A Year in Review: VCN’s 2022 Annual Report
Over the last year, VCN worked with our 150+ Network Partners to maintain momentum around policy gains while continuing to navigate working within the confines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The year was defined by a gubernatorial election and the infusion of federal money into the state budget. It ended with a vastly different political landscape including a new, untested Governor and a change in conservation strategy from offense to defense.
Our Annual Report reviews Virginia Conservation Network’s work from Spring 2021 to Winter 2022. 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,
- our Network Partner engagement events,
- VCN staff updates,
- …and more!
Read more of our recent updates from our blog:
Partners Take New Bill Positions During Historic Veto Session
Governor Youngkin has made a historic and unprecedented amount of amendments and vetoes on General Assembly legislation, and legislators are voting today on whether to accept or reject the Governor's amendments and override any vetoes.
Report: State Policy Leadership To Conserve Nature
The Center for American Progress (CAP) and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL) released a report reviewing a variety of land conservation policy models that have been adopted at the state level, highlighting recent examples of each.
Grant Search Tool for Federal Funding
Local Infrastructure Hub released a grant search tool providing nearly 400 grant opportunities available to communities through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
ARTICLE: Will data centers harm Shenandoah National Park?
Our Partners warn of dire consequences from the data center industry for Shenandoah State Park in an InsideNOVA article.
MAP: Existing and Proposed Data Centers
Piedmont Environmental Council presents a simple, digestible, picture of the current and future data center footprint in Virginia built on credible sources.
MAP: Initial Transmission Proposals
Transmission line proposals to serve the explosive growth of data centers in Virginia over the past few years have begun to roll in. PEC has published this online web map to make it easier to view the proposals in one place.