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Final Numbers In!
In April, FORCE organized and promoted trash cleanups in parks along Rock Creek and its tributaries as part of the Alice Ferguson Foundation's Potomac River Watershed Cleanup. There were 53 locations along Rock Creek, up from 15 a year ago. This dramatic expansion was made possible by a generous grant from Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI).More than 1,900 volunteers turned out to pick up 28.8 TONS of trash all along Rock Creek in one big EXTREME Cleanup. Volunteers pulled out more than 2,500 bags of trash, plus tires, grocery carts, suitcases, car parts, cell phones, wallets, a parking meter full of coins, and lots more. Maryland State Senator Al Carr, D.C. City Council Member Tommy Wells, and Montgomery County Council Member Roger Berliner (shown in photo at right) met at the FORCE cleanup site near the Boundary Bridge, where Rock Creek flows from Maryland into the District of Columbia. Council Member Wells led the successful initiative in pass a bag bill in D.C. that would reduce trash in creeks from plastic bags, one of the most common types of trash found in Rock Creek. As part of the EXTREME cleanup, volunteers pulled over 7,000 bags from the creek and adjacent parklands.FORCE has compiled an interactive map of the cleanup sites for the Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup. New sites this year focused on the upper watershed, including Mill Creek near Gaithersburg, the Montgomery County Agricultural History Park, and the Lake Needwood area. Click here to view a map of cleanup site locations.
Matthew Henson Trail Opened
On Saturday, May 9, Montgomery County dedicated the Matthew Henson Trail, which runs along the Turkey Branch tributary of Rock Creek. Come check out the new trail, which is located in the only Maryland State Park in the Rock Creek watershed. You can also see some of the county's efforts to restore the health and ecological functioning of Turkey Branch
FORCE Tackled Invasive Species in Green Apple Festival/Global Earth Day Action Event
Volunteers honored Earth Day right here by participating in one of the thousands of events in cities around the worldl. Rock Creek Park is one of the nation's premier urban forests, and yet invasive plants, primarily vines, are weakening and killing its trees. On April 18, volunteers joined FORCE, the National Park Service, and Black Cat Ivy to cut back vines and pull invasive plants in a section of park near Rock Creek Parkway, Calvert Street, and Connecticut Avenue. Click here to view photos of the event.
Council Members Criticize State on ICC and Rock Creek
Members of the Montgomery County Council sharply questioned representatives of the Maryland State Highway Administration during a review February 10 of safeguards for the Upper Rock Creek watershed during the ongoing construction of the Intercounty Connector (ICC). Council member Marc Elrich of Takoma Park said he was “baffled” by the state’s explanation of its procedures for protecting Rock Creek. In late January, the Montgomery Planning Board concluded the state could not meet the county’s requirements for the Special Protection Area (SPA) in the upper watershed. FORCE and other environmental groups have urged the Planning Board to require the state to resolve SPA compliance issues before allowing further work on the ICC.
FORCE Member Detects Water Main Break
Last week an alert FORCE member noticed that Kensington Branch, a creek flowing into Rock Creek, was chocolate brown for a mile. He tracked the problem to a pipe and immediately reported it. WSSC sent a field crew to check it out and found that a water main had broken. WSSC was able to make the repair, and the county Department of Environmental Protection is evaluating damage to the creek. Please keep your eyes open and report any problems you see!
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FORCE Completes Nine "RiverSmart Homes" Stormwater Projects
Eight DC homes and one park now feature new rain gardens, bayscaping, pervious sidewalks, trees, rain barrels, and even a few new driveways, thanks to FORCE and the District of Columbia's "RiverSmart Homes" program. The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) gave FORCE a grant to help educate District residents about effective stormwater management techniques that they could install on their own properties. With the help of Natural Resources Design, an ecologically focused landscape design firm, nine demonstration projects have been completed. The projects, one in each of the eight District wards, show how RiverSmart features can make properties of any size in any District neighborhood more beautiful and more watershed friendly. An interpretive sign created by FORCE describes the techniques (shown at the right) and will appear at each of the RiverSmart homes. For photos of the projects, including before and after shots, select this link. For photos showing installation of a rain barrel, select this link. The demonstration projects were the first phase in a DDOE program to persuade District homeowners to reduce stormwater flowing off their property, which causes erosion and pollution in local streams and rivers. For more information about the RiverSmart Homes program, visit http://ddoe.dc.gov/riversmarthomes.
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