Broad Branch lily pads in 2017. They had been planted by volunteers.
Putting out an SOS for Broad Branch and Linnean Streams. These two streams in our neighborhood, which have developed into a frog haven, a peaceful place to walk your dog, and a place to find and hear birds and insects, need a group of friends to take care of it. One way we can start is to attend Rock Creek Conservancy’s Weed Warrior training. The next session will be held at the Rock Creek Park Maintenance Center near the Nature Center and next to the horse barns on Saturday, June 1 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Please join me in getting trained on how to remove invasive species and host these community efforts. Register here.
But this is only one component in taking care of this mini park area. We need to make sure the areas in along Linnean Avenue and Broad Branch Road and tree box areas get mowed. And such areas need to be clearly marked so that the meadow areas remain unmowed. As we learned on the tour of the stream rehabilitation project last month, three city agencies and the National Park Service are responsible for taking care of these streams.
Broad Branch and Linnean Streams run through land owned by the District, the U.S. government, and the government of Peru.
So it is up to a group of neighbors to make sure this gets done. Please email Forest Hills Connection directly at info@foresthillsconnection.com to get involved as a Friend of Broad Branch and Linnean Streams.
Paul says
After being away for two weeks and returning over the weekend, we took a walk along Linnean Avenue past the stream rehabilitation site. We we amazed and saddened to see how, in the course of two weeks, the vegetation had become overgrown and wild — mainly driven by the massive volume of invasive species. In the first two years or so after the daylighting project was complete, the agencies responsible for the work had kept the area along Linnean well mowed. The paths in the overall project area were walkable. This is no longer the case.