George Washington University graduate students have a few questions for those of us who have enjoyed visiting Broad Branch stream since its “daylighting.”
A portion of the stream east of Linnean Avenue where it meets Broad Branch Road saw the light in 2014 after being piped underground for decades. The DC Department of Energy and the Environment project created a stormwater management system, a wildlife habitat, and a recreation area. The recreational benefits are what the GWU students, studying for their master’s in environmental resource policy, want to learn more about.
As part of their capstone project, they have created this survey, which will be open for at least a couple more weeks. It will provide a data point for a cost-benefit analysis that the students believe could be useful to the National Park Service when the agency considers stream restoration work.
That data point is recreational and public perception value, to which the students are attempting to assign a dollar value. So consider that as you fill out the four-question survey.
Ross Eisenbrey says
I love seeing frogs down there and hearing them chirp and croak. They’re priceless. I’ve seen little fish and plenty of ducks and other birds. It used to be a wasteland of old tires and junk, and now it’s a destination.