• Woodend Reports: Tracking the Health of Woodend’s Forest 

    By Grace Dho With a new year comes new data! This past fall, restoration staff and volunteers began resurveying Woodend’s forest. The original, comprehensive forest survey of Woodend’s deer-protected area was completed between October 2019 and April 2020 by Habitat Manager, Bradley Simpson, and many dedicated volunteers. The forest survey team collected data within 67…


  • 2024 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Priorities

    2024 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Priorities (Updated as of 4/26/24 @ 11:35am) This year’s Virginia General Assembly, when legislators get together to make a new set of laws, takes place from January 10 through March 9 with the Governor taking action on bills in April. Nature Forward, with help from several partners (such as VCN’s…


  • What are the big issues in Virginia in 2024? Think data.

    Thank you to Nature Volunteer Elyzabeth Earnley for partnering with us and for co-authoring this article with me! While much of the work we do at Nature Forward is focused locally, we pay attention each year in Virginia as legislators gather for the General Assembly to write new laws that will affect us both state-wide…


  • Water Protectors empowers community leaders!

    In 2023, Nature Forward completed the 3rd year of our Water Protectors of Little Hunting Creek outreach, working with communities along the Route 1 Corridor in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax County, VA.). Thanks to funding from Virginia Environmental Endowment and in partnership with United Community, Northern Virginia Soil & Water Conservation District (NVSWCD),…


  • Speak up against the I-270 highway expansion & demand environmentally friendly transit alternatives in November!

    It is time to take action on the Beltway (I-270 & I-495) and American Legion Bridge expansion once again.


  • Woodend Monthly: Everyone Outside, Outside for Everyone

    By deconstructing what defines a natural space, people can expand their view of outdoor access to be more inclusive and welcoming to people of all ability levels.  


  • Help Save Fairfax County Parks!

    Dear Friend, We need YOUR help next week to protect Fairfax County parks!  Over the past two years, Nature Forward and the Fairfax Parks Coalition won $2 million in funding for natural resource management and environmental justice in Fairfax County.  But all of that progress could be reversed.Fairfax County administrators have proposed severe budget cuts that…


  • “Don’t Pollute” Nature Forward’s year-long, youth led, Long Branch litter reduction program wraps up. 

    Nature Forward had another successful year working with the Long Branch community to clean up their watershed! We partnered with CHEER, Defensores de la Cuenca and 18 high school students on a yearlong litter reduction project called “Don’t Pollute.” This CBT Funded project empowered BIPOC youth to create and lead litter reduction projects in the…


  • Another Successful Year: Ward 8 Water Watchers 3.0

    Ward 8 Water Watchers is a program created for the Congress Heights community and other Ward 8 residents to engage in watershed education events, steward Oxon Run and advancing environmental justice in Ward 8 while sharing the beauty that is Oxon Run Park. In the third year of W8WW, we were able to engage more…


  • My summer internship with Nature Forward

    This post written by Nature Forward Summer 2023 Intern Alex Bennett My name is Alex Bennett. I am from Arlington, Virginia, and this fall I will be a Junior at Virginia Tech. I interned with Nature Forward this summer, primarily doing conservation outreach and advocacy in the Northern Virginia area.  What I did: I worked…