ANS comments in support of closing Rock Creek Park’s Upper Beach Drive to cars

Beginning in April 2020 with the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the National Park Service extended the typical weekend-only car closures of portions of Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park to the weekdays as well. The closures provided DC and Montgomery County residents with a wonderful new, safe, urban oasis… Continue reading

ANS Testifies at DC Council Performance Oversight Hearings

It seems like just yesterday that we were in the middle of last year’s budget process in Washington, DC. Once again we find ourselves balancing our city-wide checkbook, but this time in preparation for the 2022 fiscal year. Before DC’s proposed budget is released though, the DC Council holds performance… Continue reading

Facing Rock Creek Park’s Dark Origins by Blazing New, More Inclusive Trails

This article was published in our Autumn 2020 Naturalist Quarterly special edition, “Healing Our Land – The Election Issue.” Please visit www.anshome.org/naturalist-quarterly to see the rest of the stories in the issue.   Rock Creek has been a “wild home” for many of us, given the challenges we’ve all faced… Continue reading

A Tale of Two Sewer Systems in Washington DC

Since my last post we’ve been able continue the DC Water Quality Monitoring Program with volunteers! I had also briefly explained the differences between a combined sewer system (CSS) and a separate sewer system (MS4) and how they can both contribute bacteria to our waterways in that post. But how… Continue reading

When it Rains, it Smells

When it rains there are several things you might smell. One is ozone, which is sharp and has a sort of fresh aroma. Another is known as petrichor, which is that distinctly pleasant earthy scent you smell when it rains on dry soil. Now, If you’ve ever walked some of… Continue reading

ANS Weighs In on Rock Creek Park Nature Center Development Plan

Since 2016, the National Park Service has been circulating plans for redeveloping the Rock Creek Park Nature Center Complex. The first draft of these plans included alternatives that would double the footprint of buildings in the Complex, which would have been disastrous to wildlife surrounding the Nature Center. In 2017,… Continue reading

Action Alert: Comment on the Rock Creek Park Nature Center Complex Concept Plan by December 15

Here’s another opportunity for you to provide input to the National Park Service on the Concept Plan for redeveloping the Rock Creek Park Nature Center Complex. Several alternatives are being considered and earlier versions of the Plan were modified based on public input. Learn about the alternatives and submit your… Continue reading

Conservation Policy & Advocacy News Around the Region: Winter 2017 edition

Maryland More Trees Please!: Maryland’s Forest Conservation Act is a wonderful law, but it has some pretty big loopholes that mean that when developers cut down trees in big tracts of intact forests, sometimes they only have to replant back ¼ as many as were lost (or less!). ANS will… Continue reading