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CURRENTRock Creek

SUMMER 2011

FORCE Wins Mayor’s

Environmental Excellence AwardAT A CEREMONY ON April 20, DC Mayor Vincent Gray and District Department of the Environment Director Christophe Tulou named Friends of Rock Creek’s Environment (FORCE) “Partner of the Year” and presented FORCE with the Mayor’s Environmental Excellence

Award. Executive Director Beth Mullin accepted the award on behalf of FORCE. The awards ceremony was part of Green DC Day, the District’s Earth Day celebration.

The award reflects your hard work as supporters and volunteers investing time, energy, and resources in caring for Rock Creek.

Save the Date!Mark your calendar for the

Friends of Rock Creek’s Environment Party by the Park

at the Royal Netherlands Embassy

October 19, 2011

Watch for details about this festive evening!

FORCE receives Environmental Excellence Award from

Mayor Vincent Gray and Environment Department Director

Christophe Tulou.

FORCE HAS BROKEN GROUND on the first group of more than 50 projects to reduce polluted runoff that flows into Rock Creek with each heavy rain. Runoff carries trash, dirt, lawn chemicals, drips from vehicles, and pet waste into storm drains that lead directly into Rock Creek and its tributaries. Eco-friendly landscaping is an attractive, cost-effective way to keep rainfall close to where it falls, rather than flowing down storm drains and harming Rock Creek.

FORCE is working on a major environmental initiative— RiverSmart Washington—to test how well green landscaping and streetscaping keep rainwater out of the storm drains.

We measured rainfall and storm drain flow in two small sections of Petworth and Chevy Chase, DC, and then conducted an extensive education and outreach program to persuade homes, businesses, and non-profit groups to participate. Over 50 signed up for improvements valued at up to $5,000 per property. FORCE hired John Shorb Landscaping to install rain gardens (native

Moving Earth to Protect Rock Creek

continued on page 2

FORCE Named One of the Best Small Charities in the RegionYOU—OUR SUPPORTERS AND VOLUNTEERS—have also helped us earn another honor. FORCE has been selected for inclusion in the 2011-2012 Greater

Washington Catalogue for Philanthropy. The Catalogue screens charities for excellence, cost-effectiveness, and impact to help guide donors who want their charitable gifts to make a difference in the Washington metropolitan area. FORCE and other charities chosen from a competitive field of 270 organizations will appear in the fall catalogue. You can request a copy now on the home page of the Catalogue for Philanthropy website, www.cfp-dc.org.

2 • Rock Creek CURRENT

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plants in deep garden beds), put in BayScaping (native plants in shallow beds), replace impervious sidewalks and driveways with permeable surfaces, and divert downspouts to vegetated areas. Work began in May and will continue throughout the summer.

The District Department of Transportation will install public space “streetscaping,” including curbside planters, additional street trees, expanded tree boxes, and replacement of hard concrete in alleys with porous, water-absorbing surfaces.

When the work is done, a second set of rainfall and storm drain flow measurements will show how well the new landscaping and streetscaping capture runoff. If it is effective, this approach may be expanded throughout the District.

RiverSmart Washington is a partnership led by the District Department of the Environment and includes DDOT, FORCE, Casey Trees, DC Water, and LimnoTech. It is supported by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with funding provided by DC Water and DDOT. Visit the FORCE website, friendsofrockcreek.org, to learn more about the initiative.

USGS Releases Report on Rock Creek Water PollutionTHE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY collected data in 2007-2008 in the DC portion of Rock Creek to identify possible sewer leaks or other sources of contamination. They analyzed water samples from Rock Creek and its major tributaries for caffeine, DEET, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals commonly present in sewage.

The study found that the amount of sewage indicator pollutants varied in the tributaries, but the mainstem of Rock Creek was consistently polluted its entire length. Overall, the levels of most indicator chemicals in DC were similar to the concentrations found at the sampling point just upstream from the Maryland/DC boundary. As Rock Creek meanders 24 miles through Montgomery County it picks up contaminants along the way and is already polluted by the time it gets to DC.

FORCE advocates for a safe, healthy Rock Creek in both Maryland and the District: It is clear that much more work is needed.

The report, titled Occurrence and Distribution of Organic

Wastewater Compounds in Rock Creek Park, Washington

D.C., 2007-08, can be seen on the FORCE website, friendsofrockcreek.org.

friendsofrockcreek.org 202-237-8866 force@friendsofrockcreek.org

Our mission is to protect and restore Rock Creek and its waters, parks, and lands.

FORCE PO Box 42680 Washington, DC 20015

Rock Creek CURRENT

Editor: Robin Nelson Design: Teri Grimwood

The CURRENT is a publication of Friends of Rock Creek’s Environment (FORCE)

David CottinghamCatherine ArmingtonEllen AthasDoug BarkerBarbara ElkusKevin Flynn

H. Clifton GrandyBarry LemleyPat MunozChristine PieperElin QuigleyMary Rollefson

FORCE Board of Directors

This hole will be filled with a spongy soil mix and beautifully planted as a rain garden to capture rainwater from the roof.

Moving Earth, continued from page 1 YES, I WANT TO SUPPORT FORCE!

Donate online at friendsofrockcreek.org or send a check, payable to FORCE, to

FORCE PO Box 42680

Washington, DC 20015

Rock Creek CURRENT • 3

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Rock Creek Given an Extreme Cleanup

Cleanup Spotlight: Normanstone Stream TeamBy Coco Palomeque

New Stream Team Leaders Audrey and Ben Rawley

tally the trash at Joseph’s Branch in Silver Spring.

MORE THAN 1,500 VOLUNTEERS—undeterred by the near shutdown of the federal government—braved the cold and damp to pick up trash as part of the third annual Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup on Saturday, April 9.

FORCE Stream Teams and local groups cleared trash and debris from 56 locations in Montgomery County and the District. Groups of volunteers and colorful piles of trash bags could be seen for over 30 miles, from the mouth of Rock Creek in Georgetown to Derwood. Volunteers helped fill over 2,500 bags of trash and hauled out over 6.5 tons of loose trash from the creek, its tributaries, and parklands. The good news? The amount of loose trash is way down from the 2009 total of 29 tons. The bad news? Volunteers still collect more than 2,500 bags of litter every year.

The Extreme Cleanup sparked several new neighborhood initiatives. In Silver Spring, residents from the Connecticut Overlook Homeowners Association organized a cleanup of their section of Joseph’s Branch near Veirs Mill Road. In DC’s Petworth neighborhood, two separate cleanups brought together residents, church groups, and volunteers from the Greater Washington Urban League to clear streets and sidewalks of loose trash that washes into storm drains leading to Piney Branch. The cleanups helped

I LIVE IN A beautiful neighborhood next to Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC. I am not particularly outdoorsy or a fierce environmentalist, but this year I did something I had never done before: I led a team to clean up a patch of parkland along the creek running through my neighborhood.

For years, I had walked my dogs, gone for runs, or taken my daughters on “expeditions“ along the creek and its trails. Over time, I watched as debris, tires, bottles, and other trash clogged the water’s flow, accumulated on stream banks, and little by little, destroyed the beauty I had come to take for granted.

I felt powerless, and everybody sympathized, but trash and debris continued to accumulate. Then I came across FORCE and began to truly understand the damage this pollution was causing, not just in Normanstone, but throughout the Rock Creek Watershed and beyond to the Chesapeake Bay.

Through FORCE, I found people who are really doing something to help Rock Creek, and who empowered me to do something, too. FORCE provided everything I needed to get the job done: Stream Team Leader orientation, bags, gloves, and key phone numbers. “Great!” I thought, “but now what do I do?” I imagined putting on gloves and collecting trash all by myself. But FORCE publicized our cleanup event online and recruited interested volunteers. It was surprisingly easy to get people to participate and to help —despite the cold and dreary weather that day! Neighbors—including staff from nearby Embassies—showed up wearing rain gear and ready to work. Even passersby stopped to lend a hand!

There are many scientific reasons why Rock Creek must be kept clean. For me, there is also a very simple one: the desire to preserve for my daughters the beauty that I am so lucky to live amidst. So this year, I did something that I had never done before: I took action and in a very concrete way, made a difference in the world.

re-ignite interest in an Anti-Litter Campaign for the neighborhood.

Local businesses also stepped up in their neighborhoods. Go Ape, the treetop adventure course in Rock Creek Regional Park, guided volunteers along Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood. Calvert Investments of Bethesda tackled trash along Rock Creek near Jones Mill Road. Rockville’s Clean

Currents cleaned up the stream at Twinbrook.

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Whooooo’s There?

Barred Owls That’s Who.

By Denise RyanTreasurer, Audubon Society of the District of Columbia

THE BARRED OWL is a year-round resident in the forests along Rock Creek. Males and females look alike and are about the same size—17 inches tall with an impressive 44-inch wingspan. The “Barred” part of their name comes from the brown vertical bars or lines on their white breast. With a vocal range from soft calls, hoots, monkey calls, and nasal rasps similar to a car alarm, one of the more recognizable calls sounds like “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-aaaalll?” The best time to hear owl calls is near sunrise or sunset. The park closes at dark so enjoy those fleeting calls during daylight only.

This time of year, most of our Barred owls are busy raising young. They nest in the hollow cavities of large trees, another reason to protect and save our mature forests. By the Summer Solstice, the young owls have left the nest and are learning to fend for themselves and fly. They also can use their talons to climb up the bark of a tree. Adults may be seen hunting during the day—mostly for small mammals and some small birds—to keep their hungry young owlets well fed. Barred owls raise two to three young per year.

New FORCE Supporters Annette AburdeneRobert Agus &

Rochelle HelznerWalter AlbanoCharles Alston & Susan

Dentzer-AlstonE. James &

Virginia Q. AnthonyRuth Arnold, MDJess L. Baily &

Capie A. PolkRobert & Paula BarrieGeoffrey W. BarronRochelle Bartolomei &

Joseph CatoeJohn & Lolita BebrisDavid & Catherine BelliJames & Kathleen BishopSteven & Lauren BoyleBoyse FamilyAlma M. and

Clyde O. BradleyRichard H. BradleyJohn P. BuckleyNancy BulgerC. John BureshRichard BurnsIvan R. CarreraHarvey & Virginia

ChalmersAttilio A. ChiappaJoseph Clayton &

Lisa AlexanderDavid Conrad &

Paula DinersteinHenry CustisDeborah L. DallamJean Le DemB. Reid DetchonGregory & Katherine DeyeMaria DingerDwight & Barbara DoneskyKarl Du Puy

James S. Edmonds & Ellen E. Grooms

Philip C. ElvySeth FeldmanBurk F. FinleyPatrick &

Colleen FitzgeraldRyan FitzgeraldRyan FlaxPeter ForbesJames & Karen ForeitHelen L. FranckeKathleen FrankWilliam B. GallagherPeter GilbertRobert GilfrichJane & Mike GolightlyPeter GreenEldon GreenbergMarion O. Greene, Jr.Karen L. GrossnickleRidge & Jill HallMartha HamiltonSteven D. HullThomas M. HydeTimothy &

Mary Lou JacobsDonald N. JensenBernice & Harry KellySarah KirchenBenjamin Klubes &

Risa BenderPeter & Lisa KoenigChristine N. KohlAndrew LeesHarold D. Lester, Jr. &

Donald R. McMinnSandra & Adrian LoftinMartin & Andrea LybeckerColin H. MarksSara M. MazieKenneth M. &

Elizabeth G. Mead

Nancy MicklewrightGeorge MorganMonica & Samuel MorleyChristina E. MurataEd MurtaghAndrew OldhamBarry A. PassettGrant PeacockJohn & Nancy PielemierSusan & Timothy RailTerea RankinRobert A ResnikElliot RocklerMildred SecularCatherine SellersJoan SiegelScott SiffSam SimmensMolly SmithRobert SpencerWhitney StewartAnne K. StrattonCarolyn &

Frederick TalcottTheresa TestoniEvelyn ThorntonRobert ThurstonKatherine TrimbleGeorge & Barbara UsherDawn A. WalkerCallum WeeksJames M. WeiffenbachStephen H. WhitneyHarriet Winslow &

David PlantCharles WoodardLisa Woods & Joel J. GwadzRonald D. WynneLennox YearwoodLaurie Zivetz &

Mark A. MlawerRobert & Susan Zohlman

FORCE PO Box 42680 Washington, DC 20015

Barred owls nest in the hollow

cavities of large trees.