George Ohrstrom II believes Virginia's 'development mentality' began in the 1700's, has not abated significantly since and is today playing havoc with our region, our water and our small sector of civilization.

His passionate concern for the Shenandoah River is clearly evident in The Downstream Project, a non-profit initiative to investigate, analyze and determine what has turned one of the most beautiful and healthiest rivers in the country into a dying river that is hardly fishable.

Ohrstrom's efforts to preserve Northern Virginia counties have included producing a beautiful educational film, Shenandoah, Voices of The River, to explain what is happening to the Shenandoah River, and the creation of partnerships that help realtors, farmers, environmentalists and land conservationists work together. His commitment and concern have not mellowed over the years. His insistence on the need for change is as vibrant as ever.

George L. Ohrstrom, his grandfather was introduced to Hunt Country when he came here for foxhunting. He soon purchased Whitewood Farm and many adjoining properties. He renovated a house for George II's father, and the young boy spent every summer and most weekends in the area.

His education at St. Paul's, St. James and UVA, where he graduated with a degree in English, led to a career as an asphalt worker with McCandliss Construction.

"We had the best educated asphalt crew in the county," he chuckles. "Every member had at least one college degree… several had more!"

George II became a fine cabinet maker, building high-end custom cabinets and renovating his mother's Newport home over a three-year period. But George could write, and soon he was writing op-eds for the Winchester Star.

He worked closely with his Dad on the farms until his father died in 1995. George II then took over the estate's business that he continues to oversee to this day.

The entire Ohrstrom family were co-founders of the Piedmont Environmental Council(PEC). Today, George II, who joined PEC in 2003, is the chairman. He is also vice chair of the Clarke County Easement Authority.

Zoning by Owning in Clarke County was an early passion of his, and his dedication to preservation in the area in known far and wide. He has played an important role in keeping the 1980 zoning laws in place that continue to preserve farmland.

The delightful, charming and determined gentleman minces no words when he describes the difficulty of creating a rational approach to growth in these beautiful and historic areas.

"It's all about protecting natural resources, building alliances and getting the word out," Ohrstrom emphasized. "We must create new goals that address the needs of often opposing groups. Without consensus and everyone giving a little, we are lost."

His Downstream Project capitalizes on social media to disseminate what is learned through research and monitoring to like-minded conservationists and others who can help bring the Shenandoah River back to healthy and vibrant life.

"The Shenandoah rolls past some of the most beautiful places on earth," Ohrstrom says sadly. It is 150 miles long and has been fished for thousands of years. The first Native Americans took superb care of her.

"This magnificent river was surveyed by George Washington, home to some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, and home to generations of fishermen who found tranquility and beauty in her company.

Perhaps the pollution began in the '30's with Dupont and Viscos, large companies making rayon and other materials, the production of which created very toxic, nasty byproducts that, theoretically, went into catch pools… But seepage and lack of oversight allowed those toxins into the Shenandoah anyway.

There were 1,200 people working in those plants. The jobs were important. More important than the health of the Shenandoah. The Department of Environmental Quality, DEQ, was under-funded and under-focused on the threat pollution represented to the river. They didn't act. Making matters worse, chemists hired to provide oversight were often the same chemists working at the chemical plants.

Additionally, farmers were not aware of the devastation their cattle grazing on the riverbanks of the Shenandoah could have on its waters. Many were also located on creeks and streams that fed into the river, and people simply did not believe that cows could affect the big river. But they could. And often did.

Today, farmers like Don Roberts are terribly concerned about the Shenandoah. They fence their cattle well back from the river, but others see the fencing as a threat to their maximum annual yield, so no fences are erected.

When farmers today keep their cattle well away from the banks, one can quickly see the water become clearer and cleaner.

"Point pollution" is easy to measure and analyze because it is measured against a specific factory or farm. But "non-point pollution," which includes fertilizer run off from agriculture, poultry farms, housing developments and others, is very difficult to track.

"But it is all going into the Shenandoah. And the Shenandoah is going into the Bay, and until we all accept responsibility for clean water, we are drinking that pollution. No matter how many times it is cleaned," Ohrstrom continued.

Ohrstrom joined Clarke County Planning Commission in. He is known for his dedication to the protection of agriculture and his distaste for development. He has played an important role in the establishment of zoning laws that better serve farmers.

His Downstream Project is rapidly evolving into a not-for-profit organization that raises funds by teaching other areas how to protect their rivers.

"We help other like-minded conservationists raise their profiles and educate people about their issues on social media. We charge a very small fee, and that keeps us going.

"Clarke County is now green, small and beautiful with only 14,000 people. We have clean industry like the Bertlesman Printing Business in Berryville that makes major contributions to our area.

"Success for preservationists is all about protecting natural resources by building alliances and getting the word out. We are actively engaged in helping others do precisely that."

T.S. Elliot said "we've been very negligent about our care of water… We come from water, each of us, from the water in our mother's womb."

"The simple point is that we all live downstream," Ohrstrom concludes. "We simply must protect the Shenandoah or we will have a dead river, and that will complicate and, eventually, compromise all our lives."

For more information about The Downstream Project, please visit their website at http://www-downstreamproject.com