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Potomac
Conservancy
8601 Georgia Avenue
Suite 612
Silver Spring, MD 20910
p 301.608.1188
f 301.608.1144
info@potomac.org
~
Protecting the health, beauty,
and enjoyment of
the Potomac
River and
its tributaries ~
Banner
image by
Don Chernoff
|
Learn
how to protect the Potomac
easily |
 |
- Green a DC School - March 11
- Plant Trees - March 11
- Maintain a Hiking Trail - March 25
- Clean up the River - April 8
- Be a River Center Docent - Throughout the summer and fall
- River-Friendly Community Presentations - March 8, 14, 21, & 29
- "On the Edge: The Potomac River's Dyke Marsh" Documentary Debut - March 21
- Potomac Heritage Trail Hike - March 25
- Mark Your Calendar: Earth Day Celebration - April 22
- Register Today: Goods from the Woods Conference - April 29
- Wild Washington: Get in Touch with Your Wild Side!
- Good Neighbor Tip: Create a Vision for Your Property
- Tree-Mendous Tree Sale
Saturday, 9 am 'til noon Rain or shine RSVP
|
Green
a DC School Join the Potomac Conservancy and students and teachers of Burroughs Elementary to create a Schoolyard Habitat. Volunteers will weed various gardens, replace mulch, and paint a fence and wall in preparation for a mural to be created by students. This is a great family activity and no experience is necessary. Gloves and tools will be provided. This project continues the Conservancy's work to help Burroughs Elementary create enclosed miniature gardens and a larger open garden in the school's courtyard. These Schoolyard Habitats serve as outdoor classrooms, bringing nature closer to children. RSVP required: Bryan Seipp, Director of Restoration, seipp@potomac.org. |
Saturday, 9 am 'til noon Rain or shine RSVP
|
Plant
Trees Along Carroll Creek Join the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service to help plant pine seedlings in a wildlife park adjacent to Carroll Creek. Volunteers will replace seedlings from a previous planting that were browsed by deer. In 2004 and 2005, the Potomac Conservancy led a tree planting a few miles downstream of this site in Baker Park, placing nearly 1,000 trees in the ground. Both of these projects in concert are providing for a cleaner Carroll Creek. The Maryland DNR Forest Service, a member of the Potomac Watershed Partnership, is one of the core partners of Growing Native, the Conservancy-led initiative to collect native hardwood tree seeds and plant seedlings along rivers and streams throughout the watershed. No experience necessary. Volunteers should bring water, gloves, and sturdy shoes that can get wet and muddy. RSVP requested: Paul Eriksson, Watershed Forester, Western Maryland RC&D Council, Maryland DNR Forest Service, periksson@dnr.state.md.us or 301.791.4010. |
Saturday, RSVP required
|
Maintain
A Hiking Trail Join the Potomac
Heritage Trail Association to keep Piscataway Trail hiker-friendly.
Volunteers will help protect the trail from being washed away by
rains by constructing erosion control and drainage
devices. In the case of inclement weather, this activity will be rescheduled. Check Potomac Heritage Trail Association's web calendar for details. To RSVP (required) and for directions: Contact Mark Holt at mholt@crs.loc.gov. |
Saturday, Rain or shine
|
Clean
Up the River Join the Potomac Conservancy in the 18th annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup! We need site leaders and cleanup volunteers. This is a great way to meet other river lovers and Potomac Conservancy supporters, and is the perfect activity for families. Find a site near you and register with the site leader today! If you like working with people and coordinating projects, volunteer to be a site leader. Site leaders are responsible for recruiting volunteers, picking up cleanup materials (trash bags, gloves) from Conservancy offices prior to the event, registering and leading volunteers at the cleanup, collecting data on the gathered trash, and delivering the collected trash to a suitable drop-off site. If you have ideas for locations that need cleaning up, please contact us. During the Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, which is coordinated by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, volunteers will remove trash from more than 300 sites across the watershed. For additional information and to register: Visit www.potomac.org. If interested in leading a site, contact: Bryan Seipp, Director of Restoration, seipp@potomac.org. |
May
through Required orientation:
|
Be
a River Center Docent Do you enjoy history or nature and talking to people? Then volunteer as a docent at the Conservancy's River Center! The River Center, located in restored Lockhouse 8 along the C&O Canal, educates visitors about the Potomac River, its connection to the Chesapeake Bay, and what they can do in their own backyards to protect these resources. Docents dedicate three to four hours once a month, on weekends from May through October, to greet River Center visitors and to answer their questions. Docenting offers a unique opportunity to meet and interact with visitors to the National Park while gaining a greater knowledge of the C&O Canal and Potomac River. Docents must be at least 18 years old and must attend an orientation meeting, to be held on Saturday, April 22, at 2 pm. Contact: Judy Welles, River Center at Lockhouse 8 Director, welles@potomac.org or 301.608.1188 x212. |
Keep Virginia's Healthy Rivers Initiative Going Strong
Right now, the House and Senate budgets contain over $200 million to ensure clean water for all Virginians. But we need your help to make sure that money stays there!
Over the next several weeks, every aspect of the budget will be discussed and negotiated. Show your support of the Healthy Rivers Initiative: urge the General Assembly to keep funding for Virginia's rivers and streams in the final budget.
Write, call, or email your local Delegate or Senator today!
March
8, 14, 7 'til 8:30 pm Free |
River-Friendly
Community Presentations Spring is just around the corner, and it's time to prepare! Join the Potomac Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy to learn about simple and inexpensive “Good Neighbor” practices you can adopt to ensure a healthier and more natural Potomac River. Topics covered will include landscaping with native plants, creating wildlife habitat, and fertilizing your lawn in a river-friendly manner. This presentation will be offered four evenings throughout March, beginning at 7 pm:
All topics discussed during these presentations are covered in the Good Neighbor Handbook, a joint publication of the Potomac Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy's Maryland/DC chapter. For additional information: Visit www.potomac.org. Questions? Contact Jen Schill, Director of Communications & Membership, schill@potomac.org. If you are a community leader and would like a Good Neighbor presentation to your group, contact: Heather Montgomery, Conservation Program Assistant, montgomery@potomac.org. |
Tuesday, 7 pm Free |
"On
the Edge: The Potomac River's Dyke Marsh" Documentary
Debut Be one of the first to see "On the Edge: the Potomac River’s Dyke Marsh," a new documentary film that will debut at the DC Environmental Film Festival. Produced by documentary filmmaker Dave Eckert, "On the Edge" explores the history of Dyke Marsh; its birds, fish, plants and other natural resources; and its value. The film examines threats to the marsh and opportunities for conservation. The 380-acre Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, protected in 1959, is one of the largest naturally-occurring freshwater tidal marshes in the US National Park system. If you cannot make the debut, "On the Edge" will also show on Tuesday, March 28, at 7:30 pm at the Old Town Theater at 815 King Street in Alexandria, Virginia. Tickets to this showing cost $5. To
learn more: Visit
the Friends of Dyke
Marsh website or the D.C.
Environmental Film Festival website. |
Saturday, 10 am 'til Free RSVP |
Potomac
Heritage Trail Hike Join the Potomac Conservancy to explore the Potomac Heritage Trail, a little-known treasure, on a 4.2- or 9-mile hike. Enjoy views of rock amphitheaters, waterfalls, and early spring wildflowers. The shorter hike (roughly two hours) will bring you to Chain Bridge, where you may park your car for pickup. The hike will continue across Chain Bridge and return via the C&O Canal and Key Bridge to the starting point for a longer trip lasting approximately 3.5 hours. The hike will be led by volunteer Bill Matuszeski, an amateur botanist and hiker who has kept a diary of his monthly trips along this trail. Bill was Director of the Chesapeake Bay Program from 1991 to 2001. Because some rock scrambling is involved, this hike is not recommended for children under the age of 12. Meet at the north end of the parking lot at Theodore Roosevelt Island (which can be accessed northbound only from the GW Parkway). Bring water and lunch. RSVP requested: Angela Preston, preston@potomac.org. Questions? Contact Jen Schill, Director of Communications & Membership, at schill@potomac.org. |
Saturday, 10 am Free |
Mark
Your Calendar: Earth Day Celebration Join the Potomac Conservancy and fellow river-lovers for the first-ever Earth Day celebration at the River Center at Lockhouse 8! Children will delight in an up-close look at reptiles and birds of prey during “Scales & Tales” educational programs offered by Maryland Department of Natural Resources naturalists. Adults will enjoy an in-depth spring wildflower walk along the C&O Canal and the banks of the Potomac. Other activities, including a nature scavenger hunt and a plant-your-own-wildflower project for children, and a Master Gardeners question-and-answer table for adults, are also planned for the day. Stay tuned to the Potomac Conservancy's website and to your April RiverUpdate to learn more about this event that you won't want to miss! |
Saturday, 9 am $15 per person; |
Register
Today: Goods
from the Woods Conference If you're a private woodlot owner, you won't want to miss this opportunity to learn why investing time and money in your woodlot can result in significant financial and ecological returns. Potomac Conservancy and Maryland Forestry and Natural Resource professionals will present a variety of sessions relating to the core topics of woodlot management, alternative income opportunities, and planning for the future of your woodlot. If you want to find out how to identify and eradicate pests, learn more about planning for the future of your land, or are simply interested in woodlot management, this conference is for you. Your $15 registration includes all conference materials and lunch. Bring a family member of a different generation (parent, child, grandparent, or grandchild), and he or she will receive a $10 discount. To learn more: Visit the Potomac Conservancy's website. To register or with questions: Contact Kelly McDaniel, Conservation Program Assistant, mcdaniel@potomac.org. This conference is a project of the Potomac Watershed Partnership. Special thanks to the generous support of the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and Town Creek Foundation. |
Wild Washington: Get in Touch with Your Wild Side!
If you didn’t get enough of the birds, butterflies, and four-legged critters showcased in the Potomac Conservancy’s 2005 Wild Washington calendar, now you can buy your own Wild Washington book. Thanks to author, photographer, and Conservancy member Don Chernoff, $8 of every purchase will support the Conservancy’s river conservation programs!
Offering an up-close look at the wildlife that call the metropolitan DC region home, this book is the perfect addition to the budding young naturalist’s collection or to any nature lover’s library. View photos from this full-color, soft-cover book and purchase it online ($20 plus shipping, handling, and sales tax if applicable) while supplies last!
Check out the Potomac Conservancy's new online bookstore for other unique river books, including Roy Sewall's Our Potomac and Dorothy Camagna's The C&O Canal.
Good Neighbor Tip: Create a Vision for Your Property
Whether you have a small yard or own hundreds of acres, it can be easy and fulfilling to bring nature into your space. But planning ahead and creating a vision for what you want your property to be is critical.
March is the perfect time to plan for the future of your land. And a good place to begin is by asking yourself the following questions:
1) What natural features are already in or near my property? You may have streams, woods, or meadows that you can take advantage of in developing a long-term plan.
2) In what way(s) do I want to enjoy or utilize nature on my property? If you want to attract wildlife to your yard, consider which kind. To attract butterflies, for example, a simple butterfly garden will be enough; for songbirds, you may want to plant bushes. If your property has significant woodlands, maybe you want to consider developing a long-term management plan.
3) What do I want my property to look like in five, ten, and 20 years? Maybe you want to create a wooded plot or to experiment with planting and harvesting a medicinal plant, such as ginseng. Even in something as simple as deciding where to plant a tree, you need to consider how big the tree will grow to determine if it is suitable for a given location.
There are many resources available to help you think through all of the steps needed to develop a comprehensive vision for your property. Visit the University of Maryland's Baywise, National Arbor Day Foundation's Backyard Woods, or US Fish & Wildlife Service's BayScapes websites for additional information.
For more river-friendly tips, download a free copy of the Conservancy's Good Neighbor Handbook.
Have a community tree planting coming up this fall on your school grounds, local park, or other public space? Need native trees or shrubs? Take advantage of the Maryland Department of Natural Resource's Tree-Mendous plant sale before it ends in April.
Many of the trees for sale were grown from seedlings collected by volunteers in past Growing Native seed collections. Species include oak, redbud, sycamore, tulip poplar, and others.
To order plants: Visit www.dnr.maryland.gov/forests/treemendous or contact Terry Galloway, Maryland DNR Forest Service, 410.260.8531, tgalloway@dnr.state.md.us.
Breathing in West Virginia's Mountaintop Vistas
This month, Nancy and Robert Huston, Potomac Conservancy easement donors, reflect on their connection to the wilderness of their West Virginia farm. In December of 2005, the Hustons permanently protected their 109-acre farm, which lies near the top of South Branch Mountain.
“'The farm,' as we tend to call it, has always been a place of peace and renewal for me. I like to get up early in the morning and walk down to the lower pond, and then back up the hill where I have a special rock to sit on and look at the view out over Lost River State Park and Cranny Crow..."
"...Gazing across our bluegrass pastures and hayfields toward the fringing forests of oak, hickory, gum, maple, and locust trees always gives me a lift. Knowing that these vistas will always remain this way tells me that protecting Windfields Farm was the right thing to do."
Read the Huston's complete story.
To submit your own story for publication, email Jen Schill, Director of Communications & Membership, schill@potomac.org.
Donating Online Is Easy, Secure, & Saves Resources
The Potomac Conservancy is trying to make it as easy as possible for you to show your support of our work. You can join, renew, and make special gifts securely online at www.potomac.org.
In an effort to dedicate more of your contributions directly toward our river protection and restoration programs, we will also soon be introducing some electronic renewal notices.
If you have any membership questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We want to hear from you!
Contact: Jen Schill, Director of Communications & Membership, at schill@potomac.org or 301.608.1188, x208.
RiverUpdate
is an e-newsletter for Potomac Conservancy supporters. It provides
information on the Conservancy's volunteer activities and river-related
events. We welcome your feedback and comments on RiverUpdate. Please email us at riverupdate@potomac.org to let us know what you think. To subscribe or unsubscribe, click here. |