In appreciation: Erica Carlsson, formerly of DPR and DOEE, for her environmental stewardship and community-supporting work

We like to periodically express our appreciation for DC and federal government workers who have done so much to make our lives easier and better.

They include the Ward 3 mayor’s office liaisons, a former MPD commmander, and the National Park Service crew who quickly clears fallen and unsafe trees from roads and trails.

Now, it’s Erica Carlsson’s turn. We met her for the first time in 2017 at a Friends of Forest Hills Playground cleanup. She lived next to the park (from 2014 to 2020), and wanted to help out. Carlsson ended up doing far more than picking up trash.

Erica Carlsson (foreground) with volunteers in May 2018.

At the time, she was the parks and environment conservation manager at the Department of Parks and Recreation. In that role, she provided support to community stewardship groups. At Forest Hills Park, that included leading volunteers in removing invasive vines from the park’s trees, coordinating a Girl Scouts project in one of the park’s rain gardens, and connecting Friends of Forest Hills Playground with additional resources and people at DPR and the DC Department of Energy and the Environment.

“Erica brought to Forest Hills a refreshing energy and a clear commitment to DC’s urban environment,” said Kim Farmer, a former president of Friends of Forest Hills Playground. “She helped to rally the community and work beside us during clean-ups for the playground and park.”

Erica Carlsson (second from the right) was most recently at DOEE, and continued to advise Forest Hills Park stewards on stormwater and invasive weed control issues. She’s pictured here in 2025 during a meeting with Good Clean Fun about an overgrown section of the park.

Carlsson also piloted a stormwater maintenance program at DPR, hiring a contractor who maintained rain gardens and other stormwater control infrastructure across the District. That work continued when she joined DOEE as an environmental protection specialist in 2020, and more neighbors got to know her in that role through her efforts in the Linnean and Soapstone Parks.

“She has been a helpful, loyal and an active leader in support of environmental restoration efforts in Linnean Park and other areas in Ward 3,” said John Burwell, a certified Weed Warrior who has worked with Carlsson on restoring native plants and trees to the Linnean stream restoration area.

She even stepped in to resolve a long-standing issue: Staff at the Kuwaiti ambassador’s residence was mowing some of the neighboring parkland.

“The situation required a careful, respectful, and relationship‑centered approach,” Carlsson told Forest Hills Connection. “I began by building rapport with the embassy’s facilities staff and framing the conversation around shared stewardship rather than enforcement.”

The solution included installing “no‑mow” signs along the boundary between Linnean Park and Kuwaiti government property so the grounds crew had a clear visual cue, and could avoid accidental maintenance on District land.

Carlsson went “above and beyond,” Burwell said, “across all her roles.”

She also got involved in DC Water’s Soapstone Valley sewer rehabilitation and stream restoration project. Carlsson worked with DC Water project engineers and technical staff and the NPS field crew to keep communication with impacted community members open and responsive. “Making sure residents felt heard and respected,” she said, was one of her goals.

Prior to DPR and DOEE, Carlsson was with Rock Creek Conservancy.

Jeanne Braha, then the conservancy’s executive director, tells Forest Hills Connection that Carlsson’s work “connecting community members to special places in the Rock Creek watershed leaves an enduring impact.”

“I am so grateful that she was able to do that from so many different perches,” Braha said.