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SECTION 3 - Protecting and Enhancing Our Environment:
VI. Environmental Stewardship
The county has a responsibility to help citizens respect and
manage our finite natural resources. Ideally, citizens, communities,
governments and private entities will learn to make informed
decisions that will conserve and improve our environment and
minimize impacts on our ecosystems.
The County has numerous opportunities to partner with organizations,
such as the National Park Service, the Virginia Cooperative
Extension Service, civic groups, the Northern Virginia Soil
and Water Conservation District and the Northern Virginia Conservation
Trust to educate people on environmental protection and to include
them in projects and programs for the betterment of our environment.
Businesses can and should also be a part of this effort.
Teaching environmental stewardship to youngsters at an early
age pays off in years of responsible behavior and decision-making.
The Board's Environmental Plan:
- Encourage organizations, for example,
those that work on stream monitoring and stream valley restoration,
to involve schools and citizens of all ages in their work.
- Encourage citizen-based watershed
stewardship groups and help them to work with all stakeholders
to protect, enhance and improve the natural resources, and
hence, the quality of life in their watersheds.
- Encourage schools to provide community
service by students and involve children in projects that
respect, protect and enhance the environment.
- Establish an aggressive program of
community groups to adopt natural areas such as parks, trails,
and stream valleys.
SECTION 4 - Conclusions:
Environmental stewardship is both a key
responsibility and a critical legacy of any elected public body.
We have made great strides in the last eight years, but we can
and must do more. The Board of Supervisors will have as one
of its chief goals to integrate environmental planning and smart
growth into all we do and to leave our land, water and air quality,
better than we found it.
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