Fifteen-year-old Virginia Ward was recently awarded the Hartzog Award for Volunteer Service
Photo Above: Virginia Ward: “I spend my summer working long days without pay, going on big hikes and carrying around ropes.” And she loves it all. ©Marla Hardee Milling.
As 15-year-old Virginia Ward heads down a trail at Craggy Gardens on the North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’s easy to realize she’s someone you’d want by your side if you were lost in the woods.
She knows all the plants and trees by name as well as their benefits—such as jewel weed, which can soothe poison ivy. She points to the bright red blossoms of bee balm—its salve a wise choice for infections and wounds—and she talks about the intoxicating nectar of Mountain Angelica.
But for more than just recognizing and knowing the attributes of plants, you’d want to be by her side because of her familiarity with this rugged natural world, her calm, friendly assurance, and her bravery that’s been honed as she’s dropped off dozens and even hundreds of feet below rocky cliffs with the security of a rappelling rope and carabiners to keep her in check.
Since the age of 12, she’s been a devoted summer volunteer working with Blue Ridge Parkway plant ecologist Dr. Chris Ulrey to monitor critically endangered plants, especially Geum radiatum, also known as spreading avens.
The delicate yellow flower looks like a buttercup, but Virginia says it has a stem that can get to about a foot in length.
“Its leaves are similar to Galax, but a little more lobed on the edges,” she says. “There are only 14 known locations in the entire world where it grows and all 14 are in North Carolina or Tennessee, or on the border. We measure and record the lengths and widths and flower counts.
“We also work with Heller’s blazing star,” she continues. “It’s only found in three counties in the world and all on the Blue Ridge Parkway.”
Her hard work has resulted in major recognition—she’s the only recipient of the 2019 Youth Award as part of the George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. George Hartzog formerly served as National Park Service Director and established the VIP (Volunteers-in-Parks) program 50 years ago.
“I spend my summer working long days without pay, going on big hikes and carrying around ropes,” says Virginia. She adds that there’s nothing about the job that she doesn’t love and says it’s fueled her passion to pursue a career in botany.
Her mother, Carolyn Ward, who is CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, admits she had some fears after sending Virginia out with the crews and receiving a text photo showing her daughter hanging off the side of a rock cliff.
“I thought, did I really give permission for this?” she says.
“Virginia was interested in being on a rope, so I spent time training her just as I do with any employee,” says Ulrey. “The next thing I know she’s going down the cliff like one of the crew. At this point in my career, it’s easy to get frustrated with bureaucracy. To see someone so enthusiastic has renewed my optimism. She’s helped me more than I’ve helped her.”
Virginia says at Craggy Pinnacle, they only travel about 30 feet from the rock face, but in other places it might be a 300-foot drop.
“The rocky outcropping after you cross the Mile-High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain is one of the places we rappel off of,” she says.
Spending time in nature comes naturally to Virginia, who is currently a sophomore at Nesbitt Discovery Academy, which is a STEM high school in Asheville. As an only child growing up without close neighbors, she spent hours exploring the woods, riding horses and looking at plants.
“My mom would take me out when I was 4 years old. She would pick up all the leaves she could find and get me to identify them,” she says.
She’s dedicated to helping protect the environment as much as possible, and while she’s proud of the award, she turns the focus back to the plants.
“I would really like people to know there are trails and barriers for a reason,” she says. “This plant [Geum radiatum] is declining due to trampling by people going off-trail. The trails are there for the safety of the habitat that you’re in. At one of the locations at Rough Ridge, which is a popular hiking spot, there’s actually a boardwalk that runs through the rocky outcropping. A lot of people like to go over the wall for the scenic view,” she says.
“People are attracted to rocks beyond the wall so they can pose for social media,” says Ulrey. “But in the process of doing that, they trample fragile plants. These are Alpine relics. They are from the Ice Age. They’re not adapted to being stepped on.”
Virginia Ward hopes everyone will be mindful of signs and barriers.
“It’s not that we’re scared you’re going to fall off the cliff. We’re scared that you are going to crush the plants,” she says.
The story above appears in our November / December 2020 issue.
