Alphabet Soup from Teta Kain

The environmental/scientific world is rife with acronyms and we on the Dragon Run board are sometimes guilty of tossing these abbreviations out to the general public without explaining their meaning.

If you feel like you are drowning in the middle of this alphabet soup, perhaps the following explanation of acronyms used in the environmental world will help unscramble this cryptic language and make you feel a little more comfortable when talking to members of the various conservation and recreation organizations and agencies.

BMP = best management practice
CBLAB = Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board
CLAD = Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department
CBNERR = Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
CRP = Conservation Restoration Program
DGIF = Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
DOF = Department of Forestry
EPA = Environmental Protection Agency
FODR = Friends of Dragon Run
GIS = geographic information system
GPS = global positioning system
LTA = Land Trust Alliance
MP-PDC = Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission
MPLT = Middle Peninsula Land Trust 
NOAA = National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
NAS = National Audubon Society
NGO = non-governmental organization
NPO = non-profit organization
NRCS = National Resources Conservation Service
NWF = National Wildlife Federation
NWR = national wildlife refuge
PFD = personal flotation device
SAMP = special area management plan
SFI = Sustainable Forestry Initiative
SWCD = Soil and Water Conservation District
T&E = threatened and endangered
TMDL = total maximum daily load
TNC = The Nature Conservancy
TWS = The Wildlife Society
USDA = US Department of Agriculture
USFS = US Fish & Wildlife Service
VAC = Virginia Audubon Council
VDAC = Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service
VCN = Virginia Conservation Network
VSO = Virginia Society of Ornithology
VEE = Virginia Environmental Endowment
VOF = Virginia Outdoors Foundation

Alas, these are just a few of the long list of acronyms used everyday. If there are some more out there that baffle you, let us know and we’ll see if we can tell you what they stand for. I’ll bet you can even tell us some we don’t know!                                                            

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