Restoring our Native Ecosystems
We hope you’ve been having a great summer. We’ll kick off our 2024 fall season in September with two outings. Sign up now using the below links:
Cabin John, Friday, September 13, 10am-noon. We’ll return to Cabin John near MacArthur Boulevard to continue our progress saving trees and natural habitat. We’ll meet at 10am in front of the Clara Barton Community Center in Cabin John. Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0549A4A92EA0F94-50918028-cabin
Mohican Pool, Saturday, September 28, 1-3pm. This is a rescheduled outing owing to inclement weather earlier in the summer. We’ll remove English ivy and other invasive plants from trees inside the fence of the pool that threaten to spill over into neighboring public and private lands. We’ll meet at 1pm by the stairs to the pool entrance. Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0549A4A92EA0F94-50579454-mohican
For more information, or to join our mailing list, send email to: avanti7700@verizon.net
Tree Friends United is a group of citizens centered in the Glen Echo, MD area who are concerned with the accelerating spread of invasive species overwhelming Montgomery County's parklands, roads, and neighborhoods. As volunteers, we assist the National Park Service (NPS), the county, and residents to remove vines smothering trees and other invasive species. As advocates, we are allied with other groups to we seek broader public awareness of the growing problem, achieve better funding, and establish coordinated action to counter the invasives. Further, we seek changes in park service policies to actively engage our communities to maintain the ecological vibrancy of our public lands.
Without decisive action, the future of our parklands is well represented by the photo above of the immense spread of kudzu on NPS land near historic Glen Echo Park. Like a growing cancer, the kudzu's relentless expansion has flattened many acres of tall trees. It is now extending its devastation across the C&O Canal towards the Potomac River. On the Virginia side, large kudzu patches have now appeared on NPS's formerly scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway and are moving to destroy the currently vibrant ecosystem along the river.
Allowing invasive vines to kill our communities' trees and the expanding deterioration of our parklands is not acceptable. It can be solved. Ignoring the problems allows them to exponentially increase. But it takes community action and support to reverse the course. We count on you help restore our trees, ecosystems, and make our voices heard!