Article Text
Susan Laume’s hands-on approach to conservation—from building osprey nesting platforms to replacing mowed grass with native habitat—has earned her the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Naturalist Volunteer of the Year Award for 2024.
The award, presented by Zoom on Jan. 23, recognized Laume’s 350 hours of service and the 324 volunteer sign-ups she generated over the previous two years. Her work includes creating pollinator gardens, maintaining park trails and organizing teams of volunteers.
“Susan’s breadth and depth of activities is astonishing,” said Kathy Stewart, who nominated Laume. “She puts in the time and the work. She is my inspiration and mentor.”
Laume’s interest in conservation began during her childhood on a farm in rural southeastern Pennsylvania. Although a full-time career pushed that passion into the background, it returned after she stopped working full time and began spending hours walking nature trails with her dog.
During one walk at Laurel Hill Park, she encountered a man working in the bushes with a bucket. A week later, she saw him pushing a full-size lawn mower in temperatures above 80 degrees.
Laume decided he should not have to work alone. She organized a volunteer group that eventually helped inspire a Fairfax initiative establishing park volunteer teams. The group received the Elly Doyle Park Service Award that same year, the Fairfax County Park Authority’s highest volunteer honor.
Turning unused land into habitat
In 2021, Laume led an effort to transform her homeowners association’s common area into a meadow. Landscaping crews had been paid for years to mow land that residents rarely used, while invasive vines continued spreading and increasing maintenance costs.
Her proposal to stop mowing initially met resistance from neighbors concerned that the area would appear overgrown. A working group nevertheless moved forward, planting 57 trees—many of them native species—and surrounding the young trees with cages to protect them from deer.
Two grants expanded the project in 2023. Audubon funding supported the removal of invasive plants, while a state grant paid for 16 additional trees and shrubs. Volunteers also installed a mulched path and signs explaining the native plantings.
Among Laume’s many projects, one of the most personal is a memorial dog bench created after a puppy belonging to her group of trail-walking friends died young. Five people contributed toward the bench, which sits where several trails meet. Dogwoods and redbuds were planted nearby in recognition of a red-colored dog in the group.
Building new homes for returning ospreys
Laume is now anticipating the ospreys’ return in March.
Her work with the birds began after a park manager considered removing a pole at an old Nike site where a pair had nested for several years. When no Boy Scouts could be found to develop an alternative nesting site as a project, Laume and her trail companions stepped in.
They selected another location in Laurel Hill Park and found plans for an osprey platform. A park maintenance crew used a tractor and a Bobcat bucket to install it. The platform went up successfully, but Laume recalled that the method was unsafe and should not be repeated.
After two abandoned utility poles were discovered, she saw an opportunity to add more nesting sites. Breeding ospreys at Occoquan and South County High School were producing chicks that could eventually need places of their own.
Dominion supplied two poles for the effort. In October 2023, when the ground was firm enough for the work, crews installed two additional nesting platforms.
Laume’s other contributions include teaching children about participatory science, writing dozens of conservation articles, organizing trash cleanups and invasive-plant removal, and leading caterpillar counts and butterfly and dragonfly surveys.
With the latest recognition in hand, she is already considering her next project—and watching for the ospreys to come home.