Photo: Huntley Meadows Boardwalk, Dixie Sommers
The news reports are filled with coverage about the major party conventions for the upcoming Presidential race. It’s important, but don’t let it distract you from keeping track of what’s going on in Virginia. Decisions made at the local and state level also have significant consequences for our environment and natural resources.
So, take a moment to review the voting record of your Virginia legislators. Virginia’s League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has published its 2024 General Assembly Conservation Scorecard, available here. Each year, the LCV ranks all 140 Virginia lawmakers based on their votes for or against the environment and a healthy democracy. This is the 25th edition of LCV’s Scorecard, published every year since 2000. Advocates look to it as a valuable tool to determine whether their lawmakers are standing up for Virginia’s environment at the General Assembly.
At NVBA we are already preparing for the next General Assembly. We’re assessing past wins and losses, including the large number of bills that passed the General Assembly but were vetoed by Governor Youngkin, and discussing how to strengthen conservation policies. If you would like to help—and we can always use help of volunteers from across northern Virginia—please contact advocacy@nvbirdalliance.org. It always helps if you let us know who represents you at the local, state and federal level.
On the Virginia Conservation Network (VCN) website, you can learn about the full range of conservation issues that this coalition typically works on during the General Assembly’s annual session, generally held in January and February. NVBA works with VCN during every session.
Let’s work together to help the birds and other wildlife in Virginia!