Fairfax County has reduced greenhouse gas emissions nearly 30% since 2005, with officials optimistic the downward trend will continue toward the county’s goals for 2030.
County staff provided a draft report of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (COG) greenhouse gas inventory to the Board of Supervisors’ environmental committee last week (Nov. 25).
Fairfax County won’t be able to meet its goal of electrifying its vehicle fleet by 2035.
County officials told the Board of Supervisors’ environmental committee last week (Nov. 25) that the goal is unattainable because fully electric alternatives to all the county’s vehicles aren’t available.
Local nonprofit Friends of Reston has brought new life to its Friends of Trees Tree Fund program, doubling down on its efforts to help preserve Reston’s lush tree canopy by encouraging the community to plant more trees.
The program has existed since at least 2012 but experienced a slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Kathleen Driscoll, president of Friends of Reston, which supports Reston Association through private fundraising and charitable, educational and scientific activities.
Dominion Energy is planning to take down more trees near its power lines along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail — this time, with the consent of NOVA Parks.
Starting next Monday (Oct. 20), the power company will begin “selective” pruning and removals of trees and other vegetation on a 2.6-mile section of the trail between its Clark substation in Vienna and the Hunter substation in Wolf Trap, just outside Reston.
Half a decade after Fairfax County launched a solar panel initiative touted as the largest in Virginia to date, the first major installation at a public school is nearing completion.
Rooftop solar panels have been under construction at Olde Creek Elementary School (9524 Old Creek Drive) since Aug. 1 and are on track to become fully operational by Oct. 13, according to Fairfax County Public Schools.
Will Fairfax County’s latest energy-efficiency initiative deliver enough bang for the buck to make it viable in an era of constrained budgets?
County supervisors weren’t so sure, but the new Energy Compass initiative will have the coming year to prove its worth.
Herndon’s tree canopy coverage isn’t bad for a town of its size, but it notably lags behind some of its neighbors, town staff say.
At a work session on Tuesday (Sept. 9), arborist Nick Maletta told the Herndon Town Council that the town currently has 26% canopy coverage, which falls within a standard range but at the lower end of that spectrum.
Some local hunters are getting their Legolas on: it’s bow hunting season.
Fairfax County kicked off its annual archery program for qualified bowhunters this past weekend to help control the local deer population.
A Reston resident says she’s facing fines and possible legal action over the presence of milkweed on her property.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, milkweed has a “bad reputation,” but the wildflower is vital for monarch caterpillars and other pollinators. It’s also toxic to the invasive spotted lanternflies, which have proliferated across the D.C. region over the past few years.
Invasive species, an overpopulation of deer and climate change are threatening Reston’s valued forests, a report released earlier this summer found.
Reston Association’s 2024 State of the Environment Report (RASER), published in June, deemed Reston’s urban forests to be in “fair” condition due to the “collective severity” of those and other challenges, including negative impacts of construction and yard debris getting dumped in natural areas.
