George L. Ohrstrom II graduated from the University of Virginia in 1978 with a degree in English. After getting a job as a carpenter’s helper, he apprenticed with a cabinetmaker. George started Opequon Woodworks in 1983 after moving to Clarke County; high-end kitchens, libraries, and furniture were his specialty. 

In 1990 a large road project threatened his farm, and he started working with a small local watershed protection group. The protection of natural resources became his passion and second career. By 2005, he had given up the woodworking business and was fully involved with Clarke County and many  other natural resource protection nonprofit organizations. 

George served for 10 years as co-chair of the Piedmont Environmental Council, with Jeannie Perin, and he still serves on that board. He is a member of the Clarke County Easement Authority, the Berryville Area Development Authority, and he is the Vice Chair of the Virginia Working Landscapes steering committee.

An avid fly-fisherman, George’s concern for water quality led him to found The Downstream Project to promote natural resource conservation through visual arts and the web. The Downstream project now helps other small regional non-profits all over the Shenandoah Valley and Chesapeake Bay watersheds with their web needs. They have become the source for innovative web activities of all kinds, from social media set-up and maintenance through informational video projects, and website fabrication.