Nearly half the communities in cities adjacent to the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge are Black. But visitors are mostly white. To change that, the refuge is partnering with regional stakeholders, Indigenous communities and the city of Suffolk. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Project Manager David Byrd and others participate in a ceremonial dropping of aluminum boards to slow the flow of water at one of the dozen water control devices in the swamp. (Credit: Pamela D’Angelo)

Previous presidents weren’t exactly environmentally friendly. Roosevelt’s Civil Conservation Corps dug ditches to drain pristine New England marshes so farmers could harvest salt marsh hay. Here in Virginia, George Washington drained the swamp, literally, to log the Great Dismal Swamp. Now, slowly, the damage is being undone with the help of Hurricane Sandy funding. Pamela D’Angelo reports.