Bill Bolling posts Facebook status updates

Jean Ann and Bill Bolling

January 2014

Former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling recently posted a status update on his public office Facebook Wall  and regular Facebook Wall that caught the attention of his supporters.

On Saturday, April 12, he wrote:

Many of my Facebook friends have asked what Jean Ann and I are doing to stay busy now that my term as Lieutenant Governor has ended. So, for the next few days I will be updating you on some of the things we are doing to stay busy in the public and private sector. Stay tuned for Part 1 tomorrow.

Update #1 - On Sunday, April 13, the first update was posted:

Here's the first update on what I've been doing since my term as LG ended. Professionally, I have returned to the private sector and taken on some new duties as Managing Director of Virginia Operations for RCM&D, one of the nation's largest independent insurance brokers. You can read more about this below. While I enjoyed public service a great deal, I'm a business guy at heart, and I have really enjoyed getting back to the private sector full time and focusing on growing our firm's business in Virginia. More to come tomorrow.

Included was a link to the RCM&D News announcing that long-time employee "former Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling joined the firm on a full time basis when his term ended on January 11, 2014. Bolling assumed the position of Managing Director of RCM&D’s Virginia operations, and will have lead responsibility for managing all aspects of the firm’s strategic growth plans in the state."

RCM&D was founded in 1885 and ranked among the top privately-held independent insurance advisory firms in the country with over 300 professionals and six locations throughout the mid-Atlantic region including Richmond. They provide "property and casualty; management liability, and employee benefit services to clients in a number of critical business sectors, including health care, higher education, manufacturing, technology, construction and real estate, and transportation and logistics."

The announcement continued, "Lieutenant Governor Bolling has been affiliated with RCM&D on a part time basis since 2003. His focus had been on new business development and client retention. As Managing Director of RCM&D’s Virginia operations, Bolling will be responsible for developing and implementing a strategic growth strategy for the firm in Virginia, and overseeing all aspects of the firm’s operations in the Commonwealth."

Update #2 - Monday, April 14:

In January, I agreed to serve as Chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce's Industry Council on Business Climate and Economic Development. This is an excellent way for me to continue the work I did during the McDonnell administration as Virginia's Chief Jobs Creation Officer.

Update #3 - Tuesday, April 15:

At the request of former Gov. Jerry Baliles, I have agreed to serve as co-chair of the Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative. One in four Virginians across parts of the Rural Horseshoe have less than a high school education, and this initiative seeks to change that.

Update #4 - Wednesday, April 16:

As an avid fly fisherman and outdoor enthusiast, I was honored to be appointed to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

It's good to see that the Bollings continue their involvement in public life even while finding a bit more private time like their recent trip to Cancun.

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

Elusive mountain lion sightings continue in Valley

When my husband and I bought our house west of Staunton in 1997, one of the first things the homeowner told us was about seeing a mountain lion crossing our quiet street. According to him, the mountain lion had reportedly killed a calf in the field beside the house. Nothing, however, came of it. Throughout the years, various Valley residents have reported sightings of the elusive creature but, according to Friday's News Leader, there has never been positive evidence of mountain lions in the area:

Lee Walker, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said they get calls on a regular basis on mountain lion sightings, but have never been able to substantiate any as true sightings.
...
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has cited the mountain lion, or puma, to be an endangered or threatened animal in Virginia since 1979.

Since 1970, scores of mountain lion sightings have been reported without a single one being confirmed, the department reports. Most occur in Shenandoah National Park and in Bedford, Amherst and Nelson counties. Others have been clustered in the Valley.

Read more about this curiously interesting cat here.

Bears bears bears in the neighborhood

Photo I took of mama black bear and two cubs at Loft Mountain Campground in Shenandoah National Park, October 2010
 

They're baaack. Black bears are roaming now that spring is here and one place they are being sighted on a regular basis is our little corner of Augusta County. Those critters are hungry and, while it's not unusual to have bear sightings here, this spring there appear to be more than usual, according to one of the wildlife biologists from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Black bears are extremely common in Virginia especially as their population grows and expands. These intelligent creatures are highly adaptable and quickly sniff out food sources to the point where they will remember and return until it is removed. If there are nuisance or returning bears, humans often are the cause by leaving garbage cans, pet food, or bird feeders accessible.

But sometimes bears are around even if there is not a food source. One neighbor heard a noise and looked out to find a bear on her deck. Recently local kids waiting for the school bus saw a bear in the field and, after they got on the bus, the bear ran across the road in front of them. What an exciting opportunity that was for a bus load of students!

Another nearby neighbor has motion cameras out and has gotten photos of a 400-pounder and others closer to 200 pounds. He has also found paw prints on his deck's sliding glass doors. Hmm ... that would give pause. Other neighbors have had their bird feeders torn down, and yet another even had the contents on the inside of his barn destroyed a few weeks ago when they were out of town. The bear(s) didn't bother their goats and cattle.

All this reminds of the humorous episode with SWAC Husband last summer when he had taken a break from working in the garden and was cat-napping in his garden chair. He woke to hear a snorting kind of sound and looked to see a black bear running straight toward him, obviously oblivious to the human in the chair, until SWAC Husband waved his arms in the air and yelled at him. The bear temporarily looked startled, then changed course and ambled away.

So today the wildlife biologist and a volunteer were notifying neighbors to store bear magnets like bird feeders and the grease traps from outdoors grills that would smell like a smorgasbord to a bear's ultra-sensitive nose.

I just wrote about black bears two weeks ago ("If you live in Virginia, you live in black bear country") and recounted a number of bear episodes in our area over the years. The natural wildness of western Augusta County with its national forests and rural spaces was one reason we chose to live here as opposed to the more urban eastern Augusta. It sounds like this year is a little more intense than in the past so we will keep a closer eye out even as neighbors are sharing encounters with one another for awareness ... and we will still enjoy watching these beautiful creatures.

Smokey the Bear still on the job

Thanks, Smokey Bear. You're still on the job after all these years helping us prevent forest fires. This was seen near the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Fish Hatchery on Rt. 56 at Montebello.

Blue Ridge Rail Trail ... Piney River, Va

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website has information about this birding nature trail located on Rt. 151 northwest of Amherst in Piney River:

Elevation: 638 ft.

Piney River is one of the most recent towns in Virginia to convert their disused rail bed into a nature trail. The trail is still being developed, starting at the refurbished train depot in Piney River and heading east through a varied landscape of evergreen and deciduous forest mixed with brush land and open areas.

The woods along the trail are alive with birds throughout the year. Residents such as blue jay, northern cardinal, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, and red-bellied and downy woodpeckers are joined in winter by numerous yellow-rumped warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Check the trailside brush piles for song, white-throated and the occasional white-crowned sparrow. During migration the area should be checked for neotropical migrants such as warblers, vireos, tanagers and orioles, while summer should be good for a variety of dragonflies and butterflies.

The trail begins beside the renovated train depot located on Rt. 151 where there is a parking lot and Porta-John. The red buds and dogwoods were blooming Saturday when we were there.

Loop Map

Renovated Piney River train depot now acts as a small visitors center. More historical information about the trail from the Nelson Scenic Loop website:

The trail traces the route of the former Virginia Blue Ridge Railway. The line originally extended from Tye River Depot, where it interchanged with the Southern Railway, to Massies Mill. The railroad followed the course of the Tye and Piney Rivers for several miles before entering the mountains. It passed through the communities of Roses Mill, Piney River, Canopy, Lowesville, and Buffalo Mine.

It was built in 1915 to haul chestnut timber out of the heavily-timbered Piney River area to local mills. Timber runs were halted during World War I, since they were not essential to the war effort, and a chestnut blight wiped out much of the timbered areas. Passenger service carried the line through 1936. The line saw a true resurgence when a company began extracting titanium dioxide from the Piney River and needed transport.

Also, three companies were built to extract aplite from the area and used the rail for transport and the line thrived until the late 1960s. Hurricane Camille destroyed some of the tracks in 1969 and Cyanamid, the company that began the line's industrial boom in the 1930s, closed in 1970.

Today, part of the roadbed was developed as a rails-to-trails project. The bulk of the project was funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation. When completed, the entire rail-trail will cover seven miles along the railroad bed to Tye River.

The trail is opened for hiking, biking and horseback riding. The trail passes under tall conifers and other deciduous trees while paralleling Piney River near its north bank with plenty of places to pull off to get closer to the river. Near Rose Mill, the trail passes over a bridge that traverses the Piney River. There are parking lots at both ends of the trail. Parking for horse trailers is available at Piney River. The trail is open sunrise to sunset.

Trail End Points: Piney River (Patrick Henry Highway) to Tye River Depot
Trail Length: 2 miles
Trail Surfaces: Asphalt, Crushed Stone, Ballast
Trail Activities: Walk, Horseback, Bicycle, Cross Country Ski, Mountain Bicycle, Wheelchair

This guy was in front of a service station in Piney River. Now that's some yard ornament!

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 20, 2013

If you live in Virginia, you're in black bear country

Our friends over at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries remind us that it's black bear season in Virginia. While we're used to seeing bears in the mountains and surrounding areas, they can show up just about anywhere in the Commonwealth.

If you have bird feeders, garbage cans, compost piles, and fruit trees, you could have bears. Same with outdoor grills, outdoor pet or livestock food, and beehives ... they could attract bears.

My friend Barb who lives in the eastern part of Augusta County just below Shenandoah National Park saw her outdoor spotlight click on one night last year and when she looked out the window to see what had triggered it, there was a big old black bear that had knocked her bird feeder to the ground and was sprawled out scooping up seed. She didn't refill the feeder but the next night the bear returned looking for his smorgasboard only to find nothing but a few seeds in the grass. He returned the third night to nothing and then did not return after that. Barb didn't keep the food source available and discouraged the bear.

Another friend who lives a few miles away lost her pet goats to a black bear several years ago. Our neighbor across the street had a bear trying to get into his storage building in the middle of the night in 2006. In 2006, an Augusta County resident came face-to-face with a black bear.

Game and Inland Fisheries has a video, Living With Bears in Virginia, and reminds that if you live in Virginia, you live in bear country.

Photo I took of mama black bear and two cubs at Loft Mountain Campground in Shenandoah National Park, October 2010

Black bear sightings in Shenandoah Valley

Mama Bear and two cubs at Loft Mountain Campground, October 2009.

It's that time of year again when the warm weather combined with an increased food source have black bears roaming the western Virginia mountains and surrounding areas.

Last week two black bears were seen on Afton Mountain, one crossing I-64 and the other reportedly hit by a Jeep Cherokee on Rt. 250.

In western Augusta County a bear has been hanging out around a family's home causing changes to their lifestyle as they now haul away garbage and take the children elsewhere to play outdoors.

A friend hiking in Shenandoah National Park this week saw a bear cross his path. Another friend who lives near the park's boundary heard a crash in her back yard a few months ago and looked out to see the bird feeder down and a black bear sprawled on the ground scooping up bird seed.

Last June a black bear was caught in Gypsy Hill Park in the heart of Staunton. During the same month, nearby friends lost their pet goats to a black bear.

Sheep farmers are feeling the loss, too, as they lose thousands of dollars worth of livestock to the increasing bear population.

In 2007, a bear tried to enter a neighbor's storage shed where corn was stored, pawing and pushing on the door until he was shooed away with a shotgun blast. Even though there are frequent bear sightings in our area, it was the first time one had been that threatening.

A year earlier an Augusta County hunter was attacked by a 600-pound black bear he had shot. When he approached the bear lying on the ground, it mauled him so badly that he was airlifted to the University of Virginia Hospital. In 2008, a Botetourt County hunter was also attacked when the bear he was tracking turned on him.

It is common to see bears at Big Meadows and Loft Mountain and along the Skyline Drive but they have become so numerous that the park rangers had to issue an aggresive bear alert two years ago.

The black bear population has steadily increased over the years as protected bears from federal areas venture beyond Shenandoah National Park and the Washington National Forest onto private lands, causing damage to crops and livestock. Hunters killed 1,633 black bears in 2008 with the bulk of them coming from Rockingham County.

Complaints of bears damaging agriculture have increased 44% over the past 20 years. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries tracks the bear population, trapping nusiance bears to return to the wild. They have been relocating bears for years, trapping and driving them deep into the national forests for release.

Al Bourgeois and David Kocka, Valley biologists with Game and Inland Fisheries who live in Augusta County, are the local experts who trap nuisance bears. I guess they could be called the "Bear Busters." They know first-hand the damage rogue bears can cause to farmers, domestic animals, and homes. Their advice when bears are hanging around is to remove outdoor bird feeders, trash cans, pet food, and any other sources of food. If the problem continues, call the "Bear Busters."

For more information about safety around black bears in Virginia, visit the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries website.

Cross-posted at The Washington Examiner

Photo by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
October 2009