Before and after: The Broad Branch Stream trail is walkable again

by Marlene Berlin

The daylighted Broad Branch stream is a nice place to walk and soak in the sights and sounds of nature. Or was, until wild overgrowth overtook the trail this summer.

The trail is now walkable again.

On the afternoon on September 17th, representatives of the District Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE), National Park Service (NPS), Rock Creek Conservancy, the UDC Naturalist Program and Forest Hills Connection met to determine the scope of work, including clearing away the invasive plants, mowing, and restoring the trails. Josh Burch of DOEE offered the possibility of having a contractor come out and do as much clearing as its budget would allow. Everyone hoped this would pan out because of the tangled web of jurisdictions with responsibility for the stream. The DC Department of Public Works, for one, is responsible for mowing along the roadways.

Broad Branch and Linnean Streams run through land owned by the District, the U.S. government, and the government of Peru.

DOEE’s plan did pan out. A team from the contractor, Daylily Landscaping, was out on Friday, September 28th and Saturday, September 29th.

The workers transformed this area from overgrown…

…To orderly.

I spoke to a neighbor who lives next door. She was thrilled, and admitted she had given up hope of ever being able to walk along the stream. She wanted to thank the crew who worked hard to make the stream once again accessible to the neighborhood.

Although the stream is mostly dried up, there is a pool where Linnean Stream empties into Broad Branch.

There you can still see plenty of action from its many wiggly tadpoles and frogs jumping in to avoid detection.

One of many tadpoles.

And what could be better than to hike along the trail in the evening and listen to the frogs once again?