VWL RESOURCES
These simple guides and quick-reference resources are great if you’re just getting started, or want to learn more about creating wildlife habitat, controlling invasive species, or finding local businesses that promote native biodiversity.
Birds
Grass and Shrubland Birds of Virginia
This guide includes tips and a checklist of illustrated bird species that are the current focus of VWL’s conservation efforts. These birds are solely dependent on shrub and grassland ecosystems.
Bringing Back the Butcher Bird: Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program
This pamphlet highlights the current efforts to understand and reverse the decline of Loggerhead Shrikes in Virginia.
Tips for Winterizing Your Yard for Wildlife
This reference highlights 10 quick tips on how you can help wildlife survive winter in your own backyard.
Field Management Guidelines for Grassland & Shrubland Birds
This guide is intended for landowners who are interested in helping grassland birds and have some flexibility in their management approaches. Even just choosing to implement one of the recommended practices will have a positive impact.
2020 TEDx Talk | “Bringing Back the Birds” by Dr. Amy Johnson
Watch VWL Program Director Dr. Amy Johnson’s TEDx Talk about how Virginia landowners and conservation scientists are working together to help reverse declines and bring birds back.
Plants
Meadow Restoration: Where to Begin
This handout provides landowners who are interested in establishing a native meadow on their property with helpful tips and resources.
Suggested Species List for Meadow Plantings, Northern Virginia
This is a comprehensive list of species that we recommend for use in native meadow plantings in the 16-county region surrounding Shenandoah National Park.
This pamphlet provides tips on how to protect natural and semi-natural grasslands, and presents an overview of 10 native grassland plants in Northern Virginia.
The Native Plant Highlights are weekly posts written by our VWL team and contributors that focus on native species ranging from common to rare, found from forest to field to backyard right here in Virginia.
2022 TEDx Talk | “A Wilder Way: How Plants Can Guide Our Future” by Charlotte Lorick
Watch Conservationist and Naturalist Charlotte Lorick’s TEDx talk about how paying closer attention to plants in our local environment can lead to profound ecological benefits.
Bees
This pamphlet provides tips on how to promote native bumblebee populations, and presents detailed photos of 11 bumblebee species found throughout Virginia.
OTHER RESOURCES
Helpful tips and references from other agencies and organizations about planting native plants, controlling invasive species, creating wildlife habitat, prescribed burn management, and technical and financial assistance for landowners interested in conservation best practices.
Native Plants & Invasive Species
Invasive species provide limited food and habitat for wildlife species. These species also frequently create monocultures by outcompeting valuable native plant species.
Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants (VDGIF)
Blue Ridge PRISM Invasive Plant Factsheets
Invasive Plant Species of Virginia
USDA Invasive Plants Field and Reference Guide
Native Plants: Native Grassland Plants
A Landowner’s Guide to Native Warm-Season Grasses in the Mid-South
Wildlife & Pollinator Habitat
References and guidance on how to manage your land for native wildlife. Roughly 80 percent of the world’s plant species require wildlife assisted pollination. Landowners can help through supporting and planting native plant species, which are beneficial to pollinators.
Audubon At Home: Creating Wildlife Habitat
Wildflower Meadow for Wildlife and Pollinators
Managing Land in the Piedmont of Virginia for the Benefit of Birds & Other Wildlife
Managing Working Lands for Northern Bobwhite
Selecting Plants for Pollinators
Prescribed Fire
Prescribed burns are an ideal management tool for keeping grasslands and old fields in early successional states. These early successional states provide the right mixture of plant species diversity and plant density to support many grassland wildlife species such as quail and sparrow species.
Beyond the Bonfire: A Primer on Prescribed Fire for Virginia’s Private Landowners
Virginia’s Smoke and Burn Management Guidelines
Virginia Department of Forestry Prescribed Burn Management Plan
Virginia Department of Forestry Prescribed Fire and Smoke Management Plan
Technical & Financial Assistance
Numerous conservation programs offer cost-shares and/or incentives to promote the planting of native warm-season grasses. Review the resources below for available programs and offerings.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Conserving Habitat Through the Federal Farm Bill A Guide For Land Trusts and Landowners
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Security Program (CSP)
Landowner Incentive Program (LIP)
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)
Virginia Farm Service Agency Programs
Virginia Natural Resource Conservation Service Programs
Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District
Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP)
SUPPORT VWL
VWL is supported 100% by grants and donations and our work is made possible by the generous contributions from our community.
The Smithsonian Institution is a 501(c)(3). All contributions are tax-deductible.
GET IN TOUCH
Virginia Working Landscapes
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
1500 Remount Road, MRC 5537
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
SCBIVWL@si.edu
540-635-0035
