NOVA Parks News

NOVA Parks celebrates Earth Day with the induction of Hemlock Overlook Regional Park into the Old-Growth Forest Network. A permanent sign was unveiled at the site that explains the significance of the ancient trees.

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On Tuesday, April 18, at 2:30 p.m., Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay, Springfield District Supervisor Patrick Herrity, NOVA Parks Board Chair Cate Magennis Wyatt, Old-Growth Forest Network Board President Jeffrey Wright, and other local leaders will participate in an Earth Day commemoration at the regional park in Clifton, Virginia.

“We are thrilled to be recognizing one of the few old-growth forests in Northern Virginia,” said Cate Magennis Wyatt, Chair of the NOVA Parks Board. “NOVA Parks has been a conservation leader for 64 years. One of the properties saved in its early days was this remarkable stand of hemlock trees that is several hundred years old.”

Old-growth trees like the Eastern hemlocks growing on the banks of Bull Run in Hemlock Overlook Regional Park are exceptionally rare; less than 1% of these original forests are thought to remain in the eastern United States. These trees offer exceptional ecological value, such as providing valuable canopy layers that shelter hundreds of species of birds, insects, and mammals. Old-growth trees also retain more pollution-causing carbon and nitrogen than younger trees, and slow growing hemlocks are especially good at absorbing carbon from the air and holding stream banks in place.

 “With Hemlock Overlook, Virginia now has eleven recognized old-growth forests; the national count is 190 and rapidly growing,” said Jeffrey Wright, Old-Growth Forest Network Board President. “Hemlock Overlook Regional Park enables visitors to learn and visit these ancient forests that must be protected and maintained so that future generations may enjoy them.”

Hemlock Overlook Regional Park is a 400-acre woodland in southern Fairfax County, which was acquired by NOVA Parks in 1962. Stands of old-growth Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)—some as old as 250 years—grow along steep rocky north-facing slopes along the banks of Bull Run. The park also contains very mature sycamore and tulip poplar stands and a large canopy of American beech, white oak, red oak, and mountain laurel.

“We are delighted to celebrate the first forest in Fairfax to join the Old-Growth Forest Network,” said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay. “We’re so grateful to NOVA Parks and the Old-Growth Forest Network for identifying and protecting these trees and raising awareness about the importance of forests, which provide significant environmental, social, and economic benefits to our community.”

The interpretive sign to be unveiled at the site of the old-growth forest contains information about the plant species and wildlife found in various stages of forest succession and is the first of a new Environmental Interpretive Series. Along with the expansion of NOVA Parks’ Roving Naturalist program, the launch of the collection supports NOVA Parks’ 2023-2027 Strategic Plan goal to educate the public about the flora and fauna in Northern Virginia regional parks. The series can be found online at novaparks.com/Environment.

About NOVA Parks

Founded in 1959 as a conservation organization, NOVA Parks (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority) represents three counties and three cities—Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the City of Alexandria, the City of Falls Church, and the City of Fairfax. The regional agency manages 35 parks with 12,380 acres of parkland. This land and water provides not only valuable open space for humans, but priceless habitat for threatened and endangered species.

About Hemlock Overlook Regional Park

Hemlock Overlook Regional Park, managed by NOVA Parks, is home to a network of pedestrian and equestrian trails. For thirty years, the park hosted outdoor experiential education, and now provides access to heavily forested areas with a wide variety of tree species. The park also features Civil War sites Union Mills and the Bull Run bridge crossing for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. A dam that once supported the first hydroelectric power generation to Fairfax County is located near a stand of old-growth hemlocks.

About The Old-Growth Forest Network

The Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN) aims to preserve at least one forest in every county in the U.S. that can sustain a forest. OGFN works to identify forests for the Network, ensure their protection from logging, and inform people of the forest locations. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Joan Maloof, the network currently has over 190 forests across 32 states. OGFN also recognizes exceptional forest advocates, educates about the extraordinary ecological benefits of old-growth forests, and speaks out regarding immediate threats to specific ancient forests.