With the support of a grant from the Richard K. Mellon Foundation, Blue Ridge PRISM sponsored and hosted a three-day strategic planning workshop to create a collaborative plan to reduce the presence of invasive plants in Virginia.

In mid-December 2023, representatives of public, private, and nonprofit groups from around the state met in Charlottesville for three days.

Approximately 80 attendees included state and local employees, nonprofit leaders, service providers, private landowners, and three members of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Together, they represented a microcosm of the interconnected statewide community that deals with the influences of invasive plants and the lack of availability of native plants.

The overarching goal of the event was to build a statewide coalition and strategic blueprint to reduce invasive plants and increase the availability of native plants in Virginia.

We are thrilled with the new connections, discussion, and future plans that ignited the genesis of the Virginia Invasive Plant Coalition.

Blue Ridge PRISM will be hosting a virtual reunion meeting in the spring of 2024 to present the initiatives and next actions that were sculpted during this interactive and collaborative three-day period. Stay tuned!

Learn more about our work…

All of us at Blue Ridge PRISM would like to thank the following organizations for being part of the process and for committing their time, effort, and camaraderie to this group endeavor. We are so grateful.

Future Search Workshop Participating Organizations and Founding Coalition Members

  • Appalachian Conservation Corps

  • Appalachian Trail Conservancy

  • Arlington Regional Master Naturalists

  • Beloved Brook Natives

  • Blandy Experimental Farm/University of Virginia

  • Blue Ridge PRISM

  • Central Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association

  • Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professionals

  • Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council

  • Cleremont LLC

  • Clifton Institute

  • Earth Sangha

  • Elizabeth River Project

  • GardenVitals

  • Fairfax County Urban Forest Pest Branch

  • Garden Club of America

  • Garden Club of Virginia

  • Grass farmer/cattleman

  • Flora of Virginia

  • Hill House Nursery Native Plants

  • Invasive Plant Control Inc.

  • James City County Parks & Recreation

  • James River Association

  • James River Garden Club

  • James River Park System: Invasive Plant Task Force

  • Karen for Nature

  • Local Ecotype Richmond Natives

  • Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance

  • Lynchburg Garden Club

  • Mattaponi Indian Tribe & Reservation

  • National Park Service

  • New River Conservancy

  • Norfolk Botanical Garden

  • Northern Neck of Virginia Native Plant Society

  • Plant NOVA Natives

  • Plant Virginia Natives

  • Plant Southern Piedmont Natives

  • Plant SWVA Natives

  • Potomac Appalachian Trail Club

  • Reedy Creek Environmental

  • Resource Environmental Solutions

  • Reynolds Community College

  • Roanoke Parks & Recreation

  • RVA Gardener LLC

  • Saunders Brothers Inc

  • Shenandoah National Park Trust

  • Smithsonian's Virginia Working Landscapes

  • The Nature Conservancy

  • The Piedmont Environmental Council

  • The Student Conservation Association

  • Timmons Group

  • Valley Conservation Council

  • Virginia American Society of Landscape Architects

  • Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts

  • Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, VA

  • Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

  • Virginia Conservation Network

  • Virginia Cooperative Extension

  • Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

  • Virginia Department of Forestry

  • Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

  • Virginia Forestry and Wildlife Group

  • Virginia Home Grown, VPM/PBS

  • Virginia House of Delegates

  • Virginia League of Conservation Voters

  • Virginia Master Gardeners

  • Virginia Master Naturalists

  • Virginia Native Plant Society

  • Virginia Natural Heritage Program

  • Virginia Outdoors Foundation

  • Virginia Recreation & Parks Society

  • Virginia State Parks

  • Virginia Sustainable Forestry Initiative

  • Virginia Tech Faculty

  • Virginia Tech Invasive Species Working Group

  • Wetlands Watch

  • Weyerhaeuser

  • White House Natives

  • Wildlife Center of Virginia

Future Search workshop facilitators:

Candy Castellanos, Radiant Consulting, LLC

Amber Peterson, Peterson & Perme Associates

Thank you!

Photo: Pat Klima for Blue Ridge PRISM