The Potomac Overlook Regional Park Rap

While researching my post on recent storm damage at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, I found The Potomac Overlook Regional Park Rap:

Potomac Overlook Regional Park Hit Hard by Recent Storms

Northern Virginia's been hammered by some strong thunderstorms in recent weeks, and our parks have been no exception. Potomac Overlook Regional Park has been hit particularly hard, with trees & branches littering the area around the nature center.

How bad is it? Martin Ogle, chief naturalist for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, tells me Potomac Overlook Regional Park suffered "probably as much or more damage than during Hurricane Isabel in 2003." The park's website says its phone service has been knocked out.

Down the trail at Donaldson Run, the already-eroded banks show further signs of damage. When large amounts of rain fall quickly in a community that has ever-increasing amounts of impermeable surfaces, the stream gets more water than it can handle, piling the pressure on its basin.

It's not just soil & vegetation that can be stripped down. About 200 yards up from the Potomac River, what had once been a steep, rocky waterfall appears to have been broken up by flooding into more of a series of steps:

Sunday: Grand Re-Opening at Potomac Overlook

If you're a fellow fan of Potomac Overlook Regional Park (or even if you've never been), here's a cool event to check out on Sunday:

Join the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority on Sunday, May 17, 1:30-3:30 p.m. for the grand re-opening of the Potomac Overlook Nature Center in Arlington, VA. The renovated nature center features the “Energerium” – a new exhibit on energy in living systems, including human systems. This exhibit examines nature through the lens of energy, drawing attention to the central role that energy plays in our lives. The afternoon will also feature tours of the renovated facility and lots of fun activities for all ages, including live music, a juggler, games, door prizes and more.

The Green Miles' suggested Sunday itinerary -- go to Taste of Arlington in Ballston at noon (wearing your MG09 organic cotton t-shirt, of course), then go to Potomac Overlook at 1:30pm to walk off the calories.

Sunday: "The World in 70 Acres" at Potomac Overlook

Here's a cool event coming up Sunday:

Potomac Overlook Regional Park will celebrate the winter solstice with a screening of “The World in 70 Acres,” a documentary about the park, on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m.

The video explores various aspects of the park - its human history, natural setting, programs and activities and also covers educational themes and topics such as energy and earth science. The video's script was written by the park's chief naturalist, Martin Ogle, and is narrated by Keith Tomlinson, manager at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. The documentary was produced and edited, largely as a volunteer effort, by local videographer David Schneider.

The video is short enough (25 minutes) to be accessible and enjoyable for children 6 and older. Refreshments will be served. Also featured will be live music by Jody Marshall, whose hammered dulcimer music can be heard in the documentary.

For reservations and more information, call (703) 528-5406.

This is Awkward. Umm ... Your Roots are Showing.

Last Sunday, The Green Girlfriend and I headed down to Potomac Overlook Regional Park for a pre-Super Bowl hike. And yes, as a Patriots fan, the hike was definitely the highlight of the day. We got there early, which turned out to be a good idea -- while the air was warming up, the still-muddy trails were frozen, so no worries about slipping.

Donaldson Run was obviously still hurting from the record-breaking rain two days prior. New channels were carved down some hillsides and several trees along Donaldson Run, already in precarious positions, looked to be ready to tumble into the stream. The huge tree to the right is barely holding on at this point, leaning up against a smaller tree with more secure roots.

It's a problem that has already cost the county more than a million dollars to address upstream -- intense flows triggered by more runoff all the new pavement in nearby neighborhoods. Communities can help lower the damage by using permeable pavement, but here in America we tend to do things the cheapest possible way for that year's budget, so it's been slow to catch on.

Tuesday: Potomac Overlook Regional Park - The World in 70 Acres

Here's a cool event coming up on Tuesday the 5th at the Arlington Central Library:

Join us for Potomac Overlook’s 2008 Kickoff Event

Featuring the debut of our documentary video

“Potomac Overlook Regional Park; The World in 70 Acres”

At Arlington County Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA.

(Near the VA Square and Ballston stops on the Metro Orange Line)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5^th, 7 PM – 8:30 PM

In addition to the documentary video, this event features:

> The ever-popular “Jazzy Juggler”
> Live music
>Refreshments

Great fun for adults and kids age 6 and older.
RSVP by calling 703-528-5406

Sunday: Gaia - Our Living Earth

Here's an event coming up on Sunday:

Wisdom of the Elders; Gaia – Our Living Earth
Sunday, Dec. 16, 2PM
Potomac Overlook Regional Park, Arlington, VA

Take a break from the hectic holiday season and join us at this annual winter solstice event exploring the wisdom of people, communities and the Earth itself. This year, we explore the Gaia Theory – the scientific idea of Earth as a living system. The program will include a multimedia celebration of life on Earth as well as perspectives from people, past and present, on the metaphor of our living planet.

This program is open to adults and children (10 years old+). Refreshments will be served. Call 703/528-5406 to RSVP and for directions.

This Sunday: A Community Conservation Conversation

The Green Miles will be on the road this weekend, but I wanted to pass this along:

“A Community Conservation Conversation”

Sunday, September 30, 2 p.m. at Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA; Near the Virginia Square Metro stop on the Orange Line)

Conservation has transcended the “freeze in the dark” connotations of the 1970s and is becoming a vibrant and foundational part of our everyday lives! To further this exciting trend, join the “Community Conservation Conversation” featuring discussion among panel members and the audience. The key to a better and less consumptive society and economy is opening up the floodgates of conversation on this very important topic. The “Green Living Challenge,” developed by Arlingtonians for A Clean Environment, Arlington County’s Fresh AIRE Program and other conservation initiatives will also be highlighted.

Panel members: Paul Ferguson, Chair, Arlington County Board; Monique Tilford, The Center for a New American Dream; Joan Kelsch, an Arlington County Environmental Planner; Drew Langsam, Turner Construction Company; Emily Curley, Alliance to Save Energy; and Martin Ogle, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Congressman Jim Moran is also an invited panelist. This event is co-sponsored by 21 organizations. For more information, please call 703-528-5406 or e-mail Potomac Overlook Regional Park.

The Green Miles vs. Mile-a-Minute

I arrived at Potomac Overlook Regional Park on Saturday to find the hill covered knee-high in invasive plants. Just two months earlier, we'd planted small saplings (only a few inches high) at the site. With the web of mile-a-minute weed, Japanese stiltgrass, and other non-native plants taking over the area, it was going to be a challenge to find the saplings, never mind clear enough space for them to be able to continue to take root.

It was my first time dealing with mile-a-minute, a vine that combines the worst characteristics of several invasive species. It grows as fast and climbs as quickly as kudzu, and its thorns are just as painful as multiflora rose. In short, a real bastard.

On top of all of that, a grand total of zero Community Role Models volunteers showed up to help. I spent an hour clearing some multiflora rose roots out of the top of the hill, but I had no idea where to even start with the mile-a-minute and stiltgrass below. Things were looking bleak for The Green Miles.

But a surprise visit would turn the tide.

First, a step back. People often ask me why invasive plants are such a concern. After all, if they beat out native species, isn't it just survival of the fittest.

Survival of the fittest applies to species that have had millions of years deal with predators and competitors, carving out roles in an ecosystem. Expecting trees to suddenly be able to deal with mile-a-minute would be like dropping a pack of wolves onto an island with a flock of penguins and telling the penguins, "Better evolve some flying or running skills in a hurry!"

Trees are the backbone of the American ecosystem, providing shelter for birds and mammals and holding topsoil in place so other plants can grow. Ordinarily, a dead tree would just be replaced in the canopy by younger trees.

But invasives smother young trees before they can ever grow. Some even release chemicals into the soil that retard the growth of young trees. Deer are known to ignore invasives and stick with their usual diet of native plants, exacerbating the problem.

So invasives are a problem that we need to deal with. Especially since we introduced them into the ecosystem. Ooops.

And thanks to Jake and Wilson, I was able to win my first battle in the war on mile-a-minute.

Jake and Wilson are interns at Potomac Overlook who heard there was some wacko trying to clear a whole hill of invasives by himself and took pity on me. They came armed with rakes, tools they've found works much better than the simple grab-and-pull technique I'd been using. Within an hour I had two shoulder-high piles of mile-a-minute and other invasives. OK, so it's not like I'd stormed the beach at Normandy, but it was pretty damn satisfying.

And best of all, we uncovered over a dozen of the saplings CRM volunteers planted back in April, still marked by their little strips of orange tape (at the center of the picture to the left). Even though they were getting hardly any sun under the net of invasives, almost all showed signs of growth, sprouting new leaves.

In a matter of weeks, the invasives will have reclaimed the hillside, so let's hope the saplings can take advantage of this window. But Jake and Wilson promised to keep an eye on them, and I'll be back later this summer for round two against the invasives.