist
at Virginia Tech's College of
Natural Resources, has been
advising students and teachers
at Ocean View Elementary School
in Norfolk, Va., to save what
appears to be the last mature
dune in Norfolk, on the southern
shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
Kirwan
visited Ocean View Elementary
first through Project Learning
Tree, in which he visits elementary
schools across the state to
do tree inventories and set
up tree lists on the web for
students to participate in tree
identification activities. Students
and teachers at Ocean View asked
Kirwan on his visit there if
he could help to save the dune
located near the school. The
dune, which has an elevation
of 70-85 feet, also has historic
significance. Some of the tress
on the site were present at
the time of the Sarah Constant
landfall and are the only living
things that can provide a linkage
between the past and present.
The first settlers of Jamestown
landed there. A rare plant for
Virginia, upland laurel oak,
has also been found on the dunes.
In 1980, the Coastal Primary
Sand Dune Protection Act was
enacted by eight localities
with open ocean or Chesapeake
Bay shorelines. Dunes along
these shorelines were susceptible
to pressures from expanding
coastal development. Coastal
dunes however, help protect
people and property from water
and destructive winds during
coastal storms. Moreover, they
also provide homes for unusual
plants and animals as well as
keeping the coast aesthetically
beautiful.
Following
Kirwan's advice, the teachers
and students at Ocean View and
at nearby Willoughby Elementary
contacted local authorities
for assistance in saving the
dune. Their work resulted in
the Norfolk Environmental Commission
recommending a 6.5-acre parcel,
known locally as the "Sand Hills"
be permanently protected by
city council action.
The College of Natural Resources
at Virginia Tech consistently
ranks among the top five programs
of its kind in the nation. Faculty
members stress both the technical
and human elements of natural
resources and instill in students
a sense of stewardship and land-use
ethics. Areas of studies include
environmental resource management,
fisheries and wildlife sciences,
forestry, geospatial and environmental
analysis, natural resource recreation,
urban forestry, wood science
and forest products, geography,
and international development
