About Blue Ridge Wildlife Center

Blue Ridge Wildlife Center is a unique and special place. The only wildlife teaching hospital in northern Virginia, the staff and volunteers of BRWC work to care for native wildlife by integrating veterinary medicine, rehabilitation, education, and research.

The Center began in 2000 with a mission to assist native wildlife through a telephone hotline that offered the public valuable advice to help wildlife that were sick, injured or orphaned. Five years later, in response to a great need, the Center opened its wildlife rehabilitation center in an 800 sqft. cottage on the Burwell-van Lennep Foundation (BVLF) property. In the summer of 2016, the Center moved out of the cottage into a new 8,700 sqft. hospital facility, also located on the BVLF property.

The Center’s mission includes educating children and adults about the importance of protecting wildlife and their habitat and other related environmental topics. In addition, the Center collects and shares scientific data about local wildlife diseases, environmental toxins, and other threats to native wildlife and the environment. The Center has been growing rapidly since its inception. Requests for our education programs grow steadily each year. In 2019, BRWC provided 100 programs to close to 5,000 children and adults, and reached many, many more through media outlets and public events. Applications to our summer student internship program have also been increasing since 2016. Veterinary internships are on the rise as well.

BRWC provides wildlife veterinary and rehabilitation services without any local, state, or federal funding. All funding comes from generous donors such as yourself and from annual events. Everyone has the opportunity to support the important work we do on a daily basis — 365 days a year! Your generosity will benefit the patients who need immediate care and will help us instill strong stewardship principles for generations to come!

About the Burwell-van Lennep Foundation

The Burwell-van Lennep Foundation was founded in 1967 to preserve a large tract of unique, historic land in Clarke County, Virginia. This foundation protects 944 acres of land in the Shenandoah Valley containing a valuable combination of ecosystems including hardwood forest, pasture, mountain hollow, and a mile of Shenandoah River surrounding a 100 acre island. This property has been historically called the "Island Farms".

The mission of the Foundation includes preserving the diverse ecology of this land, protecting wildlife, and environmental education.