Photos: Volunteers mobilize to fight invaders in Melvin C Hazen Park

Volunteers remove invasive species from Melvin C Hazen Park during a July 15th cleanup. (photo by Doug Yuan)

They’re lovely, but they don’t belong here. Non-native plants imported to add color to North American gardens never stay put. Over generations they’ve moved into Rock Creek Park, where they suffocate trees and compete with the natives for nutrients and sunlight. (Read more about why it’s so important to keep fighting the invaders.)

Rock Creek Conservancy regularly mobilizes volunteers to fight these invaders along Rock Creek and its tributaries, including the Soapstone and Broad Branch streams. On Saturday, July 15th, 20 volunteers gathered at Melvin C Hazen Park to remove invasive English ivy and Tree of Heaven.

Volunteers filled 27 of these large plastic bags with invasive plants. (photo by Dean Goeldner)

Rock Creek Conservancy’s Rena Subotnik, in the reflective vest, led the assembled volunteers. (photo by Doug Yuan)

Groups like the Rock Creek Conservancy and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club also regularly organize volunteers for trash cleanups and trail maintenance.