Feb. 25 in Radford, Dumfries (Prince William County), and Lynchburg: Polar Plunges for Special Olympics.  Participants raise funds to support Special Olympics and then join in a cold plunge into a local waterway.  Virginia Beach Polar Plunge was Feb. 4.  Web site for the Virginia Beach event, with links to others: http://www.specialolympicsva.org/View/Page/Polar_Plunge.

Mar. 5-6, 2012, Charlottesville Doubletree Hilton: Industrial Waste & Pretreatment Seminar.  Organized by the Virginia Water Environment Association.  More information: http://www.vwea.org/eventsproceedings/upcoming-events/event/186.

Mar. 6, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point: Habitat Restoration–Making a Difference in Coastal Virginia.  Organized by the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.  Registration deadline is March 1.  More information: http://www.vims.edu/cbnerr; or contact Sandra Erdle at (804) 684-7120 or syerdle@vims.edu.

Mar. 7, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke: The Nature of Trees and Other Related Thoughts–12th annual Roanoke Tree Care Workshop.  Organized by the Virginia Urban Forest Council.  More information: http://www.treesvirginia.org; (434) 220-9024; becky.woodson@dof.virginia.gov.

Mar. 9, 2012, 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn, Fairfax: Geothermal Heating and Cooling: Technology and Applications.  Conducted by HalfMoon Seminars of Altoona, Wisc.  More information: (715) 835-5900; https://www.halfmoonseminars.com/continuing_education_seminar.php?seminar_location_id=2095.

Mar. 15 in Halifax and Mar. 29 in Powhatan: The Woods in Your Backyard–Leaning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home.  Organized by Maryland Cooperative Extension, Penn State Cooperative Extension, and Virginia Cooperative Extension.  More information: Jason Fisher, (434) 476-2147 or jasonf@vt.edu; brochure (PDF) at http://cnre.vt.edu/forestupdate/calendar/march/WIYBY%20brochure%20-%20spring%202012.pdf.

Mar. 26-27, and May 16-17, 2012, online: “Water Matters” Webinars.  Presented by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies’ “Shout” Program.  The series will explore both water quality and water quantity.  Designed for teachers to use with K-12 classes or on their own as professional development.  The Shout program addresses curriculum standards for ecological, social, and economic systems; human impact on the environment; and civic responsibility.  Dates and topics for whole series: Feb. 7-8: Water Questions—When We Want to Know More; Mar. 26-27: Water Quantity—When’s There’s Too Much or Too Little; and May 16-17: Water Quality: When It’s Not Clean or Healthy.  Each two-day series includes several one-hour long presentations.  More information: http://www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/program-2012/.

Apr. 6, 2012, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Danville: Spring Venture Outdoors Program.  A one-day workshop for forest landowners on tree identification, assessment, and management.  Organized by Virginia Cooperative Extension/Halifax County Office.  More information: Jason Fisher, (434) 476-2147 or jasonf@vt.edu; http://www.ext.vt.edu.

Apr. 10-12, 2012, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington: 23rd Annual Environment Virginia Symposium.  Organized by the VMI Center for Leadership & Ethics.  More information: Kathy Wirtanen, (540) 464-7361; wirtanenki@vmi.edu; http://www.vmi.edu/Content.aspx?id=29369.

Apr. 14, 2012, at many locations in northern Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia: Potomac River Watershed Cleanup.  Organized by the Alice Ferguson Foundation.  More information: http://potomaccleanup.org/trash_initiative/trash_cleanup.shtml; (202) 973-8203; e-mail: potomaccleanup@fergusonfoundation.org

Apr. 26-28, 2012, Wintergreen: Washington’s Impact on Virginia’s Forests.  2012 Virginia Forestry Summit held by the Virginia Forestry Association.  More information: http://www.vaforestry.org; (804) 278-8733.

May 11, 2012, Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, Richmond: Virginia Association of Wetland Professionals Spring Meeting.  The theme for the meeting is “Threats to Aquatic Resources in Virginia.”  More information: Tara Fisher, Department of Public Works, City of Chesapeake, (757) 382-6206 or tfisher@cityofchesapeake.net.

May 18, Henrico County Training Center, Henrico: Virginia Water Monitoring Council Annual Conference.  This year’s theme is “Water Quality Monitoring: New and Innovative Techniques.”  More information: Katie Register at (434) 395-2602 or registerkm@longwood.edu.

May 24, 2012, 8:30 a.m. -3 p.m., Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Gloucester Point: Tidal Wetlands Workshop.  Topics will include Comprehensive Coastal Resource Management Plans and other shoreline planning and decision-making tools, legislation from the 2012 General Assembly Session, and the Living Shoreline general permit.  Organized by VIMS’ Center for Coastal Resources Management.  More information: http://ccrm.vims.edu/.

Aug. 24-26, Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center: Ninth International Conference on Recirculating Aquaculture.  Deadline to submit abstracts of proposed presentations in March 16.  More information: http://www.recircaqua.com/icra.html; or contact aquaconf@gmail.com or (540) 553-1455.

REGULAR MEETINGS OF STATEWIDE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Feb. 21, 9 a.m.: Virginia Gas and Oil Board meets at the Russell County Office Building, 139 Highland Drive in Lebanon.

Feb. 24, 10 a.m.: The Sewage Handling and Disposal Regulations Advisory Committee meets at the James Madison Building, 109 Governor Street in Richmond.  Video-conferencing site will be the Montgomery County Health Department, 210 South Pepper Street in Christiansburg.

Feb. 28, 9:30 a.m.: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission meets at 2600 Washington Avenue in Newport News.

MEETINGS ABOUT TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS (OR TMDLS) FOR IMPAIRED WATERS
NONE DURING THIS PERIOD.

MEETINGS ON OTHER SPECIFIC TOPICS (listed alphabetically)
Abandoned Mine Lands
Feb. 17, 9:30 a.m., at the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) office in Big Stone Gap: Public-comment meeting on DMME/Division of Mined Lands Reclamation’s  Fiscal Year 2012 Abandoned Mine Land Grant Application.  Each year, DMME applies to the federal Office of Surface Mining for grants to reclaim high-priority abandoned mine lands.  Information about Virginia’s program is available online at http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DMLR/docs/aml.shtml.

State Water Supply Plan
Feb. 28, 10 a.m., at Department of Environmental Quality regional office in Glen Allen: Meetings of three sub-committees of the Water Supply Plan Advisory Committee: 10 a.m., Subcommittee #3: Development of methodologies for calculating actual and anticipated future water demand; 11 a.m., Subcommittee #4: Impact of consumptive use alternative water sources, including water reuse and rainwater harvesting; and environmental flows necessary for protection of instream beneficial use of water for fish and wildlife habitat; and 1p.m., Subcommittee #5: Other policies and procedures that may enhance the effectiveness of water supply and water resources planning in Virginia.  (The State Water Supply Plan Advisory Committee was established by the 2010 Virginia General Assembly to assist the Department of Environmental Quality in developing, revising, and implementing a state water resources plan.  The bill creating the committee was SB 569; information about that bill is at the Virginia Legislative Information System Web site, at http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sum+SB569.)

Virginia Outdoors Plan
Feb. 22, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., at the West Piedmont Planning District Commission office, 3300 Kings Mountain Road in Collinsville: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) public meetings on the Virginia Outdoors Plan.  The DCR is developing the 2013 update to the Virginia Outdoors Plan (the 10^th update since the first plan was developed in 1966), which is a comprehensive plan for acquisition, development, and management of outdoor recreation and open space resources.  Other upcoming meetings (all at planning district commission/regional commission offices) are Mar. 1 in Chesapeake, Mar. 8 in Roanoke, Mar. 13 in Farmville, Mar. 15 in Charlottesville, Mar. 21 in Duffield, Mar. 22 in Lebanon, and Mar. 29 in Lynchburg.  For details, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreational_planning/vop.shtml.