The James River Stewardship Program (JRSP) hired four new Seasonal Stewardship Assistants to complete year four of the program! The James River Association (JRA) and other partners of the Upper & Middle James Riparian Consortium (Consortium) created the JRSP in 2022. Stewardship of riparian forest buffers is consistently noted as a priority, but most cost-assistance programs lack sufficient support for maintenance that is key to a forest buffer’s success. JRA, the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), along with input from over a dozen partners of the Consortium Implementation Team, developed the JRSP to protect the investment in riparian forest buffers, ensure positive examples of the practice through stewardship to increase adoption, and provide technical assistance through summer internships.
Over 12 weeks during Summer 2025, four Seasonal Stewardship Assistants will assess 400 acres of riparian forest buffers. Assistants Emily Breeden and Ethan Dobbins are based out of the Amelia NRCS office and will cover forest buffer projects in Amelia, Powhatan, and Goochland counties, as well as a few projects in Prince Edward, Cumberland, and Buckingham counties. Assistants Kara Reed and Logan Markell are based out of the Rustburg NRCS office and will cover forest buffer projects in Amherst, Appomattox, and Campbell counties. The Assistants will look at the overall success of the buffer with special focus on native tree and shrub establishment rate and invasive species cover, which will inform a recommendation report. These will be used to prioritize needed maintenance activities with a goal of performing invasive species management and replanting on around 200 acres from November 2024 to April 2026.
Between 2022 and 2024, ten stewardship assistants assessed over a thousand acres of riparian forest buffers in the Upper and Middle James watershed. Over half of those acres have received invasive species management, replanting, and/or tree shelter maintenance. The program is now being replicated in the Shenandoah and Rappahannock watersheds!
Meet our 2025 Assistants!
Emily Breeden
My name is Emily and I am from Richmond, Virginia! I just graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Environmental Biology. Growing up near the James River, I became aware of the environmental issues it faced at a very young age. This position allows me not only to be outside for the majority of the workday, but also to play an active part in protecting our waterways. [In the future,] I hope to work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service or the Environmental Protection Agency as a conservationist. In my free time, I love to go bird watching at Pony Pasture and go kayaking!
Ethan Dobbins
My name is Ethan and I am from Chesterfield, Virginia! I am currently attending Longwood University studying Integrated Environmental Sciences. I also am minoring in Biology and GIS. A lot of my classes are taught from a watershed management perspective, so being able to study riparian buffers on a daily basis helps me apply those skills in the future. This is also my first job where I get to apply my knowledge from school, so that is another reason I was excited for this position! I’ve always wanted to be able to work outside and collect data of any and every variety – I just love data. I want to find myself in a field where I get to collect and analyze data and put it to good use environmentally. [River] tubing has always been fun for me. It’s like a lazy river, and that’s my favorite ride at the waterpark!
Kara Reed
My name is Kara and I am from Roanoke, Virginia! I just graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Environmental Science majoring in Ecological Restoration. I minored in Wetland Science and Horticulture. I really wanted a job that would give me hands-on experience and the opportunity to apply what I learned in college. I grew up spending so much time on the Roanoke River, and it’s important to me to give back to our waterways. This job allows me to spend my time doing something meaningful, and who wouldn’t want to spend their summer outdoors?! My goal is to find a career that leaves me feeling fulfilled at the end of the day. I want my time to be spent improving the environment, no matter how small. Anything that allows me to do that and be outside would make me happy! I love getting together with friends or family, filling a bunch of inner tubes, and spending the day floating down the river.
Logan Markell
My name is Logan and I am from Midlothian, Virginia! I just graduated from James Madison University in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Science and Technology with a concentration in Environment and Sustainability. I also carried out a sector (a less extensive concentration) in Applied Biotechnology. I’ve had fond memories of visiting the James River with my family since I was younger to go kayaking, paddle boarding, and more. This has connected me to it and encouraged me to get involved with protecting it! I also took a natural resource management course and found that learning further about riparian forest buffers was very interesting to me. I want to help keep our waterways clean! I hope to work within surface water, shoreline, and/or marine conservation. I love kayaking and paddle boarding, as well as seeing neat benthic macroinvertebrates!
This initiative is made possible thanks to funding by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and its funding sources. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government, or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or its funding sources.