PWP newsletter Spring 2011

Fast Fact:

Studies by Dr. Susan Day at Virginia Tech found that a healthy shade tree will catch 75% of the first inch of rainfall.

How do you want to see the PWP change and Improve?:

Deanna Tricarico, Potomac Conservancy: “Make a wall on the PWP website where people can post events and grant opportunities.”

Herb Peddicord, Chesapeake Bay Forester for WV DOF: “PWP should do an outreach project together every two years”.

Donnelle Keech, Nature Conservancy: “PWP needs clearer process for "Branding" so that it is clear it is a PWP project.”

Sally Claggett, USDA Forest Service: “I would like to see more activity from the PWP coordinator.”

Upcoming event:

On the week of June 13, 2011, AWS is holding a 6 day 110 mile touring kayak paddle-a-thon.

Stream Cleaner Activity in the Cacapon Institute eSchool

Anacostia Watershed Society’s Rice Rangers Program:
Partnering Education for the Love of Nature

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“Get that pollution!” exclaimed a three-year-old kid named Nick, his voice emanating from a bright red, triple latched lifejacket. Shaking slightly with excitement, Nick pointed his miniature canoe paddle across the murky waters of the Anacostia River at another empty plastic bottle bobbing towards the boat. “Quick, grab it!” he called to his father, a personal trainer from Northeast DC, who scooped up the bottle with a net and dumped it into the recycling bag a National Park Service member was holding open in the middle of the canoe. “Look how much pollution we took out!” Nick boasted to his friends in next boat. This was the first time any of them had been in a canoe.

Description: http://www.anacostiaws.org/userfiles/image/Blog-Photos/wildricestudents2.jpg Thanks to the Anacostia Watershed Society, this type of hands on outdoor educational experience happens all the time on the Anacostia River. More and more people who had never gotten a chance to enjoy this endangered natural resource are becoming educated, environmental stewards of their community.

Environmental Educator, Ariel Trahan explains, “My favorite part of working for Anacostia Watershed Society is connecting people to a resource that they didn’t even realize was there.” Ariel says that a constant challenge, especially in more urban and suburban areas of the Potomac watershed is overcoming a widespread fear of being outside. Many families who have not had much exposure to the natural outdoors fear the unknown for their kids and think it is safer for the kids to be inside away from bees, snakes, wildlife, or fresh air. It is a struggle to get parents to feel comfortable about encouraging their kids to be in nature and enjoy the outdoors.

"People need to be connected to the environment, to nature,” said Lee Cain, AWS Director of Education Programs. “It’s imperative.”

The Watershed Stewards Academy is just one of several programs AWS has created that has successfully increased awareness and stewardship of the Anacostia Watershed.

As a result of AWS’s presentation at the December 2010 PWP Information Exchange, AWS teamed up with Cacapon Institute to expand AWS’s Rice Rangers program. This spring, the Rice Rangers Program equipped over 20 teachers and educators with training, lessons, and materials. Rice Rangers empowered hundreds of students to propagate native wetland plants in the classroom and transplant them into the tidal marshes along the Anacostia River. This program provides students with a service learning opportunity where they work to increase filtering capacity and habitat in the rivers that flow into the Chesapeake Bay.

Rice Rangers Because Rice Rangers includes pre-project academic investigation; a hands-on conservation project; and post-project reflection it meets the three requirements for a complete MWEE (Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience), a requirement in D.C. schools.

The students first follow a class-based environmental curriculum where they learn about watershed protection through science, botany, math, and technology. AWS included the eSchool, Cacapon Institute’s online Potomac Highlands Watershed School, as an integral component of their curriculum. The eSchool has virtual classrooms for high school, middle school, and elementary school students. The eSchool has dozens of exciting interactive watershed education activities. Every day the Rice Ranger students went online to the eSchool’s Real Time Data web-page. There they found precipitation and stream flow data for the Anacostia River. They also looked up precipitation and stream flow data for the Cacapon River in West Virginia. The eSchool’s Real Time Data, coupled with lessons on graphing helped students understand the relationship between precipitation, stream flow, and stormwater runoff pollution across the Potomac watershed.

Rice Rangers also enjoyed the eSchool’s Stream Cleaner activity. Stream Cleaner teaches kids about the problems of erosion and nutrient pollution in watersheds. It puts students in a virtual watershed, where, with $10,000 and a toolkit of BMPs, they fight sediment and nutrient pollution. This activity helped the Rice Rangers understand why their hands-on grass growing and riparian buffer plantings are so important to protecting the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.

To conclude the Meaningful Watershed Experience, after the classroom investigations and conservation planting were done, the students enjoyed a reflective canoe trip down the Anacostia River. This final educational experience cements the lessons of watershed protection for the Rice Rangers.

Perhaps most impressive achievement is that AWS has been successful in connecting people to the environment, to nature, to a resource that they didn’t even realize was there. People like young three year old Nick. As Nick’s canoe pulled back into dock, he stepped out of a boat for the first time in his life, turned to his father, and said “This is my favorite day I’ve ever had!”

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

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Fast Fact:

Events can be posted on the PWP website by emailing Ben Alexandro

Building an Army of Stewards for the Anacostia Watershed

AWS PWP Presentation The Anacostia watershed, at 176 square miles, is only 1.2% of the 14,700 square mile Potomac River watershed, but, it is home to over a million people. It is also one of the most polluted sub-watersheds of the Potomac. Unmanageable combined sewer outflows, levees constructed in the 1950s to replace natural stream morphology, 22% impervious land cover, wetland cover reduced to 3% of the watershed, and lack of significant riparian buffers has caused huge pollution problems and stream bank channel erosion to the river.

When John Smith sailed the river in 1608, fish were so plentiful that his men tried to catch them with frying pans. Now out of the few fish that remain, over half have liver tumors and nearly a quarter have skin tumors or other pollution related skin ailment. 20,000 tons of trash flows into the Anacostia every year. In 2007 the Anacostia River was the second river in the nation to be designated as “Impaired by trash” By the EPA.

The 17 full time employees at Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) work tirelessly as educators, stewards, and advocates for cleaning the water, but recovering the health and heritage is a task too large even for their exceptional efforts. They simply cannot accomplish their goal all on their own.

“We need to create an army of people on the ground,” explained Lee. Anacostia Watershed Society cannot be everywhere dealing with all the different governments, municipalities, home owners associations, politics, etc. in every microcosm of the Anacostia watershed. That is why AWS is teaming up with Arlington Eco Outdoors Education Center and creating a network of representatives that facilitate cooperation between citizens, organizations, government and business. Boot camp for this army of stewards is the Watershed Stewards Academy.

Students at this Academy complete 64 hours of training in a 12 class course that transforms these volunteers into community leaders who champion environmental changes across the watershed. To graduate, stewards must complete a hands-on capstone project that will reduce pollution at its source in some way. First the stewards in training assess the watershed and neighborhood on a very local level. Then the steward engages and educates the community. For example, Steward Lara Mulvane hosted a “Wine and Vine” event where the community sipped on wine while they watched a demonstration on a herd of goats removing invasive plants. “If it is a fun activity, people learn more” taught Susan in her Watershed Stewards Academy lecture at the 2001 Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Educators held in February. Finally, after completing the intensive hands-on certification project, the participants earn the title Master Watershed Stewards. Every year Master Stewards continue to dedicate hours towards training, educating, and empowering others to take up the cause.

The AWS environmental educators hope each steward will reach a hundred more people and become integral leaders in their sub-watershed of the Anacostia. “Together we can be the eyes, ears, and hands throughout Anne Arundel County,” stated Ariel.

The Watershed Stewards Academy is quickly spreading from its birthplace in Anne Arundel County to Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, and Washington DC, with aspirations to spread to a greater portion of the Potomac Watershed, Baltimore and beyond. WSA reserves a few slots for students in other counties who want to spread the WSA program to their area.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of AWS, the River is no longer forgotten. Major restoration efforts underway are beginning to improve conditions, and years of continued commitment will bring a substantial improvement in the health of the system.

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

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Information in depth:

Comparing 2010 to other years:
“Compared to an average year, we collected more than twice as many acorns, but only a sixth as many walnuts. Last year was a great year for walnuts, but they seem to be an every-other-year seed, and while we were expecting an off year, it was a bit worse than anticipated. We did really well with acorns, but I don’t think that necessarily means it was a bumper year. It was a dry year, so that may have caused the acorns to fall at just the right time.” Deanna Tricarico

Success by numbers:

- 13,440 Pounds of Seed

- 5,170 Volunteers

- 10,890 Volunteer Hours

- 77 Seed Collections

-38 Drop-off Sites

Growing Native attracts international Volunteers:

One of Deanna Tricarico’s favorite things about working with growing native is working with volunteers from Partners of the Americas. Through this D.C. based organization, students traveled all the way from South America to do volunteer projects during the 2010 Growing Native seed collections. “It is not a typical experience you would get when you visit another country,” exclaimed Deanna.

Growing Native Partnerships Continues with PWP

2010 marked the 10th anniversary of the Growing Native seed collection led by Potomac Conservancy. This program began as a PWP initiative and has developed into a well-oiled machine marked by successes in networking, collaboration, outreach, and volunteerism that other organizations can take note and model after.

Since its creation in2001, over 150,000 pounds of seeds were collected by over 50,250 volunteers in DC, MD, PA, VA, and WV. In 2010 alone, 5,710 volunteers dedicated a total of 10,890 volunteer hours in collecting 11,690 pounds of acorns, 1,610 pounds of black walnuts, and 140 pounds of other species throughout the watershed. Over 70 private, and 7 public, collection events were held throughout the watershed.

According to Deanna Tricarico, Outreach Coordinator for the Potomac Conservancy, each pound of seeds produces about 44 saplings to be planted through CREP, backyard buffers, and other restoration efforts. Because of the Growing Native program, as many as half a million new trees will begin to grow throughout the watershed this year.

“Growing Native is a good way to get people involved in conservation,” explains Deanna; “It is an easy thing to do and helps people understand why trees are so important in the watershed and the role trees play in clean water.”

The program’s remarkable success is not marked by exhaustive efforts to get more seeds collected each year. Rather, the Potomac Conservancy focuses their efforts on better communication among partners and perfecting their existing system. “Building strong partnerships is key when working on such a logistically big project,” states Deanna; “Having partners helps everything run smoother.

The most important partnerships fostered over the years have been with the USDA Forest Service and with D.C., MD, VA, & WV “state” foresters. “Growing Native was originally created because state and local nurseries didn’t have enough native seed,” Deanna says. State foresters work with their nurseries and know what seed stock they need. Volunteers are recruited to collect the seeds in special breathable bags that they deliver to one of 38 designated drop-off points. State foresters then pick up the seeds and deliver them to local state nurseries where they are sorted, planted and grown. After growing for one to three years in the nursery, the young trees are harvested and distributed for riparian plantings throughout the Potomac Watershed. Potomac Conservancy feels the partnerships with state foresters, forged through the PWP, are the key to the program’s success, because local foresters organize the collection and transportation of the seeds and the ultimate riparian plantings that results.

“I work with 70 different private collection events with 70 different stories.” Deanna said; “It is like discovering a whole new world in nature when going and doing these collections.” Without the strong partnership of the state and US Forest services, coordinating the movement of seeds from such a large number of collections to the proper nurseries would be a logistical quagmire. Beyond aiding in logistics, the USDA Forest Service and the state foresters also help enormously in educating volunteers. Growing Native provides field guides that are specific to the collection areas to educate volunteers on what seeds they will be collecting and what they should be looking for.

Bingo Deanna makes clear that; “One of the main goals of Growing Native is not just to collect large numbers of seeds but to make sure everyone is aware of the Growing Native process and why it is so important.” In addition to educating volunteers, Growing Native also offers a North American Association of Environmental Educators approved, complete, classroom curriculum. Teachers and non-formal volunteer educators are provided with kid-friendly lessons and stewardship activities. Activities include constructing a model of the Potomac River Watershed, “tree stumpers bingo”, and a fun tree ID memory game. The Boy Scouts of America are using Growing Native educational materials for their Forestry Merit Badge.

This well-oiled machine is ready to execute future collection events with orchestrated precision. Potomac Conservancy encourages watershed groups to participate in collection events and engage their volunteers. Thanks to the strong partnerships that Potomac Conservancy has fostered through the PWP, watershed groups can be assured of support for their collection event. Growing Native has a fleet of volunteer ambassadors that spread the word of growing native to other organizations and aid them in holding their own collection events. If your group could benefit from Growing Native’s educational material, would like to host a public collection, or if anyone would like to hold a private collection, please contact Deanna Tricarico by calling (301) 608-1188 x 204 or emailing her at tricarico@potomac.org.

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

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Fast Fact:

Since 1989, the Alice Ferguson Foundation has teamed up with 425 partner organizations throughout the Potomac watershed to haul a mountain of 5 million pounds of trash from cigarettes to couches.

Potomac River Watershed Cleanup

On April 9th from 9am to 12pm, 6,516volunteers gathered at 428 sites for the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s 23rd Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup. Results from this ambitious cleanup are still being posted online and reported, but as of the real time report updated online on May 23rd, volunteers hauled over 227 tons of trash, over 2,000 tires, nearly 27,000 plastic bags, and nearly 30,000 cigarette butts out of the Potomac Watershed. Volunteers recycled nearly 200,000 discarded beverage containers. This hugely successful cleanup event was orchestrated by the Alice Ferguson Foundation as part of their initiative to get the Potomac River trash free by 2013. The success of the event was even more impressive considering that the cleanup occurred the morning after the looming Federal Government shutdown.

The National Park Service is a key partner and, had the shutdown happened,none of their sites or personnel could have participated.

The key to the Alice Ferguson’s success is the Description: http://www.mwcog.org/environment/water/watersupply/trashfreepotomac/tfpwi_logo%5B1%5D.gif same principle that has allowed the PWP to flourish for years – a focus on networking and partnerships. Alice Ferguson partnered with hundreds of other organizations, including the Potomac Conservancy, Casey Trees, and the Anacostia Watershed Society, to unify their cleanup efforts in one day.

“The largest regional event of its kind, the Cleanup provides a transforming experience that engages citizens and community leaders and generates momentum for change that ignites people throughout the watershed with the Alice Ferguson Foundation's community spirit,” explained AFF Outreach Coordinator Christa Haverly.

Becky Horner, Cleanup Coordinator with AFF added, “The Initiative was created to educate the region and address the severe problem with litter in our waterways. With 80% of area drinking water coming from the Potomac River, the pollution caused by improperly disposed litter is a real threat to public health and happiness. Through these efforts, we strive to raise awareness of the problem, provide resources for concerned individuals and improve the quality of life for area residents and local wildlife.”

AFF’s Cleanup is another impressive example of how partnerships throughout the Potomac watershed can move mountains. In this case, a mountain of trash moved out of our streams and public spaces.

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

baby goats

New Born Goats at Hard Bargain Farm

Christa Haverly (AFF, right) and Neil Gillies (Cacapon Institute, left) discuss a mutually beneficial partnership

Alice Ferguson Foundation Events

Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Teachers’ initiatives
Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Science Summer Teacher Institute
July 11th – 22nd, 2011
Text Box: Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Upcoming public events at OCTOBER 8TH, 2011, 1PM - 6PM, $8 (CHILDREN 7 OR UNDER FREE) PROCEEDS BENEFIT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMS Enjoy mouthwatering German food, authentic Bavarian dancing, and other 'good times.' For more information and details, contact Brenda Wright: bwright@fergusonfoundation.org 11 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, MD 20607 11 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, MD 20607
Hard Bargain Farm offers annual professional development opportunities for teachers and environmental education practitioners. During institutes and workshops, teachers become “students,” actively exploring our curriculum and field studies by participating in hands-on activities, models, and conducting in depth field study investigations amid diverse habitats on the farm and in nearby Piscataway National Park. Teachers learn and practice activities designed to investigate issues at their school and to prepare their students for an outdoor experience.

For more information, contact Karen Jensen Miles: kmiles@fergusonfoundation.org

Bridging the Watershed Teacher Institute
June 13-June 17: Middle Potomac Parks;
June 20-June 24: Maryland & Washington D.C. Parks;
June 20-June 24: Western Maryland Parks;
June 27-July 1: Northern Virginia Parks

These BTW summer institutes will prepare teachers to incorporate one or more of the BTW stand-alone curriculum modules into science courses. During these institutes, participants will explore the Potomac watershed to learn the local history, geology, and ecology and work with student investigations in the BTW curricula. An integral part of the institutes is an opportunity for teachers to engage in a field study in their participating parks to collect and analyze authentic data.

Building bridges between national parks and schools has been a main focus for BTW. The goal is to reach middle and high school students and heighten their awareness of the real-world issues in their backyard—the Potomac watershed. During the institute, teachers and national park rangers (and volunteers in national parks) work together engaging in activities students will do in the classroom and work together in the parks getting their “feet wet” engaging in field studies.

For more information, contact Jeanne Troy: jtroy@fergusonfoundation.org

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

Articles:

Lacey Brown at one of many Casey Trees school planting sites

Fast Facts:

Current D.C. tree cover

35%
2.5 Million Trees
4 trees per resident

D.C. has set a goal of 40% tree cover by 2035.

Casey Trees estimates 8,600 must be planted each year to reach this goal.

New Forester Hired:

Casey Trees recently hired a new urban forester, Shawn Walker in order to revamp walks and activities this spring. Shawn Walker came to Casey Trees after managing mitigation plantings around Yankees Stadium and working with the D.C. Forestry Administration. Thanks to Shawn, Casey was able to offer several activities such as ornamental tree walks at the National Arboretum which complement the D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival

Focusing on Volunteers:
Casey Tree’s Key to success.

Description: https://www.arborday.org/calculator/logos/CT_logo.jpg

Casey Trees has been hugely successful this past year in planting trees in the DC area and ensuring those trees as well as the surrounding communities grow and prosper.

Lacey Brown “I am a big believer in city living,” Lacey Brown, Casey Trees Education Coordinator explained. “Casey Tress makes D.C. a better place to live. Makes the Potomac cleaner.”

Casey Trees plants between 1,000 and 2,000 trees every year at over 50 locations, since their inception in 2001. So far this year alone, Casey Trees has planted more than 750 trees at 47 sites across DC. Since 2002, Casey Trees has inventoried over 100,000 trees, performed more specialized inventories every summer, and makes sure tens of thousands of trees will flourish every summer. This organization has numbers and success of which others can only dream. Casey' Trees has a key to their success that they hope to share with all the partners in the PWP: great volunteer relationships.

“The way we work with volunteers is a model for community projects everywhere,” Lacey said. Casey Tree’s events are known for being very organized, well run, and well attended by dedicated outside volunteers. In 2010 Casey Trees was presented the Award for Excellence in Volunteer Management by the Arbor Day Foundation.

“[Casey Trees] focuses on a great volunteer experience and increasing organization at our events,” Lacey stated. “By providing free food, coffee bagels, lunch on Saturdays, etc. we make volunteers feel wanted.”

Casey’s volunteers are provided free training to complement their knowledge about trees. In fact, volunteers go through so much training that they are given the title “Citizen Foresters.” These Citizen Foresters help both at and beyond the date of the planting. Casey Trees has trained 900 volunteer Citizen Foresters since 2001.

Casey dedicate a lot of time and energy to making volunteers feel like the integral and essential part of this organization that they truly are. Lacey explains that when a volunteer shows up at a planting, he or she can be assured that it will be a fun, well organized, and fulfilling event for everyone involved. Lacey and her coworkers make sure the volunteers are responsive. Volunteers are asked for their feedback, thanked for their efforts, provided free walks and classes, and even invited to volunteer thank you luncheons. This attention to detail, to people, means that Casey’s volunteers are not the usual one time attendee who casually helps out for a few hours one day at one event; they come back again and again to help turn DC green.

After a tour of a few of Casey’s elementary school planting sites, it was plain to see how organized and well-orchestrated their planting events are. For example, the planting of 24 large trees at John Tyler Elementary School became a complete schoolyard transformation. Lacey had worked with one student parent, a landscape design architect, in designing this project. The resulting grove of trees was a pure work of art, complete with gravel pathways, rock gardens, and an outdoor terrace that beautifully curved back and forth between the trees.

Casey Trees is extremely successful within the capital, and there is a great need for similar projects outside the greater metropolitan area. Other organizations can take their models to expand the mission of successful tree projects beyond the confines of Washington D.C.

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

Watering Trees:

When you need to water, use one of the recommended watering techniques below to ensure that you are providing your trees the recommended 25 gallons of water.

Fill a 25-gallon Ooze Tube at the base of the tree and remove it between weekly waterings.
Cut holes in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket, place it at the base of the tree one day a week and fill it up 5 times in a row.
One day per
week, leave your hose turned on low for a half hour.

Dry

normal

wet

25 to Stay Alive and the Water By Cycle

“The tree planting is the sexy part,” joked Jim Woodworth, Casey’s Director of Tree Planting during his presentation at the December 2010 PWP Information Exchange. He explained that the most important part of a tree restoration project is after the photo-ops of the tree planting are over. The most important part is making sure the trees survive. Frank Rodgers, a Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arborists and Director of Education and Outreach at Cacapon Institute, points to the work of Casey Trees as an example of best management practices. Water By cycle Frank says; “It is not the number of trees we plant, but the number of trees we grow that will protect our waters. Casey Trees emphasis on volunteer education and support to develop and sustain volunteer networks ensures the greatest survival rate for their trees.”

At the PWP Information Exchange, Jim showcased one of their great follow up maintenance programs, Water By Cycle (WBC). Every summer, Casey Trees employs teams of interns, mostly high school age, to drive or, more recently, bike around the D.C. area to water hundreds of trees. The WBC is a bicycle attached to a trailer equipped with all the tools needed to draw water from hydrants and water newly planted trees throughout the city. Casey Trees plans to add a second WBC team this summer.

Ozze Tube Casey Trees offers great online support for their volunteers and the larger public. Their weekly tree watering guide is called 25 To Stay Alive and they email street tree “owners” to remind them to water. According to their website, trees need 25 gallons of water or about 1.5 inches of rain per week to grow healthy and strong. Anyone can join Casey’s online 25 To Stay Alive Pledge. When you do, Casey will inform you by email if the weather conditions are dry and it is time to water or if conditions are favorable and you do not need to water.

| Back to Top || Written by Ben Alexandro, Outreach Coordinator, Cacapon Institute || Email the editor |

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