Virginia Association For Parks Virginia Association For Parks

VAFP Annual Conference

The 2024 VAFP Annual Conference was held at Westmoreland State Park from May 9-11.  Over 50 members, speakers, and park staff were in attendance, with 18 parks represented.  A special thank you to Westmoreland State Park and the Friends of Westmoreland State Park for hosting us!  Stay tuned for more information on our 2025 conference dates and location soon!

2024 Advocacy Efforts

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Park Advocacy Day was a success!  Thanks to all who participated.  On January 31st, 25 VAFP members and advocates joined the larger conservation community (of 250+) to advocate for Virginia’s parks at the General Assembly. Collectively, we met with 46 legislators over the course of several hours! We raised awareness for VAFP and park issues across the state. Though not all of our priority bills and initiatives have progressed, we are very pleased that VaLORS passed in the House. We must now push for support in the Senate. There is also much to be done at the local level.

We are continuing to monitor the bills identified in our 2024 Legislative Priorities as well as others, such as HB 1297 that we have since learned about.  

We encourage all our members to reach out to their local representatives to request their support for Virginia's parks.  If you're not sure who your representatives are, you can search the Virginia General Assembly Who's My Legislator page.  When reaching out, it's helpful to identify yourself as a constituent, VAFP member, and park volunteer.

Parks by Podcast!

Virginia Outdoor Adventures podcast series has several episodes featuring Virginia's parks.  Check them out!

 

Past News of VAFP in Action 

February 1, 2021 Legislative Update
Legislative priorities for 2021 General Assembly Session announced 02/01/2021 06:16:29 PM

#ThankARanger
Help us recognize the exceptional dedication of our Virginia State Park Rangers this year as they went above and beyond to keep our parks open as a respite for all of us during these uncertain times. 11/18/2020 09:08:43 PM

Thanks to Senator Warner
The Virginia Association for Parks is grateful for Senator Warner and the bipartisan coalition in Congress that worked on the Great American Outdoors Act, recently signed into law. 09/09/2020 11:21:47 PM

TAKE ACTION NOW!
Contact the budget conferees to ask for full funding of the amounts for Virginia State Parks in the Governor's budget. 02/28/2020 09:36:05 PM

VaLORS Call to Action 2020
There is still time to save VaLORS for this session. 02/21/2020 11:42:12 AM

2019 Fall Conference Details
Details for the 2019 Fall Conference at Westmoreland State Park 08/17/2019 11:12:42 AM

Contact House Appopriations Members Now on VaLORS
Contact House Appropriations Committee Members now and ask that they support adding Department of Conservation and Recreation Conservation Officers into VaLORS. 01/28/2019 05:20:39 PM

2019 General Assembly Call to Action
A letter from the President 01/23/2019 09:21:15 PM

Delegate Terry Kilgore Named Legislator of the Year
The Virginia Association For Parks named Delegate Terry Kilgore Legislator of the Year at their annual conference on Sept. 28. 10/01/2018 11:46:32 PM

Virginia should support its award-winning state parks
Former State Parks Director Joe Elton calls for legislative support of Virginia State Parks through proposed budget amendments. 02/11/2018 12:39:47 PM

VAFP Supports Dedicated Funding for Youth Conservation Corps
The General Assembly will consider a budget amendment offered by Senator Hanger to provide dedicated funding that will expand the Youth Conservation Corps. 01/25/2018 12:14:58 PM

2018 General Assembly Advocacy for Virginia State Parks
The VAFP provides background documents to assist with advocating for critical needs to support Virginia State Parks. 01/24/2018 04:03:50 PM

Join business leaders and environmentalists in Richmond
Join us at the 2017 Energy and Sustainability Conference 05/18/2017 08:37:52 PM

VAFP Announces Advocacy Guidance for 2017 General Assembly
VAFP President Greg Eanes announces advocacy guidance for supporters of Virginia State Parks. 01/22/2017 07:59:29 PM

VAFP Partners with Marstel-Day
The Virginia Association for Parks and Marstel-Day are partnering to explore ways to increase access to nature and continue to provide a park experience that is meaningful. 12/22/2016 04:09:40 PM

Delegate Mark Dudenhefer Named Legislator of the Year
The Virginia Association for Parks presented Delegate Mark Dudenhefer with their 2016 Legislator of the Year Award at the Widewater State Park groundbreaking on Dec. 16. 12/22/2016 04:01:10 PM

VAFP Support Noted by Civil War Trust
VAFP's support to make Brandy Station and Cedar Mountain battlefields a Virginia State Park was noted in an article in Hallowed Ground, the magazine for the Civil War Trust. 12/18/2016 06:08:15 PM

VAFP Supports Civil War-Centered State Park in Culpeper County
At VAFP's Fall Conference - held at Bear Creek Lake State Park in Cumberland, Va. - the organization on October 1 unanimously passed a resolution in support of transforming the storied Civil War battlefields at Brandy Station and Cedar Mountain into Virginia's next state park. 10/06/2016 05:31:43 PM

Welcome Natural Bridge State Park
Governor Terry McAuliffe dedicated Natural Bridge as the 37th Virginia State Park on Sept. 24, 2016. It also became the 25th Affiliated Unit of the National Park Service. 09/24/2016 06:05:52 PM

2015 General Assembly Results
06/02/2016 07:18:00 PM

Donate in December - Help Establish the Natural Bridge State Park
Be a part of Thomas Jefferson's vision for Natural Bridge, which he considered "the most sublime of nature's works." 05/26/2016 01:02:00 AM

Your voice for Virginia's parks.