Do you like being outdoors? Do you like trees, birds, fish butterflies and a walk in the woods? Have you ever wondered how old the Blue Ridge Mountains are? Do you cherish our state parks, our national forests, Booker T. Washington National Monument, the Blue Ridge Parkway, The Appalachian Trail? Do you think our natural resources should be preserved?

If so, you can enjoy and preserve the natural resources in our area and join with others interested in the same things by joining the Virginia Master Naturalists chapter. Once trained, a Virginia Master Naturalist is ready to participate in projects such as water-quality monitoring; chestnut tree planting and counting; bird counts and monitoring; precipitation monitoring; educational projects with local schools; and maintenance of wood duck and bluebird nesting boxes at SML State Park. You might even have a project of your own that you’d like to pursue.

Applications for the next basic training course for the Blue Ridge Foothills And Lakes Master Naturalist Chapter are available at BRFAL.Blogspot.com Application deadline is Wednesday. The course runs from Sept. 3 to Nov. 19. Classes are scheduled for Tuesday afternoons from 1:30 until 4 p.m. at the Franklin Center in Rocky Mount. There also will be five Saturday field trips.

The course fee of $100 covers speakers, materials, classroom fees and the first year of membership in BRFAL.

If the timing of this course doesn’t fit your schedule but you are interested in signing up, contact the chapter to see if another class will work better.

For more information , call 365-4613 or email BRFAL.VMN@gmail.com . Information about the Virginia Master Naturalist Program can be found at www.virginiamasternaturalist.org.