As Fact Finders, we conduct research to gain insight into watershed issues of local and regional importance.

As Educators,  we work to create a future where a stream without a buffer looks as out of place as a smoker in a conference room looks today.  To foster that vision, our environmental education efforts focus on students first and, through them, the larger community.

As Problem Solvers, we seek innovative solutions to environmental problems.

Welcome!

Environmental Forums The current eForum is Oh Deer! 2008, which will run from October 20 to November 26, 2008.  It is accessed by clicking on the phone in the High School.  Participating classes seek a consensus approach to deer population management that strikes an acceptable balance between people, deer, and the environment.  *To help students visualize the problems caused by too many deer, we created a short Flash slide show about deer impacts on our forested lands.  Take a look. Click here to learn more about eForums or sign up to participate. Students from 10 schools in 3 states participated in the Spring 2008 SCE Forum, and did a tremendous amount of thoughtful work seeking solutions to the Bay watershed's problems.  Their final consensus papers are now posted.  You can see the whole thing in the Environmental Forum Archives.  SCE Forum students from Buffalo Gap High School (Staunton, VA) did an erosion control project at a nearby elementary school.  Students from Jefferson High School did a tree planting project around a constructed wetland.  Other students competed in a bumper sticker contest, which was won by China Jones at Rappahannock High School. Jeffrey Lape, Director of the Chesapeake Bay Program, welcomed participants: "Thank you for your participation.  We cannot wait to see the solutions you discover."

Deer exclusion fencing experiment is testing a relatively low cost method to protect riparian forest plantings from severe damage from deer browsing.

*Cacapon Institute (CI) receives $48,683 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program.   The project is titled: “Failure is Not an Option: Investigating a Cost-Effective Approach to Reducing Deer Damage in Reforestation Programs.”  Read press release here. 

 Potomac Headwaters Leaders of Watersheds (PHLOW)

	PHLOW students build stream table.
	PHLOW students plant trees at school.

Stream Scholars Summer Camp 2008 was a resounding success from the Cacapon to the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay.  Take a look. 

Cacapon Institute - From the Cacapon to the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay, we protect rivers and watersheds using science and education.

Website  made possible by funding from The Norcross Wildlife Foundation,  the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Virginia Environmental Endowment, NOAA-BWET, USEPA, The MARPAT Foundation, and our generous members.