Friends of the James River Park

Speaking of Mayo Island, I spent some time out there today with my friends from Capital One. Participants in the Students and Grads program joined me for some litter cleanup work on Mayo this afternoon. We do this every few months on the island, just to keep things looking nice and keep the trash out of the river while we wait for the work to begin. The amount of litter we clean up always blows me away. It is not open to the public, and yet somehow more than 100 pounds of trash was cleaned up in less than an hour. We didn't even get into the deepest parts of the island. This was all found within 50 yards of the road that runs across the island. There were also several areas where we had to tell volunteers not to go, for their own safety. This is the future of Mayo Island if we can't get the park project started. It will be covered by garbage, which will ultimately end up in the river, and people will develop their own anti-social uses for the island. We are with Mayor Danny TK Avula and Richmond Parks and Recreation. Mayo Island needs to be activated for positive public use as soon as possible! For sustainability and for sanity, the $16 million for Mayo Island Park must be preserved in the Mayor's budget. It doesn't make sense for the City to lose $7.5 million by choosing not to invest in the public good. Learn more about the fight to get Mayo Island Park done right here- https://lnkd.in/effjq-sk

We are keeping the advocacy train rolling! I was able to address a very busy City Council meeting last night. There were many passionate advocates present from around the City fighting for improvements in the City budget. I was moved by the passion that I saw, and many good points were being made. We were there doing something a little different. We were asking the City Council to leave the $16 million proposed for Mayo Island alone. We believe that is the amount necessary for them to fulfill the obligations made to open Mayo Island Park. It would be easy to take money from that pot to fulfill other obligations, but it would shortchange the James River Park System, which is something that we can not afford. I think it is important to remember that if the City can't meet the October 2026 deadline to open Mayo Island Park, they will have to repay the $7.5 million in grant funds that were used to purchase the island. Not funding this project to the extent required to meet that deadline would also erode public trust, and leave Mayo Island in limbo to become a public safety hazard in the middle of the City. This is our chance to do it right, and $16 million is what is needed to complete the work to open the park. I had to cut a couple of paragraphs out of my remarks in order to fit the time, and I wanted to share those remarks with you all here today. If this moves you at all please contact your council member and let them know you want to see Mayo Island park opened on time in October of 2026, and that you support the budget of $16 million to make it happen! Read my remarks, and learn how to contact your City Council Member, here- https://lnkd.in/ehWD2hv8

The City of Richmond released a proposed budget for FY 2026 last week. Friends of the James River Park is happy with the proposed budget improvements for the James River Park System. We will be encouraging the City Council to support the budget as proposed. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the City to protect, expand, and enhance the James River Park System. We are particularly excited about the proposed $16 million for Mayo Island Park. Mayo Island Park is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn defunct industrial space into a world-class park, worthy of Richmond. I can't wait to see what they do with it. Reallocating operations staff to add more people to the JRPS Ops team is also a big step. The park has increased in size by about 5% in 5 years and Visitorship is continuing to grow. We need more people on staff to help deal with the additional space and the impact that people are having on it. The Park needs trained staff to be on-site every day to deal with maintenance and other issues. Thank you to Danny TK Avula and Chris Frelke for putting this together! You can read more of the specifics about how the proposed budget will impact the JRPS, and why we support it here- https://lnkd.in/eJcjbMwv

We want to thank our friends at Ocean Network Express North America for their support at Dock Street Park. Last weekend they cleaned up 140 pounds of trash from the park and along the waterfront. That is 140 pounds of trash that won't end up in the James River, all thanks to this group of dedicated volunteers and a company that shares our love for the James River Park System. Want to learn more about how your company can organize a cleanup in the park? Just let me know.

It was a great day to be on the James River today. Another clean up in the books. Josh Stutz and Friends of the James River do excellent work to maintain and improve one of the region’s greatest assets! #richmondvirginia #whitewater #tourism #community

The RVA Osprey Cam is back! We missed last season because we couldn't get out and do the maintenance on the camera in time. We got our ducks in a row this year and we got everything up and running on time. There has been no sign of Maggie and Walker yet this year, but keep an eye on this live feed. They should be returning any day! https://lnkd.in/eygbvBvc