Take Action: Tell DC Mayor Bowser to Get Plastic Bottles Out of Our Water!

Plastic bottles are everywhere. They’re strewn across the streets of our neighborhoods, filling up gutters and alleyways. They’re all over the city’s parks and green spaces, and make it difficult to enjoy nature. Perhaps most visibly, they fill up our waterways, the end point for a large portion of litter.… Continue reading

“Green Streets” keep streams and rivers safe. So why are some communities rejecting them?

Check out my June 1 guest post on Greater Greater Washington: Maybe you’ve noticed: the Washington region is pretty wet. All that precipitation can become contaminated when it hits the ground, so communities need to prevent that polluted water from ending up in our streams and rivers. One way local jurisdictions… Continue reading

A question for 2018 Candidates for Montgomery County Council

Dear Candidates for County Council, With back to back storm events breaking rainfall records, and flood waters rising across the state from Ellicott City to Bethesda, now is not the time to reverse progress on stormwater management. Yet, for the first time in 33 years, County Executive Isiah Leggett issued… Continue reading

Dear Executive Leggett: Please Don’t Veto the Stormwater Program

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has threatened a line-item veto of the stormwater capital budget in the now-approved Council budget package. Read more about the history of this issue by clicking here. The clock is now ticking–if Mr. Leggett chooses to veto the program, he has 10 business days since… Continue reading

Take Action: Protect Montgomery County’s Clean Water Program One Last Time!

Good news! The Montgomery County Council upheld its vote on the stormwater management program included in the budget that was approved by Council today. This Council decision enables the continuation of stormwater management projects that were suspended, prioritizes green infrastructure, and prevents the Executive from bundling these projects into a single… Continue reading

An update on stormwater in Montgomery County

If you’ve been following along, you know that several months ago, Executive Ike Leggett proposed to dramatically cut and restructure the stormwater management program at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Montgomery County. Since then, the environmental community and Council members have been working to better understand the proposals… Continue reading

ANS testimony on Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Richmond Highway Road Widening Designs

On January 25, 2018, ANS Northern VA Advocacy Manager Monica Billger delivered testimony regarding the Fairfax Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Through the amendment, Fairfax County has the opportunity to redevelop the historic Route 1 corridor in such a way that mitigates socioeconomic inequities and enhances the natural green space.… Continue reading

Conservation Policy & Advocacy News Around the Region: Fall 2017 Edition

Check out some of the big news, success stories, and advocacy efforts of your ANS staff and volunteers over the last few months… National The attacks of the Trump Administration and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on environmental protections continue. In July, Pruitt formally began the process of rolling back the… Continue reading

Take Action: Green Streets for Clean Water!

ANS and our partner environmental and watershed organizations in Montgomery County strongly support the county’s programs to manage polluted runoff (stormwater) off our paved surfaces. Polluted runoff is the most significant threat to water quality in our streams and creeks, and the only growing source of pollution to the Chesapeake… Continue reading