Virginia governor praises Norfolk District's environmental stewardship

Posted April 14, 2010
By Jerry Rogers
Norfolk District Public Affairs

04/14/2010 - RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell recently awarded Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 2010 Governor's Environmental Excellence Award for its demonstrated commitment to land stewardship in Virginia through the protection of Crow's Nest peninsula.

In honoring Norfolk District, McDonnell cited Article XI of the Constitution of Virginia, which states, "It shall be the Commonwealth's policy to protect its atmosphere, lands and waters from pollution, impairment or destruction, for the benefit, enjoyment and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth."

Last September, federal, state and local officials, community members and environmental agencies gathered to celebrate decades of efforts to transform most of the five-mile long Crow's Nest peninsula into a state natural area preserve. The Crow's Nest peninsula is in Stafford County, Va.

"It's nothing less than miraculous, in my opinion," said Virginia Senator Richard Stuart. "Three-thousand acres; 750 acres of that are wetlands…to those of us who care about their natural beauty and water, it's so, so incredibly important."

"This recognition and award is extremely gratifying," said Hal Wiggins, an environmental scientist in the Norfolk District's regulatory branch. "It took many years and many hands to make this happen. Our successful partnership with local, state and federal government agencies and organizations was critical to ensure that such a biological gem as the Crow's Nest was preserved."

The Crow's Nest is Virginia's 54th natural area preserve. Named for the big, black schooner, "The Crow," the vessel was used for trans-Atlantic trade in the early 1800s. The peninsula has been virtually uninhabited since Union forces ended their occupation of south Stafford in the 1860s.

Today, Crow's Nest is home to 60 Neotropical migratory bird species and more than 700 acres of wetlands, some of which contain the oldest unfragmented mature tree hardwood stands in the Commonwealth. Crow's Nest is also home to a globally threatened plant community, rare plants and early woodland Native Indian, colonial and Civil War-era history.

The Norfolk District regulatory office, led by Project Manager Nick Konchuba, served as one of several key agencies involved in the review, funding, acquisition and founding of the preserve.

Working closely with The Nature Conservancy, which manages the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, Konchuba's team helped with approving partial funding that allowed the Trust to generate $4.4 million of the $33.2 million needed to purchase the 2,870-acre preserve.

In December 2008, Stafford County and the Virginia Department of Conservation, using county, state and federal funding, purchased the preserve land in two phases.

Wiggins has long worked with the Stafford County government and state and federal agencies to identify Crow's Nest peninsula as an ecologically sensitive area.

In 1997, then project manager for the Stafford Regional Airport project, Wiggins facilitated a Corps permit that included a 70-acre wetland/stream mitigation site at Crow's Nest.

Today, this site is one of the largest great blue heron colonies in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

"The significance of the Crow's Nest natural preserve is that it establishes a model for ecologically-based mitigation and environmental protection in support of sustainability," said Konchuba. "It is also a model for interagency cooperation at all levels of government."