Department of Conservation and Recreation
State ParksVirginia Resource Use Education Council
- Who is the Virginia Resource Use Education Council?
- Member Agencies
- A Business Plan for Environmental Education in the Commonwealth of Virginia
- Meeting Minutes
Who is the VRUEC?
In 1952 Virginia's state and federal natural resource and education agencies, and colleges of education and resource management, came together as the Virginia Resource Use Education Council (VRUEC). For more than 50 years, the VRUEC has sponsored conservation courses for teachers and trained hundreds of community educators about Virginia's natural resources. Today, the VRUEC continues to embrace new ideas and projects to benefit the educators and students of Virginia. View the VRUEC by-laws and membership policy.
A subcommittee of the VRUEC is the Virginia Interagency Education Workgroup (VIEW). The Council's VIEW members are tasked with coordinating Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Education Implementation Plan. In addition to VRUEC members, VIEW includes representatives from:
- Virginia Science Educational Leadership Association
- Virginia Association of Science Teachers
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
- Representative teachers
VRUEC Member Agencies
| Agency | Contact/Email |
|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services | Rebecca Askew |
| Department of Conservation and Recreation | Carol Zokaites |
| Department of Education | Barbara Young, Eric Rhodes |
| Department of Environmental Quality | Ann Regn, Co-Treasurer Virginia Witmer |
| Department of Forestry | Lisa Deaton Ellen Powell |
| Department of Game & Inland Fisheries | Suzie Gilley, Acting Chair |
| Department of Health | |
| Department of Historic Resources | Dee DeRoche |
| Department of Mines, Minerals & Energy | Robin Jones |
| Department of Transportation | |
| Science Museum of Virginia | R. Eugene Maurakis |
| Shenandoah National Park | Tim Taglauer |
| Smithsonian's National Zoo Conservation & Research Center | Laura Linn |
| State Arboretum of Virginia & Blandy Experimental Farm | Candace Lutzow-Felling, Secretary |
| USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service | |
| Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts | Kendall Tyree |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | Dr. Anne Wright |
| Virginia Foundation for Ag. in the Classroom | Lynn Snyder |
| Virginia Institute of Marine Science | Carol Hopper Brill |
| Virginia Marine Resources Commission | |
| Virginia Museum of Natural History | Dennis Casey, Ph. D., Co-Treasurer |
| Virginia Tech Science Outreach Program | Llyn Sharp |
| Virginia Master Naturalist Program, Virginia Tech | Michelle Prysby |
| Chesapeake Bay Foundation | Bill Portlock Cindy Duncan |
| Claytor Nature Study Center, Lynchburg College | Dr. Greg Eaton, Vice-Chair |
| Danville Science Center, Science Museum of Virginia | Sonya Wolen |
| Longwood University | Katie Register |
| Mary Baldwin College | Dr. Tamra Willis |
| NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office | Andrew Larkin |
Meeting Minutes/Agency Reports
- VRUEC May 2012 Minutes
- December 7, 2011, Claytor Nature Study Center
- May 17, 2011, Virginia House Museum, Richmond
- January 5, 2011, Maymont
In 2000, to support former Governer Gilmore's Virginia Naturally education initiative, the council adopted the following resolution:
Resolution
Whereas:
The Virginia Resource-Use Education Council (VRUEC) was established in 1952 to promote a better understanding of conservation education throughout the Commonwealth; and
Whereas:
The VRUEC has a long standing record of coordinating the educational efforts of Virginia's resource agencies and educational institutions on behalf of the Commonwealth citizens; and
Whereas:
The VRUEC since 1955 has produced educational resources to inform Virginians of the importance of our Natural Resources; and
Whereas:
The VRUEC subscribes to the following principles:
- That the natural resources of the state and nation should be used wisely and with due consideration for the future;
- That the wise use of these resources should be the concern of government at the local, state, and national levels;
- That all people benefit from the natural resources of the state and nation: hence, they have citizenship responsibility in the safeguarding and judicious utilization of these resources; and,
- That all citizens, public or private groups, charged with the management of natural resources or education or both, have added responsibilities in promoting understanding of conservation needs problems and ways to resolve them.
Whereas:
The Honorable Governor James S. Gilmore asked the VRUEC to:
- Coordinate the development and consistent delivery of environmental education programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia by linking current environmental education efforts to creative, innovative approaches;
- Nurture and promote alternative methods of reaching and educating our citizens from all sectors of the public; and,
- Promote sustained life-long learning and professional development based on Virginia's academic standards.
Let it be resolved that: The VRUEC fully supports and will spearhead Governor Gilmore's Virginia Naturally 2000 Initiative on this date, January 31, 2000.