A Year in Review: VCN’s 2023 Annual Report
Thanks to highly coordinated efforts and despite political headwinds, VCN — in our role as the strategic facilitator of our 150+ Network Partners — was successful in holding onto major environmental and climate policy successes from the last few years while celebrating historic investments in conservation funding through the budget.
Our Annual Report reviews Virginia Conservation Network’s work from Spring 2022 to Winter 2023. While it feels almost impossible to cover everything we worked on last year in only a few pages, we did our best to squeeze in the highlights, including:
- our strategy to advance conservation initiatives year-round,
- our policy gains and challenges through the General Assembly session and beyond,
- our Network Partner engagement events,
- and more.
As we sent this annual report to the printer, we learned of the tragic loss of our Clean Energy & Climate Justice Policy Manager, Shawn Soares, on May 4th, 2023. Shawn was committed to devoting his career to bettering the Commonwealth and was a rising star in the climate movement. We are dedicating this annual report to him and are committed to working in his honor moving forward.
Read more of our recent updates from our blog:
Map: DC Area Water Quality
The Reservoir Center for Water Resources developed an interactive map for monitoring water quality in the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.
Report: Littered Balloons in Virginia’s Coastal Environments
Clean Virginia Waterways released an extensive report addressing the sources, concentration, and impacts of balloon litter on Virginia's environment.
Report: What Plastic Pollution Costs Taxpayers
Clean Virginia Waterways has released an extensive report highlighting the disparities between the profits of plastic and consumer goods manufacturers at the cost of taxpayers.
Virginia’s Energy Plan
Virginia is seeking public feedback for its 2026 Virginia Energy Plan, a ten-year roadmap to help the Commonwealth meet energy demand while maintaining reliability and working to achieve a net-zero carbon energy economy.
Reflections on VCN’s Intern & Fellow Day!
Virginia Conservation Network recently hosted its third Intern & Fellow Day at the VCN office in Richmond, bringing together interns and fellows from across our Network.
State of Chesapeake Forests StoryMap
The Choose Clean Water Coalition has released a StoryMap highlighting the change of forests in the Chesapeake region over time. This StoryMap serves to provide updated information about the Chesapeake forests, and how they are changing.