Fly fisherman Roger Flinchum remembers evenings when Rappahannock County streams were alive with fish. “I might go 100 yards and catch 20 or 30 fish,” said the retired Rappahannock County High School teacher, who has been fly fishing since the 1970s when brook trout...
Let’s say there’s a female raccoon inside the wall of your house. Just what you need, right? But there’s more. With her is a litter of raccoon kits. Now what? Will Russell knows just what. This calls for a pheromone, or scent, from a male raccoon. “I put it in the...
Families spent last Saturday casting lines and learning about local waterways during the annual Rush River Fishing Day at Rappahannock County Park in Washington. Hosted by the Rappahannock County Recreational Facilities Authority, the free event featured fishing, fly...
Speakers call for aggressive negotiation, local opposition and legal action Lawyers and conservationists at the annual gathering of the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) Saturday urged communities to take a stronger stand against the rapid spread of data centers...
Fate of Waterpenny Farm, Sperryville River Trail in question The unwinding of the Clifford Miller III family’s vast Sperryville landholdings and partnerships accelerated last weekend when a local couple, Pat Snyder and Bob Kramer, signed a contract to buy 17 acres...
‘Pretty much a total loss’ As Bill Gadino walked through his vineyard at Gadino Cellars in Washington, he stopped several times last Friday to pick dried, withering leaves off grapevines. “These had all emerged,” he said, examining the nubs left where fresh...
Virginia’s love affair with data centers is experiencing turbulence. The chief disrupter isn’t a wave of angry neighbors or land conservationists, but L. Louise Lucas, a determined 82-year-old Democratic state senator from Portsmouth, Va., who has pledged to undo a...
With the scent of fresh-cut lumber in the air and hammers ringing across the fields, Rappahannock Nature Camp’s new home at Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville is taking shape. Read the full story by Julia Shanahan at rappnews.com Photos by Ireland Hayes [gallery...
Local environmental group wants guardrails on AI-fueled boom The Piedmont Environment Council (PEC), after 53 years of thoughtfully protecting the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont, finds itself on the front lines of a David and Goliath face-off with Big...
Company contends it’s routine; others fear energy demands from data centers When Kerry Sutten steps outside his Sperryville home, he is greeted by a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are power lines and poles mixed in with the trees, but they’re...
The Piedmont Environmental Council is scaling up its mission of awareness-raising and warning about the proliferation of energy-hungry data centers in Virginia by launching a statewide campaign, “Virginians for a Smarter Digital Future.” It acts as a counterweight to...
Who’s at risk and where? New ways to cope The owners of The Black Twig restaurant in Sperryville know all too well the life-threatening impact of severe flooding. Abigail Gleason was left stranded at her home the evening of May 13 with her two young sons on one side...
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