Parks Operations

Virginia State Parks Operations Director

This is me with Yoda. Yoda is now 85 pounds and no longer fits in my arms!

Hello! My name is Nancy Heltman and I am Virginia State Park's Operations Director. I know, that title is a little vague and probably does little to tell you what I do.

I work in our Central Office in Richmond and manage several key administrative areas for Virginia State Parks. The Operations Section includes our Reservation Center, Volunteerism, Budget, Logistics, some Marketing, and I serve as liaison between our field units and our Agency's support divisions (IT, human resources, procurement, finance). I spend a lot of my time streamlining the bureaucracy of state government so our staff in the field can spend their time making our customers happy!

I have been with Virginia State Parks since 1996 and came to state government after sixteen years in the private sector. I have my MBA from the College of William and Mary and have lived in Virginia for all but one year of my life.

I love our Virginia State Parks and have been to every one of them. My husband, David, and I spend nearly all of our vacations in one of our beautiful Virginia State Parks and now bring our dog Yoda on these excursions.

My goal for the blogs I write is to pass along my enthusiasm for the parks and let our potential customers know what neat things we have going on. From my days as Reservation Center Manager (my first job with Virginia State Parks) and my visits to parks (I have been to all of them). I know most of what there is to know about our parks and will find out anything I don't know. Feel free to contact me any time:

nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov Or, follow me on Twitter @VaStateParks

Fairy Stone State Park - Magically Delightful

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Sometimes I marvel at how I get my ideas for blog posts. I get an email with the "Lens of the Day" from Squidoo (neat stuff by the way). Today's title was "Purple Star Awards." I confess I haven't read the post yet but it made me think of Lucky Charms Cereal. Then I thought, "Hey it's almost St. Patrick's Day" and then I decided it was time to do a blog about Fairy Stone. Not sure what this says about my creative process.

The connection between St. Patrick's Day and Fairy Stone is a little more obvious. Fairy Stone State Park is located in Patrick County. Okay, so Patrick County has nothing to do with St. Patrick. Once in Virginia there was a giant county called Patrick Henry County named after that famous Virginia forefather. In 1791 they split the county into Patrick and Henry counties.

In addition to the tenuous "Patrick" connection, the story behind the park's name sake involves fairies and wee people right out of Irish folklore. Fairy Stones are naturally formed staurolite crystals that form cross-like shapes. The Captain John Smith/Pocahontas legend talks about Pocahontas giving Captain John Smith a necklace of lucky fairy stones. Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson as well as Charles Linberg and Thomas Edison reportedly carried the crosses for luck. If you have jewelry made out of the crosses (and we sell some at the park), a lot of work went into making the rough stones into crosses appropriate for jewelry.

While nothing beats a good fairy stone hunt, the real magic of Fairy Stone State Park is the more than 4,600 acres which makes this park an outdoor paradise. The park is situated on Fairy Stone Lake which was created by damming Goblintown Creek. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the park infrastructure and Fairy Stone opened June 15, 1936 as one of the six original Virginia State Parks.

A CCC Log Cabin at Fairystone State Park

Today the park features a campground with great views, twenty-five cabins with some lakefront, a family lodge that sleeps 16 people, Fayerdale Hall Conference Center, and a seasonal swimming beach. There are nine miles of multi-use trail for hiking, biking and horseback riding as well as about six miles of hiking only trail. The 168 acre lake offers great fishing (no gasoline powered boats allowed). The park rents rowboats, paddleboats, kayaks and canoes on a seasonal basis.

The swimming beach is loaded with fun for the kids

For camping and cabin reservations, call our reservation center at 800-933-7275 or book on line.

Your Next Family Reunion

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Virginia's State Parks have always been fantastic family vacation spots. The parents can relax and unwind from their normally busy vacations while the kids enjoy swimming, boating, fishing, hiking or a variety of programs offered at the park.

Many parks have water features for swimming and boating fun for the family

What's good for the immediate family is even better for larger family groups. We have families who come to a particular state park year after year or every other year to celebrate their annual family reunions. Twenty-four of our Virginia State Parks have campgrounds for families that enjoy the camping experience. Nineteen parks have comfortable cabins for those family members who prefer a bed, kitchen and bathroom all under the same roof. Thirteen parks now have our family lodges that have five to six bedrooms and sleep 15-18 people (most sleep 16). The family lodges offer large gathering areas where many family members can gather and prepare meals together.

The family sitting down for dinner at the Bear Creek Lake State Park family lodge

Photo by Bill Crabtree Jr., Virginia Tourism Corporation

In the summer, all of our parks offer special programming and events. We are all about catering to our customers, so for a large group you can arrange a special program just for your family group. Hungry Mother and Douthat state parks offer catering for your event and many other parks like Claytor Lake, Twin Lakes, Bear Creek Lake and Westmoreland have meeting facilities you can rent for an event.

Our cabins and lodges do require a week stay during the Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day period. We accept reservations up to eleven months in advance so if you have a big group coming, plan in advance. Normally we require payment in full fourteen days after making a reservation but for a large group with one coordinator, we will make special arrangements if you ask to speak to the Reservation Center or Assistant Manager. Reservations and information are available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 800-933-7275.

Photo by Bill Crabtree Jr., Virginia Tourism Corporation

If you are not sure which park you want to visit, try our new park amenity search.

If you have been coming to Virginia State Parks for years with your family, tell us about it! Add your own blog here. If you have more than one picture, you can email me the others at nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov. If you post your own blog between now and August 31, 2010 you will be eligible for a drawing for a week cabin stay at any of our parks.

Family camping trip at Pocahontas State Park

Your Camera - Don't Leave Home Without It

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

The old American Express slogan "Don't Leave Home Without it" came to mind today when my husband called with the news. He had been on a hike around our neighborhood's nature trail and had foolishly chosen not to bring his camera. He's out on the trail and there is a magnificent bird - a hawk or eagle (neither of us are particularly schooled in bird watching).

Now that my Blackberry has become an appendage, I always have something available to shoot a photo on the fly. In fact, cell phones have done a lot for digital photography (albeit maybe not the highest resolution pictures).

Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about a new partnership that we hope will be making your Virginia State Park visits more memorable. This partner is WildObs. Wildobs is a great database designed for outdoor lovers to post pictures of wildlife they observe. It is also a really cool way to find the best places to spot various types of wildlife. Our staff are loading up existing pictures of wildlife in our parks and are anxious to start having new encounters and posting them. For example, I just checked out the recent post section on the site and found this posting from Hungry Mother State Park.

Our webmaster is going to be adding a widget to all of our park pages that will show some recent observations and link to the whole list of what has been reported at the park. Soon I hope we will have pages like this one from Smith Mountain Lake State Park for all our parks.

We need your help! Sign up for WildObs and the next time you are in one of our parks, snap a shot of the wildlife and upload it. You guessed it - there's an app for that - for the IPhone and Clones. On my Blackberry I can use the regular site since it is optimized for web based phones. Or, take your high quality pictures and upload them when you get home. Your account becomes your permanent record of wildlife observations. Who needs a notebook?

Albino Deer at Staunton River State Park

Oh, if you are not so great with wildlife identification (like my husband and I), no worries. Go ahead and post that shot of the eagle or hawk or whatever it was. You can even ask the WildObs community to help you with the identification.

New Virginia State Parks Guide Available

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Remember that scene in Steve Martin's movie The Jerk -- the one where he gets the new phone book (where he would be listed for the very first time) and runs around yelling "The new phone book is here - the new phone book is here?" As a kid I was always like that when the phone book came out - I just had to look up our listing. As an adult, I have gotten past the thrill of being listed in the phone book. But, I confess I still feel that excitement when our new Virginia State Parks Guide comes out each year.

A lot goes into this publication each year. We call it the #1 brochure in house. Once upon a time we had a #2 and a #3 but with the internet, the need for those publications declined over the years. We use our color brochure primarily for the Virginia Welcome Centers and various Tourism offices and libraries around the state. Our web content is far more thorough than anything we could ever print and distribute, so we use this brochure as a teaser publication to get folks inspired in learning more about Virginia State Park.

We are part of a larger agency, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and we share our graphic designed with the rest of the Agency. Esther Zabronsky is very talented and has, as usual, outdone herself with this edition. A lot of the credit also goes to Jim Meisner, our Public Relations Specialist, who serves as the project manager, works on theme ideas, edits the copy, and creates the copy for the middle four pages. He also holds our feet to the fire to meet the deadlines for content and review.

Facebook and Twitter followers - you may recall that sometime last fall I asked for you to share the reasons you love Virginia State Parks. Throughout this year's Guide you will see some of the comments we received from this request.

We are already planning for next year's guide. Since it's our 75th anniversary, the theme is pretty easy. What we need from you is some good content about how you have enjoyed Virginia's state parks over the years. The best way to share it with us is through posting your own blog by clicking here. You can even add a picture. If you have more pictures you want to add to your "post" you can email them to me at nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov. If you contribute to the blog before August 31, 2010, you will be eligible for a drawing for a week's cabin stay.

Seasonal Park Jobs!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

I heard on PBS this morning that the job forcast for the next quarter is bleak. Whatever companies they survey in that report said they were not planning on increasing their workforce. Well, they didn't ask us.

Just like every year, we are now beginning the process to hire our seasonal staff. Some of these folks work 8 months, some 5 and some 3. If you are thinking about a career in parks, working as seasonal staff is the best way to find out if you like the work and to pick up skills that will make you a more qualified candidate.

We hire lifeguards for all of our swimming beaches and
pools. Most parks offer a package where we reimburse for the
certification in exchange for working for us for a summwe.

For years we have relied on high school and college students to meet our seasonal hiring demands, but the downturn in the economy has brought us a broader employment base.

All of our individual parks do their specific hiring, so drop by the park close to you and fill out a state application. (Note: for our seasonal wage jobs we still allow the paper application but for full time positions, be sure and fill out the electronic application.) Or, you can also check our job listing - which includes our available full time positions as well. Not all of our seasonal jobs are listed here, but it will give you an idea of the type of staff we are hiring.

All seasonal staff receive customer service training so they can assist park visitors with expertise

New Cabins Go On Sale March 12

Monday, March 8, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

We are excited to announce that our brand new cabins at Shenandoah River State Park will be available for reservations starting March 12 at 9 a.m.

Since the cabins are still under construction, we will take reservations for July 15, 2010 forward. We hope they will be finished and ready for occupancy sooner and when we know a definite date we will back date the opening.

Shenandoah River State Park is located on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River approximately twenty minutes south of Front Royal, Virginia. The park will have a six-bedroom family lodge (sleeps 16), one three-bedroom cabin (sleep 8) and nine two-bedroom cabins (sleep 6). Cabins will offer a fantastic mountain view. Shenandoah River State Park is located near the start of the Skyline Drive, part of Shenandoah National Park.

See my previous posts, My Visit to Shenandoah River State Park (Parts One, Two and Three), or Cyndi's post Discover Shenandoah River State Park.

We are building new cabins at Natural Tunnel and Douthat state parks as well but the winter weather have set those projects back such that we do not have a comfortable date to use for future reservations.

These new cabins are part of the 2002 State Park and Natural Area Bond. While these cabins are not yet complete, they are our new cabin design. Bear Creek Lake, Claytor Lake, James River, Kiptopeke and Occoneechee state parks have similar cabins. The cabins also feature our Legacy Line of furniture designed in conjunction with Virginia Correctional Enterprises. Our goal was attractive, comfortable and long lasting furniture and comments from our guests indicate we were successful.

All Virginia State Park cabins have a two night minimum. From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, we have a week stay requirement. If cabins are not booked for a week stay a month prior to the date of arrival, we allow the two night minimum. At this time you can only book for less than a week in the summer season through the reservation center.

Reservations will be accepted for these new facilities starting a 9 a.m. on March 12, 2010 through our Reservation and Information line at 800-933-7275 or on line.

Reservations Accepted for New Campgrounds Beginning March 12

Sunday, March 7, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Thanks to the 2002 State Park and Natural Area Bond Referendum, we will be opening two new campgrounds this year. We will begin accepting reservations for these new campgrounds for future dates starting this Friday, March 12, at 9 a.m.

Natural Tunnel State Park is located in Duffield, Virginia in far southwest Virginia. The park is named for its naturally formed tunnel dubbed the Eighth Natural Wonder by William Jennings Bryant. A chair lift carries visitors down into the mouth of the tunnel in season. Natural Tunnel already has a campground but is getting ready to open it's second one. Lover's Leap Campground will open May 1, 2010. The park's existing campground will now be called Cove View. Lover's Leap Campground will have eighteen electric and water sites for equipment from tents to 50 foot RVs.

Shenandoah River State Park is located on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River approximately twenty minutes south of Front Royal, Virginia. Shenandoah River State Park is located near the start of the Skyline Drive, part of Shenandoah National Park. The park currently has hike-in and canoe-in campsites but their new campground will have thirty-two spacious water and electric sites for a variety of equipment from tents to 60 foot RVs. We will be opening this campground to reservations from July 15th and beyond. We hope to be able to open earlier dates as soon as we have a definite opening date in sight.

Reservations can be made starting 9 a.m. on Friday, March 12 by calling the Virginia State Parks reservation center at 800-933-7275 or by booking on line.

Future campground at Shenandoah River State Park

Winter Wonderland - Grayson Highlands State Park

Saturday, March 6, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Located near the highest point in Virginia, Grayson Highlands State Park has a lot going for it. There are beautiful mountain views and in the summer cooler temperatures. The spring flowers bloom later and the fall colors turn earlier.

Most Virginians are pretty sick of snow this winter. We have had more snow than in many years. But I have decided that the reason we're sick of snow is more the living with the snow than snow itself. We are tired of shoveling walkways, digging out our cars, and crazy drivers who don't seem to have the sense to slow down when roads are icy. Oh, and then there is the mud and black yucky stuff that used to be snow. And let's not forget all the days of missed school which now have to be made up.

There is still lots of snow at Grayson Highlands State Park and I thought you might want to enjoy it without having to live with the bad parts of snow. Oh and if you like to primitive camp in Grayson in March and April, this will give you an idea of what to expect!

Sugarlands Overlook - notice the handicapped parking sign and the pine tree that gives you an idea of the depth

Another view that shows how deep the snow is (and what trail conditions are like)

The Shorty Awards

Friday, March 5, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

So if you're not on Twitter and maybe even if you are, the Shorty Awards may mean you are scratching your head. Last night the Second Annual Shorty Awards were held at the Times Center in New York City. To help you out, here is the blog I originally posted about the awards.

Our Shorty experience began with this nomination. In the interest of full disclosure, Mike works for me, but I had no idea he was going to nominate us and really didn't know much about the Shorty Awards until after he got the ball rolling.

Whether we were ever in the running for a Shorty, it was great to read all of the "because" reasons our followers submitted.

Midnight PST on January 29th was the deadline for the nomination process. At that point, the top six highest vote getters became the finalists and voting began. The voting was the same - a tweet that included the reason you were voting. While you could vote multiple times, only one of your votes were counted. Voting closed at noon EST on February 5.

In addition to the popular vote, a committee called the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences made a final decision which considered the votes and the body of your tweets. Thanks to all of the support we got from the Richmond, Virginia Twitter community (there were 5, count 'em 5 Shorty finalists from #RVA), great support from the anipal community on Twitter (my dog @yoda_the_dog has a lot of wonderful furiends), and our great @VaStateParks followers, we were second to @NASA after the popular vote.

I really wanted to go to New York for the awards but with the state budget as it is, I knew if I went it would be on my nickel. Thanks to the opportunity to share a room with another finalist (@BZTAT finalist in #art) and because I could drive, it was possible.

The Shorty Awards were held at the Times Center in New York City

The Shorty Awards were a neat experience even though we didn't win. @CoryBooker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey took the Shorty in the #government category and got to shake CNN's @RickSanchezCNN's hand. I had an opportunity to congratulate him and received two nice hugs (not those polite half-hugs). I decided it was not too bad to lose to him. Winner or not, being a finalist was a great honor and a testament to our social media efforts. Most of the rest of my friends that were finalists - @BZTAT (#art) @FrugalDougal (#nonprofit), @AustinPrime (#brand) @MadMain (#advertising) @Flack4RIC (#travel) - are also in the "happy to be a finalist" category. However, Jonah Holland who tweets @LewisGinter took home a Shorty in the #culturalinstitution category!

The best part of the trip was to meet some of the friends I have made on Twitter. This is probably the first time I have visited New York where I did no site-seeing - it was all people seeing and it was great.

Why We Do the Things We Do - Campsite Assignments

Saturday, February 27, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

It has not been lost on us that many park systems have moved to reserving specific campsites with their reservation systems. We have that capacity in our software and actually choose to not have the sites reserved by specific site.

Spacious campsite at Chippokes Plantation State Park (campground B)

Why? In a nutshell the reason is that our current method provides us with a flexibility to control site usage to best meet the needs of campers.

We actually have a couple of primitive campgrounds that allow site specific reservations so customers know where they need to go. One thing that happens is that at a certain point customers can no longer make multiple night reservations on the same site. What this means is that there may be a site or sites available for each night a customer wants but no one site is available both nights. With non site specific reservations, customers are shuffled to sites to keep this from happening.

Not hard to understand why the Lakeside campground at Douthat State Park is so popular

In a perfect world all of our sites would be able to accommodate all of the different camping equipment customers bring. That is actually our current design standard. But many of our campgrounds were built many years ago when folks did not drive 40 foot RVs. We have expanded sites as much as possible but we would stand to lose a lot of really nice smaller sites that are still great for tents and pop-ups if we tried to make all the sites uniform. With site specific reservations there is nothing to prevent a customer with a tent reserving the largest site we have available in a campground which could needlessly prevent a camper with large equipment from enjoying the campground.

James River State Park's Red Oak Campground

We do understand that there are a variety of reasons customers want to reserve specific sites. The main reason is often so that multiple families or larger families that need multiple sites can be sure they can camp together. Actually it is in our best interest you can camp together because it reduces traffic in the campground if folks camping together are really together. The best way to be together is to have one person make all of the reservations for the group in the same name. Individuals can still call in an pay for their individual reservations but you tell the reservation counselor and the park that you want to be together. If you book on line, you can just call at your convenience to let us know at least a week before your arrival. The only restriction is that you will have to all arrive together and coming in on a Saturday will add complications. Holiday weekends can be a challenge too but the park will do its best to get you together.

Other campers may have equipment or a special access need. Again, if you make us aware of the problem, we will make every effort to accommodate you. The park can pre-assign sites to accommodate both groups and campers with special needs.

A smaller group of campers really like a special site. I'm afraid that is still the camper we can't promise to accommodate. However arriving earlier in the week or earlier on Friday will give you optimum choices. Since many of our customers do not have a preference or have never been to a particular campground, their selection of a specific site could easily result in them selecting one that they don't like. We do not have the staff, and often not a great internet speed, to be able to make complex site changes. When all the sites are sold out on a weekend, there is really no way we can help these folks. Again, the non site specific reservations give us more flexibility.

With the exception of our most popular campgrounds, the weekend is the sell out time. Park staff pull arrival reports and pre-assign sites for the campers with special needs. Many parks then allow customers to select their own sites. The exception is some of our smaller campgrounds who carefully assign sites upon arrival based on the size of the equipment.

Lakefront campsite at Bear Creek Lake State Park

We are working hard with our new campgrounds to design sites so that all camping equipment can be easily accommodated. We have opened such campgrounds at Lake Anna, James River, Chippokes Plantation and Belle Isle in the last few years. We have purchased former private campgrounds at Hungry Mother and Douthat to provide more campsites (Douthat's new campground should open next year). This summer we will be opening new campgrounds at Shenandoah River, Natural Tunnel and Holliday Lake state parks.

New campground under construction at Shenandoah River State Park

I would be remiss if I failed to brag about our wonderful new bathhouse design. If you have visited of our new campgrounds or a park that has gotten a new or substantially remodeled bathhouse, you will have seen our design. In addition to the rest room portion of the bathhouse, we have four family friendly shower rooms. Single parents camping with children of the opposite sex no longer have to worry about sending their children alone into a bathhouse.

Shower rooms in the new bathhouse at Belle Isle State Park

Winter Weather Wreacks Havoc on Spring Camping

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

At a time when we could sure use the revenue and our visitors sure could use an escape from cabin fever, the winter weather has conspired to put a damper on early spring camping.

Douthat State Park, one of our most popular campgrounds, is not going to be able to open for our traditional March 1 start of camping. While the park staff have done what they can to plow the roads in White Oak Campground, the turning radius will not accommodate large RVs. Top that off with the fact that the sites are snow covered, and there is just no way to accommodate campers. The site surface is such that traditional snow removal methods pretty much destroy the surface. Melting snow in the area will also likely cause flooding of the creek that the campground road crosses. Even in normal snowfall years, we have had campers stranded in the campground due to flooding. As soon as the snow melts and conditions improve, we hope to open the campground. For now, we have it closed until April 1.

The picnic tables give you an idea of where the actual sites are at Douthat State Park

Douthat's White Oak Campground on 02/23/2010

"Snowmageddon" in Washington DC received a lot of press. Westmoreland State Park due south of DC received record snow as well. Thanks to a nice weekend much of the snow has melted. However, some still remains. The campground is open but campers should be prepared for the conditions. The good news is that the gravel sites drain really well so as soon as the snow melts the sites should be fine.

Campground at Westmoreland State Park 2/23/10

Finally we have First Landing State Park. I know what you're thinking - "give me a break Virginia Beach didn't get that much snow." Snow is not the issue here. The problem at First Landing is the overwhelming rainfall since the fall. This isn't traditional flooding. The problem is the water table. After a while, the ground is saturated and there is just no place for the water to go. A lot of campsites are under water. To further complicate the situation the road to get to the campsites that aren't flooded is flooded so you can't get there.

First Landing Campground Road - our Park Ranger volunteered to give you some perspective

Another section of the campground loop road

Loop H, which is to the left of the contact station when facing the Bay, is the only loop we can open beginning March 1. Fortunately we have enough sites there to accommodate existing reservations through early May. Many customers may be getting free upgrades to larger sites or sites with electric and water in order to accommodate their reservations. We are cautiously optimistic about being able to accommodate other existing reservations including Memorial Day weekend. We will be following the situation closely. Once the roads are passable, we still expect to have a problem with a number of sites. We have had those sites blocked off. The end result will be fewer sites available for the immediate future.

Flooded campsite at First Landing - we're not talking a little bit of water

Another flooded campsite at First Landing State Park

Oh, and the picnic area and some trails are a problem as well. In this picture you can see our new water slide (joke). Another idea - we can deem some of the campsites as "waterfront" now and raise the fee (another joke). Sorry, sometimes you just have to laugh. Anyone building an Ark?

Support Friends of Pocahontas State Park and Enjoy a Night Out

Monday, February 22, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Thanks to the generosity of Capital Ale House, the Friends of Pocahontas can get some needed financial help for their April projects at the park. Print out this flyer and take it to any Capital Ale House location on a Thursday in March. The Friends will get 25% of the value of the food purchased.

The Friends of Pocahontas State Park is a hands-on volunteer 501c3 organization dedicated to preserving and supporting the park. Their mission is to provide volunteer and non-profit assistance to Pocahontas State Park. Members work on a variety of projects in the park including:

Keeping Swift Creek Lake clean
Landscaping
Maintaining all of the single track mountain bike trail
Splitting wood for campground firewood sales

Friends of Pocahontas State Park gather for a cleanup on October 3, 2009

Governor's Budget Proposes Closure of Five Virginia State Parks

Friday, February 19, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

UPDATE: Both the House of Delegates and Senate reported their versions of the budget out on February 21st with no cuts or closures to parks. Thanks everyone for the overwhelming support!

In the midst of a state budget crisis, Virginia's Governor Bob McDonnell released his plans for balancing the biennial budget in a press release on Wednesday.

After two previous years of budget cuts to a budget that was already described as "frugal" Virginia's state parks must close 5 parks in order to reach the $500,000 per year proposed budget reductions. The five parks scheduled for closure July 1 are False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach; Caledon Natural Area in King George County; Mason Neck State Park in Fairfax; Twin Lakes State Park in Prince Edward County; and Staunton River Battlefield State Park in Halifax and Charlotte counties.

The State Parks budget is a precarious combination of the revenue we earn from operating our facilities and money we receive from the state's general fund. The biggest danger for us is reducing the service level at our parks so that our revenue is impacted. This would create a snowball effect that would bankrupt our parks. So at some point continued reductions means we have to close parks to keep the rest of the system viable.

Children participate in an environmental education program at Mason Neck State Park

The parks were selected based on a number of economic factors, including they have lower attendance and revenue than other parks, the cost of operation, number of staff, etc. Geographic considerations were made so that no one area would be impacted more than others and due to relatively close proximity to other state park locations. This is not optimal but the whole situation is not what anyone would want.

What's next? The Governor's proposed amendments now goes to the General Assembly for their review. They are responsible for passing a budget bill. The legislature could accept or reject the Governor's proposed amendments. Given that these five parks generate more than $5.6 million in local economic impact, legislators are faced with a choice of closing parks that stimulate ouitdoor recreation and tourism spending in their local communities. We would hopefully know the outcome by mid-March.

Historical re-enactment at Staunton River Battlefield State Park

Friends Group Supports Sailor's Creek in a Big Way

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Our Friends Groups are all about supporting our state parks. The Friends of Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park demonstrated their support for the park by donating funds they have raised in support of two important projects.

Historical re-enactments are one way we tell the story of the Battle fo Sailor's Creek

The Battle of Sailor's Creek was the last major battle of the Civil War before Appomattox and the battle that sealed the fate of the Confederacy marking the loss of 7,700 men including eight generals. Demonstrations and re-enactments are an important part of telling the history of the park. Being able to demonstrate the use of historic black powder weapons is an important component. The National Park Service offers training in historical weapons safety and program management but because of budget reductions and limits on out of state travel, we were not going to be able to send anyone to this important training. The Friends of Sailors Creek to the rescue - they are providing just under $1,000 to send Chief Ranger Christopher Joyner to this course.

Thanks to the 2002 State Park and Natural Area Bond, we now have a brand new LEED-certified Visitor Center on site to help us tell the story of the Battle. Unfortunately, there was not enough money in the project to cover the exhibits which will likely run in the neighborhood of $175,000. One piece of the exhibit will be a hologram virtual storyteller. The Friends have donated $9,000 toward the $30,000 cost of that piece. If you are interested in helping raise money for the exhibits, see information here. You can even donate through that link.

The LEED-certified Sailor's Creek Visitor Center

The commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War (150 years) officially runs between 2011 and 2015 although some kickoff events were held in 2009 to mark historical events leading up to the Civil War. The Friends and park staff are working to ready the park for visitors from around the world who will visit for the Sesquicentennial.

If you have a love for Civil War History and would like to support the park by becoming a member of the Friends organization, please contact Bobby Wilcox at (804) 598-2901.

Friends group member Chris Gowin (left) and President Bobby Wilcox (right) prepare luminaries for the "Ceremony on Hallowed Ground" program for Veteran's Day 2009

2010 Ad Campaign for Virginia State Parks

Monday, February 8, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

We have had a partnership with the Virginia Association of Broadcasters for more than ten years to run television and radio ads in February and March to increase awareness and generate business for Virginia State Parks. This year's theme is: "I Love Virginia State Parks." I thought you would all enjoy seeing the two television spots.

Visit Winter Wonderland

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Virginia has had more than its normal dose of snow this winter. Even Tidewater, where they escaped earlier storms, had a ten year record snow fall this past weekend. Sadly it doesn't take long before the snow looks yucky (that's a technical term).

Not so much at a state park. We have hundreds of acres at all our parks and even weeks after a snowfall, as long as it all hasn't melted, there are surprising and breathtaking views.

Natural Tunnel State Park shared some pictures from this weekend's snow.

Natural Tunnel State Park - view from Purchase Ridge Overlook

So after your snow at home gets grey and dingy, come visit us for the fresh stuff!

Don't forget, we are offering last minute cabin discounts of 25% for the weekend if you book through the call center on Thursday or Friday. Call 800-933-7275.

We usually keep the parks open unless downed trees or other conditions create a dangerous situation.

Vote for us for a Shorty Award

Sunday, January 31, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

Since I plunged into social media a little over a year ago I have discovered some things about myself. The relevant self-awareness issue related to this post is that I find I am pretty competitive.

As a child my sisters hated playing games with me. Usually they would quit Monopoly well before I took over the board. And maybe in High School and College as a competitive debater I saw the inkling of it. Although, I was always a good sport and enjoyed debating whether I won or not. Maybe anyone who is successful in a career is a good competitor but I never really thought of it that way.

But since I have been on Twitter and blogging the competitor in me has surfaced again. I had to have more followers. I had to have more blog posts. Compendium Blogware, who hosts our blog have periodic blogging contests and I confess it makes me crazy. Doesn't matter what the prize is - I want to win.

So the Shorty Awards, well I couldn't resist.

What are the Shorty Awards? Direct from their website: "The Shorty Awards honor the best people and organizations on Twitter. These unique awards are for the Twitter community, by the Twitter community. On line voting is public and democratic, culminating in an awards ceremony that recognizes the winners in 26 official categories as well as those in brand new crowd-sourced ones."

I was too new to Twitter last year to participate and this year I might have let it go. But then good ole @salottimc nominated us in the #government category.

While I doubt we can beat @NASA, I felt the competitiveness surging through me Friday night as the final hours of the nomination period ticked by. I was inspired by the #shortypawpawty some of my friends were having and sure enough thanks to their support we are in the finals.

If you're on Twitter, I'd appreciate a vote between February 1st and 5th. I have worked hard on @VaStateParks to provide interesting content about state park events, facilities and information. I follow almost everyone back who follows me, and I genuinely try to interact with my followers. That's what I think Twitter is all about.

If you decide to vote for @VaStateParks or any other finalist, here is what you need to know.

Voting ends at noon Friday, February 5, 2010 (EST)

Your tweet must be in this format: I vote for @TwitterUser for a Shorty Award in #category because...

The "because" phrase is important because without anything the vote won't count and the panel will actually decide who wins partially based on what the because statements say. So while RTs count or folks repeating the same reason, they do not count as much as votes with original statements.

If you vote more than once, your vote replaces your previous vote so unless you want to improve the "because" statement, you don't need to.

If you want an easy way to vote for me, just click here. Don't forget to add a compelling "because" statement. Thanks for your support!

Master Naturalist Basic Training

Saturday, January 30, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

The Virginia Master Naturalist Program is a statewide corps of volunteers providing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities. Interested Virginians become Master Naturalists through training and volunteer service.

The Holston Rivers Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists is offering Basic Training Class February 18-May 15, 2010 at the SWVA Higher Ed Center in Abingdon from 6:30 to 9:30 PM on Thursdays. Seven Saturday field trips are offered, 3 of which are mandatory. In May, students can choose to participate in the Mt. Rogers Naturalist Rally for advanced training. At a cost of $75, excellent instructors will cover such diverse subjects as basic geology, karst groundwater hydrology, aquatic biology, ornithology, salamanders, entomology, stream health, and more.

More information is available here, call 276-475-3599, or email nhagen@embarqmail.com.

Many Master Naturalists choose to volunteer in our Virginia State Parks and we are one of the supporting state agencies. If you do not live in southwest Virginia, but are interested in the program, there may be a program near you.

Bill Pugh, Master Naturalist from Marion, teaching a class for 6 graders in Washington County at the Soil and Water District Conservation Field Days at Highlands Dairy Farm near Glade Spring this past fall.

Volunteers Needed

Saturday, January 30, 2010 by Nancy Heltman

There are so many things we do better in Virginia State Parks because of our loyal and large cadre of volunteers. We love our volunteers and have a great program but we can always use more!

Volunteer opportunities abound - you can live and work in a park as a Park Host for one to two months; help maintain trails; monitor or count wildlife varieties; greet visitors at a contact station or in a park office; help with our gardens .... and so much more. We even have virtual volunteers help from the comfort of their home with computer projects.

Come by yourself, bring the family, or sign up your local church or community group to help out on one project or on an ongoing basis.

It's easy to volunteer - all you have to do is sign up on line. You can search for opportunities of pick a general category. Park staff will contact you and discuss your interests. We even offer training.

Whatever you want to do to help, we can find a place for you to volunteer! What are you waiting for?