What's That Plant? Join the Shepherd Parkway Plant Walk and find out! Saturday, July 19, 10 to 11 AM

Join us for a leisurely walk through one of Ward 8’s stunning but rarely-visited forests. Mary Pat Rowan of the Maryland Native Plant Society will help us identify common, rare and invasive plants and trees.

• Meet across from 249 Newcomb Street
• Free and open to the public
• Coffee and donuts provided
• Questions? Call 301-758-5892 or nbharrington@yahoo.com

Sponsors:  Congress Heights Community Association, Washington Parks and People, National Capital Parks-East, Maryland Native Plant Society

 

 

 

 

Donate Online Today

Restore Shepherd Parkway has always been a grassroots, all-volunteer campaign with few financial resources.

The National Park Service provides us with gloves,  bags, and some other supplies. The Congress Heights Community Association, the  Anacostia Coordinating Council, and the Coast Guard help with refreshments for volunteers when they can.

In November 2013 we received a $1,000 grant from The Pollination Project, which has paid for  the printing of postcards and banners and the nourishment of volunteers. Individual committee members have spent hundred of dollars of their own money to fill in the gaps.

Now, for the first time, Restore Shepherd Parkway is able to accept online donations! Click the Donate button and top right to give now! Your generosity will help support the following:

-Lawn and street signs to increase awareness, pride and investment in the park by Ward 8 residents.

-The commissioning of a watercolor map of Shepherd Parkway by local artist Mary Belcher. Her gorgeous map of Marvin Gaye Park in Ward 7 help ignite the campaign that transformed "Needle Park" from DC's most polluted and dangerous into a treasured asset

-T-shirts for volunteers to help spread the word

-Gator aid, apples, coffee, donuts, lemonade and other seasonally approapriate drinks and snacks for our many volunteers

 -Printing of outreach materials

-Educational and recreational events in the park

 -Lobbying of the National Park Service and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to bring the needed resources to Shepherd Parkway

If you share the dream of a healthy, vibrant natural oasis in Ward 8, please give as little or as much as you can afford.

Introducing the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington

As many of you know by now, Shepherd Parkway contains the earthwork remains of Fort Carroll (just north of where South Capitol Street crosses the parkway) and Ft. Grebel (just south of the rec center of the same name at the end of Elmira Street SW).

In the words of the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington:

"At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1860, Washington was a sleepy city of about 62,000 residents. Located south of the Mason-Dixon Line, entirely surrounded by the slave states of Maryland and Virginia, the Union capital was nearly unprotected with its only defensive fortification, Fort Washington,12 miles south. Washington was perilously vulnerable and realizing the potential danger the city faced, the Union army constructed additional fortifications for the city."

 "By 1865 the defenses of Washington included 68 forts, supported by 93 detached batteries for field guns, 20 miles of rifle pits, and covered ways, wooden blockhouses at three key points, 32 miles of military roads, several stockaded bridgeheads, and four picket stations. The defenseless city of 1860 had become one of the most heavily fortified cities of the world.

"Today, remnants of this complex system serve as windows into our nation's history. Not only did the Defenses serve their purpose well, deterring all but one Confederate attack on the capital which they repulsed, but they also impacted the city culturally, socially, and politically.  During the war, many enslaved people came to the fort system for safety and protection. They settled nearby, finding work at the forts and in Washington. Those settlements forever changed the cultural landscape of the city and became many of the neighborhoods that compose today's Washington."

Shepherd Parkway was purchased by the federal government and designated as parkland following the 1902 McMillan Commission plan for the District, which called for all of the land around the old fortifications to be linked in a grand "Fort Circle Park" surrounding the city. While DC the real estate boom of the 1920s and 30s made it difficult to acquire all of the necessary land to link the parks, the majority of the sites are protected park land.

Ward 3 has Battery Kimball, Fort Bayard and Fort Reno; Ward 4 has Ft. DeRussy (within Rock Creek Park) and the partially-restored Fort Stevens, the only fort in immediate DC area to see combat. Ward 5 has Forts Totten, Slocum, and Bunker Hill, among with extensive connectors.  Six forts east of the Anacostia River are linked by a seven mile hiker-biker trail that starts at Fort Stanton across from the Anacostia Community Museum and continues north to Fort Mahan, near the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station.

Shepherd Parkway, separated from Fort Stanton by  Suitland Parkway and the St. Elizabeths campus is a southern extension of this mighty greenway. Further south, in Prince George's County, Forts Washington and Foote parks tower over the Potomac. More forts abound in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia.    

In 2007, a group of of Civil War buffs, environmentalists, and neighborhood activists formed the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington to "stabilize, maintain, preserve, and interpret the Civil War Defenses of Washington for the benefit of Washingtonians and visitors to the District of Columbia – present and future."

Be sure to check out their website and upcoming events, including a July 12 reenactment of the Battle of Fort Stevens on its 150th anniversary.

20 Volunteers, 1,800 Pounds of Junk

Saturday, May 17 was perhaps the best day of 2014 thus far for Shepherd Parkway.

More than twenty volunteers put in over 60 hours of work. Ten were participating for the first time, and 13 were Congress Heights residents, including DC Council Candidate Eugene Puryear, Matt Murray, Michael Sharp, Ron Stevens, Larry Williams, Michael Brockridge, Pax Johnson, George Oakley, John Gloster, Tristan Dewar, and Erick Whitaker.  

After a year of focusing on the area just south of Malcolm X Avenue and west of Brother Place, we returned to the woods along 2nd Street north of Malcolm X Avenue, where we removed tens of thousands of pounds of trash in 2011 and 2012.  

While littering along the street and the edge of the woods continues to be a problem, we were pleased to find very little new dumping in the year since we last cleaned that area.  Most of what we collected was simply missed before, including about 30 tires surrounded by intense brambles. Nathan sacrificed his body to get them out and emerged bloodied but satisfied with his accomplishment.

In total, we removed 57 tires, 50 large bags full of trash with an average weight of 20 pounds each, and another pile of assorted debris. The estimated one-day total weight of junk removed from the park: 1,800 pounds.

Sam Collins, a reporter for the Washington Informer attended the clean-up, took pictures and interviewed Nathan. His article should appear in print and online any day.

 

Coast Guard Makes Earth Day Landfall

Shepherd Parkway has a new neighbor. In 2013, the United States Coast Guard became the first tenant to move into the historic West Campus of the former St. Elisabeths hospital. The campus will eventually house over 14,000 workers from all divisions of the Department of Homeland Security, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The northern end of Shepherd Parkway can be seen at top right of this artist's rendering of the coast Guard headquarters.


Less than a month after joining the Shepherd Parkway Committee, Lt. Comm. Jonathan Shafler, a veteran of the National Park Service and Fish and Willdlife Service, made good on his promise to get Coast Guard personnel involved in the restoration of Shepherd Parkway.  His crew of six made up in enthusiasm what they lacked in  numbers, netting over a thousand pounds of trash from behind Brothers Place.

Five days later, on April 26, 15 volunteers converged on the same area for the Community Clean-Up. In addition to bagging over a ton of junk, we pulled up several thousand blades of invasive mustard grass in full bloom, thereby preventing them from reproducing. Mustard grass out-competes natives species and forms dense colonies of foot-high ground cover. It' is a scourge on DC's forest, rivaled only to trash and English ivy.

Fall 2014 Clean-Up Dates Announced

Our next Community Clean-Up dates are Saturday, May 17 and Saturday, June 14 from 10 am to 1 pm.

We'll be taking July and August out of respect for the heat and humidity.  Mark your calendars now for our fall dates:

Saturday, September 13

Saturday, October 18

Saturday, November 8  

Through the end of 2014 we will continue to meet in the picnic area near the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues SE. After sign-in and introductions, we’ll be walking down to the alley behind Brothers Place. 

All Community Clean-Ups run from 10 am to 1 pm.

Harsh Winter Finally Yields to Spring

After a winter of near-record snow and cold, seasonable early spring whether has finally arrived in Washington. The Saturday, March 22 Community Clean-up drew more than 20 volunteers, most of them first-timers.

We worked once again in the woods behind Brothers Place SE, removing thousands of glass and plastic bottles, dozens of tires, and many large pieces of scrap metal.

The Shepherd Parkway Committee has an enthusiastic new member in Faheemah Davillier, who live on Oakwood Street, two blocks from the park. She explained her decision to get involved like this:

"I am an avid outdoors person and it saddens me that there is so much potential in Ward 8's backward that the community can enjoy, but has been misused and abused. I have been living in Congress Heights  for three years and to enjoy the outdoors I usually travel to VA, MD or other parts of DC. If I could enjoy the outdoors in my own backyard would be life changing," 

Also joining the clean-up and the committee is Lt. Comm. Jonathan Schafler, head of community outreach for the new U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters at the West Campus of St. Elizabeths, which borders Shepherd Parkway to the north. A veteran of the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Schafler brings valuable expertise and connections in park management. He has pledged to bring Coast Guard personnel to the park in the coming months.


 Mark your calendar for the upcoming Community Clean-Ups from 10 am to 1 pm on

Saturday, April 26
Saturday, May 17
Saturday, June 14

Our meeting location is still at the picnic tables near the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues SE. Gloves, bags and refreshments will be provided. Be sure to wear boots and clothes that can get dirty. High school students should bring the appropriate forms to earn community service hours.

Shepherd Parkway Featured in East of the River Magazine

This month's issue of East of the River, published by Capital Community News, features an article about our campaign by Charnice Milton, who interviewed Nathan Harrington and John Gloster and attended our January 18 Clean-Up.

Although slightly misquoted as always, we appreciate pick well-earned media attention. Pick up a copy at one of many locations in Ward 7 and 8, or read it online here.

http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/content/shepherd-park-clean-enters-third-year

In another positive development, Shepherd Parkway recently took a place of honor alongside Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, Marvin Gaye Park, Walter Pierce Park and the North Columbia Heights Green. That's right, we've got our very own section of the Washington Parks and People website! See for yourself:

http://www.washingtonparks.net/shepherd_parkway

Messiah College Students Are the Park's Latest Savior

On Saturday, February 1, 16 students from Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania took yet another bite out of the mountains of trash that despoil Shepherd Parkway. Despite lingering snow on the ground, they enjoyed the warmest day in weeks, with highs near 50.

The group, like so many others teams of motivated volunteers, found their way to Shepherd Parkway through the Steinbruck Center for Urban Studies at Luther Place Memorial Church in downtown Washington.

With park committee-chair and usual clean-up leader Nathan Harrington taking a break to visit family and friends in New York City, RonDell Pooler of Washington Parks and People stepped up to supervise the group as they removed dozens of tires and assorted junk from a gully and adjoining flat area near the quiet corner of Brothers Place and the aptly-named Highview Place SE.




Before skipping town, Harrington took advantage of gorgeous snow-days on February 21 and 22 to wield a pair of sharpened pruners against the English ivy which remained alive on about 20 trees in the area north of Malcolm X Avenue and another 25 in the area just south of said avenue. By spring, the vines will be dead from lack of water and unable to the produce the seed that allow them to colonize new areas. The majestic native oaks, beeches and poplars will be grow free and unencumbered once again, and the surrounding woods will be protected from Ivy League invasion.

Mark your calendars for the Winter and Spring Community Clean-Up Series:

Saturday, February 15
Saturday, March 22
Saturday, April 26

Saturday, May 17

Each of these events will run from 10 am to 1 pm. We meet at the picnic tables in the park near the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues SE. 

In addition, all are welcome to join one of the college groups that are being sent to us by the fabulous Steinbruck Center for Urban Studies. on the following dates:

Saturday, February 1

Sunday, February 23
Sunday, March 9
Tuesday, March 11
Sunday, March 16

The hours and meeting locations on these dates will vary but will all be either at the Congress Heights Metro station or at park locations within walking distance. Please RVSP to nbharrington@yahoo.com if you'd like to participate.

Starting 2014 with a Winter Blast

The 2014 phase of the epic Shepherd Parkway restoration campaign started with a bang today.

Three years, hundreds of volunteers, and millions of pounds of trash after we set out to clean-up the most neglected and polluted park in DC, I'm torn between awe at how much we've accomplished and humility about the amount of work that lays ahead. Many of those who have worked with us in those areas of the park that resembles landfills has felt, at least for a moment, that our task, however noble, is quixotic, futile.  Today was not one of those days.  

We were joined by more 20 volunteers from a church youth groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, 15 students from Sandy Spring Friends School, several AmeriCorps members and alumni, and Charnice Milton of East of the River magazine. Look for her story about us in the February issue. 

Between of the hours of 10:30 am and 1 pm, we filled a five ton trash compactor truck, and left enough to  half-fill another one that's coming on Tuesday. This does not include over 200 tires, which are loaded onto pick-up trucks later in the week for recycling. Our best estimate of the total weigh of trash we removed from the park today: 17,000 pounds. 

We were also joined by Albert Arevalo of the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiate at the Alice Furgusen Foundation, which promises to be productive new partner.

'Tis the Season to Clean-Up the Park

Most people think that winter is a time to curl up inside with books, football, movies, video games. Those who insist on staying active can be found at the gym.

But at the Shepherd Parkway Committee, we've found that the cold months hold definite advantages when it comes to our work. Without think ground-cover, the trash is easier to find. The lack of leaves on the trees reveals dramatic views across the city and makes it easier to find your way in the woods. Tics are less of a threat, and mosquitos, flies and bees
are non-existent. Most of us find it more comfortable to do manual labor at a cool 40 degrees than sticky 90-degrees.  

If you're convinced, be sure to join us for our next two clean-ups: Saturday, December 14 and Saturday, January 18.

Both days we'll be meeting at the picnic tables near the intersection of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues SE, six blocks east of the Congress Heights Metro Station.

Be sure to wear boots and warm clothes that can get dirty. Gloves, bags, water, and light refreshments will be provided.

On a sad note, a friend and I came across this injured buck during a recent hike through the park. We found him about 50 yards downhill from 2nd Street near the corner of Oakwood. Both of his hind legs were broken, most likely from being hit by a car, and he could not walk. He tried desperately to get away from us, but to no avail. Worried that he would take several weeks to starve to death if left there, we called the Park Police, who decided that the most humane things to do would be to shoot him so he could die quickly.  

With or Without the Park Service, the Clean-Up Continues

Like many parks in and around DC, Shepherd Parkway is officially closed, being under the jurisdiction of the shuttered National Park Service.   The chaos and paralysis on Capitol Hill a few miles to our north has furloughed our friends at National Capitol Parks-East who ordinarily provide bags, gloves, tools, and curb-side trash pickup for our clean-up events.

But that hasn't stopped many of our city's most downtrodden residents from taking refuse in the grassy area near the intersection of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues SE. It hasn't stopped the littering and dumping that have long plagued that park, and it hasn't stopped the English ivy from growing and smothering our precious trees. Congress has ceased to function, but life in the (Congress) Heights above goes on.

After careful consideration, we decided to go forward with our long-planned clean-up on Saturday, October 11. Eight dedicated volunteers braved drizzly weather and rain-soaked ground to converge on the steep, narrow strip of woods between Malcolm X Avenue and Parkland Place, which has been repeatedly cleaned over the past years, only to slowly fill up again with trash. Among our finds this time: a huge cache of 1800 tequila bottles, a bunch of rugs, bundles of newspapers, and a four foot tall teddy bear.

Studies have shown that  people are more likely to litter where they see litter already. We hope throughout faithfulness and  persistence to change the perception of Shepherd Parkway as "just some woods."

Please plan on preemptively burning those Thanksgiving calories by joining us on Saturday, November 16 from 10 to 1 pm. Our meeting location will once again be the picnic tables near the intersection of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Avenues.

Saving Our Trees from the Alien Invaders

English Ivy (Hedera helix) is flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to most of Europe and Middle East.

In the United States, it’s been prized for over two hundred years as an ornamental evergreen. The nation’s oldest and most prestigious universities, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton are called the Ivy League in reference to their stately ivy-covered buildings.   

But what looks nice in a garden or college campus can wreak havoc when it spreads to the woods. English ivy is now found in 32 states, and is one of the greatest threats to forests in DC.  Its sale and import is outlawed in the state of Oregon.  

Why is it so bad? According to our friends at the Rock Creek Conservancy:

• English ivy holds onto green leaves year-round, and it's heavy. It causes branches to break, and it even uproots whole trees when the wind blows or heavy snow accumulates.                                                                               
• English ivy attaches to the bark of the tree, which keeps the bark wet underneath. This rots the bark and attracts fungus and insects that cause tree decay.                                                   
• English ivy starves trees by taking nutrients and water from the soil that the trees need. When the vines grow out onto branches, the leaves block sunlight from reaching tree leaves on lower branches.                                                           
• English ivy is a "reservoir" for Bacterial Leaf Scorch (Xylella fastidiosa), a plant pathogen that is harmful to elms, oaks, maples and other native plants.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
• English ivy only flowers and makes berries once it grows up a tree or wall, and some birds, especially the non-native English sparrow will eat these berries, which are a bit toxic, and they spread the seeds all over parks and neighborhoods.                                                                                                                                     
• Invasive plants, such as English ivy, replace the native plants, eliminating food and habitat for the wildlife of the park.                                                                                                                                        
• Wildlife has adapted over millions of years to the delicate and specific ecosystem of the park that is now being radically and suddenly altered by these plant invaders.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

While our efforts to restore Shepherd Parkway have so far focused primarily on removing trash and debris, saving out trees from English ivy is equally urgent.

Fortunately, the vines get their water and nutrition from the soil, so cutting them off at the ground causes all of the upper branches to wither and die.  

In 2012 volunteers removed ivy from nearly 100 trees in the park north of Malcolm X Avenue, and in recent months we’ve been tackling the massive infestation just south of where South Capitol Street crosses the park.

Thousands of trees face illness and death if we don’t get to them in the next few years! Help us slay the alien invaders, just like in the movies.