Wildlife Corridors: Why the Shenandoah Valley? Why Wildlife? (Science Talk)

Science Talk

Wildlife Corridors: Why the Shenandoah Valley? Why Wildlife?

Presented by: Shenandoah Valley Conservancy (formerly Valley Conservation Council)

Shenandoah Valley Conservancy, (formerly Valley Conservation Council) is the only land trust working exclusively to protect the Shenandoah Valley.  Established in 1990, the Conservancy has partnered with landowners and other organizations to conserve more than 220,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley and Allegheny Highlands including some of the most productive farmland in Virginia and most biodiverse forest lands and waterways throughout the region.

For 30 years, SVC pioneered the creation of protected corridors for wildlife movement, collaborating with conservation biologists before habitat connectivity was widely recognized. Our efforts have secured corridors in Page Valley, the James River Valley, and highlighted a prospective corridor across Afton Mountain.

Peter Hujik joined SVC in 2024 to serve as Executive Director.  After leading farmland protection efforts on the other side of the Blue Ridge in the Piedmont, he is excited to join the cutting-edge conservation efforts taking place throughout the Shenandoah Valley.  Peter is passionate about landscape-scale conservation, ecological restoration and community development.   Previously, Peter led land protection efforts in the Susquehanna Basin with Otsego Land Trust in Upstate New York.  He began his conservation career with The Nature Conservancy in the Lassen Foothills of northern California, where he restored streamside forests and managed native grasslands with prescribed fire.

Rosemary Downing joined SVC in 2023 and serves as Conservation Manager.  She is driven to understand how ecosystems are changing in response to climate disturbances so they can be better protected.  Her work focuses on developing resilient conservation and land management strategies.  Previously, Rosemary worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service at Yellowstone National Park, and was a graduate researcher in the University of Colorado’s Paleoecology and Climate Change Lab.  Rosemary has a B.S. in Biology from North Carolina State University and a M.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Colorado Denver.

This is a Pay What You Will event.