Piedmont Environmental Council
George L. Ohrstrom III Wins MFHA Award
George L. Ohrstrom III / Matthew Klein photoEver since 1888, the Blue Ridge Hunt has pursued foxes through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia—a verdant, rolling grassland dotted with small woodlands, perhaps fifteen miles across, nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west.
The Shenandoah River flows northeasterly along the eastern edge of the valley, passes under the western slopes of the Blue Ridge, and empties into the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.—a confluence described three centuries ago by Thomas Jefferson as “one of the most stupendous scenes in nature.”
Home to a mostly rural population, the Shenandoah Valley has long been a destination of unsurpassed beauty to vacationers and sightseers. The northern part of the Valley that is home to the Blue Ridge Hunt also finds itself to be an object of lust to developers from Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia to the east and the nearby city of Winchester to the west. While many landowners find it hard to resist the potential financial windfall from development, others believe that to relinquish such natural beauty to untrammeled development would be a crime against nature.
Along with its sister landscape just to the east of the Blue Ridge—Virginia’s Piedmont—a passionate calling for preservation has rallied many of its citizens to battle. Few, however, have responded like George Ohrstrom III. The scope and creativity of Ohrstrom’s efforts locally, nationally, and internationally earned him the MFHA’s Conservation Award for 2014.
Feed/Tack Store Owners Honored for Conservation Initiative
Bill Jackson, president of Tri-County Feeds, Etc. accepts the 2012 Golden Goose AwardBill and Jeri Jackson, owners of Tri-County Feeds, Etc. in Marshall, Virginia, were honored recently by the Goose Creek Association for their efforts in protecting the environment. Chairman Katherine Strother presented the couple with the 2012 Golden Goose Award. Tri-County Feeds, Etc. (TCFE) is a full-service tack and feed store. In January, 2011 TCFE partnered with McCauley Feeds, a supplier, to manufacture their high quality horse feed in environmentally sound packaging. In addition, the Jacksons committed to donating a portion of proceeds from the sale of the feeds to the Goose Creek Association and the Piedmont Environmental Council. “Often people doubt that they can make a difference—dismissing any effort as just a drop in the bucket,” said Bill Jackson, TCFE president. “We saw the bigger picture—we saw all of those drops filling the bucket. In nine months we have sold 34,643 bags of our new feed in environmentally supportive packaging—that’s one big bucket—eliminating the same number of poly-woven bags that never bio-degrade from the landfills.” TCFE also sells reusable totes to their customers and returns a portion of those proceeds to the two conservation associations as well. Bill and Jeri Jackson have provided a shining example of what one family business can do to help preserve the environment. Just think how many more buckets can be filled by other independent businesses following their example. Foxhunting Life is proud to be associated with Tri-County Feeds, Etc. as a retailer of our products and as a sponsor of our website.
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Farmington Hunt and J.B. Birdsall Honored for Conservation Success
J.B. Birdsall (holding trophy) is flanked by the Farmington Masters (l-r) Carol Easter, Pat Butterfield, and Joy Crompton. Cheryl Microutsicos photo
The Farmington Hunt and J.B. Birdsall received the 2011 Hunting Habitat Conservation Award at the MFHA Annual Meeting in New York City on Friday January 28.
Each year with each recipient of this award we witness yet another testament to the role of foxhunting in the preservation of open space. Arguably no other sporting culture has done as much to preserve land and natural habitat.
But, it often takes a leader, an individual driving force, to establish a culture of conservation within an organization. J.B. Birdsall—longtime foxhunter, landowner, and hunt member—provided that passion, commitment, and leadership for the Farmington Hunt to become a force for open space conservation in their hunting country.
Sportsman/Publisher Arthur “Nick” Arundel Dies
Arthur "Nck" Arundel at the Gold Cup Races, Great Meadow, 2007 Douglas Lees photo
Foxhunter, visionary, and publisher Arthur “Nick” Arundel died in his sleep at home on Tuesday, February 8, one day shy of being named Outstanding Virginian of 2011 by the Virginia General Assembly. He was eighty-three.
Mr. Arundel was publisher of the Times Community Newspapers covering four counties in Northern Virginia, including Loudoun and Fauquier.
His father was a foxhunter and once served as head of the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association. His mother was an ardent conservationist. Mr. Arundel merged the influence of both parents into his life.
