Including map with flight initiation distance

January 14, 2022

Dear Members and Friends:

I want to apologize for sending you a third email about the proposed “enhancements” to Bles Park in as many days. However, I learned yesterday that some of the issues raised in the two Action Alerts were incorrect, since they were based on a misunderstanding of the extent to which the current proposal for the park had been modified in response to the Loudoun County Planning Commission’s recommendations. The courts and the maintenance shed have been moved and the proposed open lawn area has been reduced, as I have acknowledged in an email to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

The current version of the proposed “enhancements” reduces the adverse environmental impacts of the proposal, but it still presents significant environmental concerns. The proposed boardwalk, kayak launch site, and open lawn area will unnecessarily destroy native plants that support pollinator species and drive off waterfowl that use the wetlands. ASNV’s January 11 Supplemental Comments on Bles Park portray ASNV’s and the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s concerns with respect to the current version of the proposal. You can read the Supplemental Comments ([link removed]) and our revised webpage here. ([link removed]) Below you can see the map showing the proposed boardwalk and the distances at which waterfowl fly off in response to the
presence of people. The green and yellow shading shows the minimum and average distances at which waterfowl are disturbed by humans, while the red line is the proposed boardwalk route. Clearly, the boardwalk will disturb waterfowl.

Thank you for taking action to protect waterfowl and their habitat at Bles Park.

Sincerely,
Tom Blackburn
President
Audubon Society of Northern Virginia

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