We continued to grow as an organization, gaining members and taking on new tasks. Our Stormwater Committee expanded its collaborative work to the City of Takoma Park and our RIP Project made some major dents in the Park¿s invasive plant situation. We built raingardens and continued water monitoring. We expanded our outreach capabilities with enhanced Outreach and Education and Advocacy committees.
Program Meetings
January 18 The State of the Creek: Water Quality. We reported on recent and future efforts by government, Friends and others. Ed Murtagh, chair of the Stormwater Committee, talked about Stormwater; Michael Smith, chair of the Water Quality Committee, talked about the water quality testing he is doing; and David Novello talked about the WSSC suit in which Friends is acting as intervenor.
March 15 Aliens in Sligo: What Invasive Plants Look Like and How We Can Save the Park. Program was led by Rhonda Kranz and Sally Gagné, who used slides to describe the invasives problem, giving garlic mustard as an example. They also describe plans for RIP, the Removing Invasive Plants Project.
May 17 Conservation Landscaping: planting natives, saving water; reducing pesticide use, increasing wildlife habitat. Landscape architect and member, Jenny Reed, and Lauren Wheeler discussed Conservation Landscaping, telling us how to make our yards and neighborhoods friendly to wildlife and the creek, as well as attractive.
September 20 Water Quality: A hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Tim Cohn described their stream monitoring gage system and its relevance to Sligo Creek
November 15 Fish in Sligo: Susan Flanders Cushman a U of M doctoral candidate in fish ecology, talked about her research. She is studying fish populations and conditions in Sligo Creek.
Walks and Other Outdoor Learning
FrogWatch USA.
Michael Wilpers, Natural History Chair, and Karen Nelson, expert in the field and also a member, conducted two orientation sessions¿March 7th and 12th. Attendees learned what to listen for and chose a listening site. Participants will listen at least once every two weeks and reported findings to Michael.
RIP Training Sessions: Many Friends members signed up to learn invasive plants well enough to teach newcomers who come to spring events. Several training sessions on recognizing and removing shrubs and vines were held in Feb and March.
Weed Warrior training: On Saturday, May 14, 13 new warriors were trained in a special session held just for our group.
September 29, Michael Smith led a YMCA Youth and Family Services leader, two assistants and three youths on a field trip to the Northwest Branch where they sampled for macro invertebrates and investigated other wildlife of the creek.
September 11 and 18, Sally held training sessions in shrub identification.
For nine weekends starting in October, RIP held a shrub removal event each weekend in most sections of the Park. Earlier RIP events focused on garlic mustard and mile-a-minute. RIP also notified the Park about sites where recent difficult invasives were starting to grow.
Work Events Outdoors!
February 6 RIP event: Invasive Vine cutting in Section 14. Attendees concentrated on cutting vines from the trees in the area of the Flora Lane Tributary. Organized by Chris Swarth.
February 19 trash and RIP vine cleanup in Section 1, organized by Susan Solarz. Friends, along with the Hillwood Manor Residents Association cleared kudzu and English Ivy along a 200 yard stretch of park. They were joined by Takoma Park Councilman Doug Barry (and daughter) for the event. In addition to clearing invasives, the group picked up so much trash along Sligo Creek that Montgomery County needed to make two trips to pick it all up.
March 12th RIP event: Removing Invasive English Ivy and Multiflora Rose (and trash) from Takoma Woods. Organized by Richard Payne.
March 19th Biodiversity assessment and trash pickup in Section 1. Friends of Sligo Creek worked with students from American University on a restoration project in Prince Georges County. In the morning, students from an AU biology class collected information about the biodiversity of plants. Then, from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm they and Friends picked up trash. Organized by Susan Solarz.
April 2 Susan Solarz¿ American University students and Friends of Sligo removed invasive plants and planted native grasses in Section 1.
April Trash Clean-ups. We estimate we removed well over 7,000 pounds of trash/litter and a lot of bulky items like tires, a/c units and lawn equipment.
April 2 despite official cancellation due to threats of flooding several Friends participated in the 17th Annual Alice Ferguson Foundation Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup. They removed many bags of trash, much of it from Sections 6 and 10.
April 10 Potomac River Watershed Cleanup events in Section 9 and in Section 8. The Beth Chai sent 25 volunteers to Section 8!
April16 Friends participated in the Anacostia Watershed Society Anacostia Clean Up Day with two sites in Sligo: Sections 2 and 4
Section 7 Clean-up event was held May 7
April 9 Friends and others in the Green Landscaping Partnership began building a raingarden and creating native landscaping at Eastern Middle School: digging up turf, hauling loads of dirt.
April 16 Friends and others in the Green Landscaping Partnership continued work on building a raingarden and creating native landscaping at Eastern Middle School. This event included planting natives. Friends also distributed many informational handouts.
May RIP events: we began attacking garlic mustard with 13 weekend events¿staging pulls in most sections.
May 7, in cooperation with COG, and with the help of Park and Planning and some U of Colorado alums, we planted 200 trees about ½ mile below Dennis Avenue. COG drilled the holes; we helped plant.
June RIP events: we continued pulling garlic mustard with 10 events.
June 4, Michael Smith invited Friends of Sligo to help sample water for macroinvertebrates in three locations along the creek.
June 25, RIP event: we launched Mile-a-minute mania with a morning event. It was well attended and much was accomplished. Many more RIP Mile-a-minute events followed. In July we held 6 more Mile-a-minute events. In August, many more.
August 6, Weeding event at the American Elm Park raingarden.
September 2, RIP event: we attacked a new invasive to Sligo, Water Primrose.
September 17, Friends and representatives of M-NCPPC sponsored a group planting at Long Branch/East Wayne Local Park surface sand filtration system
Sweep was held on September 24, drawing over 250 volunteers and picking up tons of trash.
The entire months of October and November and the early part of December, RIP events were held each Saturday and Sunday, covering about 8 sections each week.
October 29 tree planting with COG and M-NCPPC. 200 trees planted.
Raingarden in Takoma Park: November 5 and 11, Friends of Sligo Creek and residents of the Forest Park neighborhood in Takoma Park constructed and planted a raingarden. The project is a collaborative one between the City of Takoma Park, which provided funding and Friends, who coordinated the work and workers. Another raingarden is planned for the same park in the spring. (Montgomery County DEP is provided educational signage.)
Celebrations!
February 26 we held pot luck dinner (prepared by the Board) to honor the Sligo Stewards. Dinner was followed by a brief business meeting.
Two board members joined Susan Solarz and her students at the American University for a celebration of class accomplishments in 2005.
April 23 RIP Launch. To celebrate Earth Day we officially launched the RIP program with speakers, children's activities, nature walks, music, and a "Big Pull" of porcelain berry. Over 90 people participated and many political office-holders attended and spoke, including officials representing Takoma Park, Montgomery County, State Senate and U. S. Congress.
We held our second annual membership and community picnic June 26 in the park. A large crowd came and enjoyed the music, commeraderie, and good food.
Organizational Accomplishments
First full year of the RIP (Removing Invasive Plants) program. Planning began in 2004.
January 25 open meeting to discuss the Implementation Plan. Attendees asked questions, and made suggestions on the Plan.
Also in January, Jane Curtin put together a list of citizen¿s associations to be used for outreach to the community.
Using CBF grant money awarded in late 2004, we hired a paid coordinator in March: Lea Bonfiglio, a Master¿s candidate at American University.
Many work events and training sessions, described above.
Grants received
March 14, 2005, Chesapeake Bay Trust. $1,995.00 for partial professional landscape design, rototilling, soil and mulch, native plants and trees, and delivery for a raingarden at Eastern Middle School.
Added many new features to the web site.
Published monthly newsletter with a circulation of over 800.
Expanded Water Quality Monitoring by Michael Smith¿s Water Quality Committee
Continued weekly water monitoring at three sites in the Sligo mainstem, Wheaton Branch and Takoma Branch. Tested for temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, nitrate and phosphate.
Worked toward establishing Sligo Creek as an officially monitored Audubon Naturalist Society site by attending training sessions in macroinvertebrate monitoring with Audubon, working with Audubon team in Paint Branch, and holding a meeting for Friends on macroinvertebrate monitoring.
Attended classroom training by Maryland DNR on their Stream Corridor Assessment Survey and a meeting of Potomac Riverkeepers to look at their monitoring methods and plans
Held a training session for NNWB and Friends on chemical monitoring procedures and invited members to join in monitoring.
Continued to improve the water monitoring web page.
A new Chair reinvigorated our Outreach and Education Committee.
Our various activities received good press coverage this year.
An article about raingardens submitted by Alison Gillespie was printed in the Washington Gardener.
Established an Advocacy Committee.
Collaborations
The Stormwater Committee established for Friends a Green Landscaping Partnership with three other organizations to implement green landscaping and a raingarden at the Eastern Middle School. Other partners are Neighbors of Northwest Branch, the Eastern Middle School PTSA and the Anacostia Watershed Society. In February, the four organizations signed a Letter of Intent describing tasks of each. Received a grant from CBT (see events and Grants received above)
We worked with the Montgomery County Public Schools to support construction of a demonstration green roof at Northwood High School and improvements at the Arcola Elementary and Eastern Middle Schools.
During the summer the Stormwater Committee began working with the city of Takoma Park to find a site for a demonstration raingarden on city property. Durig the fall, members of the committee, neighbors and the City of Takoma Park built a garden at Forest Park. (See work events in November)
Worked with Susan Solarz¿ American University, Department of Biology students on the Sligo Creek Restoration Project. Students and volunteers removed invasives, planted natives and evaluated results.
In the fall, the Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) and Friends of Sligo Creek installed a "litter skimmer" just upstream of the Wheaton Branch Stormwater Ponds. This inexpensive skimmer is the first of what we hope will be many "litter skimmers" around various locations in the Sligo Creek watershed, and part of a larger effort of the IWLA to install skimmers throughout Montgomery County.
Advocacy and Civic Participation
Jill Mullins attended meetings and hearings to keep us abreast of transportation issues that have an impact on the watershed.
January 12 public hearing on the Draft Environmental assessment for the Silver Spring Transit Center, which will be part of the BiCounty Connector.
January 25 Park and Planning Trail Connector meeting to look at preliminary plans for some potential trail ¿improvements.¿ She will continue to watch any that are planned for Sligo.
February 23 meeting organized by The Indian Spring Citizens Association (ISCA) at which the State Highway Administration (SHA), the County Planning Board staff and the Inner Purple Line Coalition to discuss a beltway widening project.
August 9 meeting of the Action Committee for Transit (ACT) where they discussed an update on the new transportation bill and its impact on the Purple Line.
January 4 Friends signed a letter to Michael Madden, Maryland Transit Administration, urging MTA to support an outcome for the BiCounty Transitway (formerly the Purple Line) that will cause as little damage as possible to the Sligo Creek watershed.
February 4, several members attended a meeting, along with residents and a representative from Sierra Club, with Councilmember Silverman to discuss a proposed development in the Woodside Hills area. The development would drain into Sligo Creek and exacerbate an already bad Stormwater drainage situation. Caron Madsen organized the meeting. (In 2004 we had a similar meeting with Councilmember Perez.).
Continued our participation, as intervenors, with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the AWS, and the Audubon Naturalist Society in pursuing a suit against the WSSC for violations of the Clean Water Act. The case was settled and Ann Hoffnar represented us at a press conference announcing the agreement, July 7.
Friends contributed memberships and other gifts to two silent auctions one by Blair High School to support PTA work and the other Takoma Park to support the new community building.
Staffed a table at the Takoma Park Arbor Day celebration, and the Folk and Street Festivals, giving out information about Friends.
April 29, sent letter to Montgomery County Council and Executive stating the urgency we feel about the Parks maintenance budget.
On May 2, Bruce represented us and spoke briefly at an event sponsored by the Coalition to Return Trash Cans to Our Parks. Held at the County Office Building, the event emphasized public concern for bringing back all the trash cans. Both Duncan and Perez also spoke. The event included a photo-op with group and about 30 bags of trash taken from a county creek.
May 16, we sent a letter to EPA in support of a grant proposal from AWS and other environmental organizations. The grant was not awarded.
On June 24, we sent a letter to Derick Berlage commenting on the 2005 Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan, emphasizing the need for better maintenance of existing parks.
On June 29, we sent a letter to Candy Bunnag, M-NCPPC, asking for a public hearing on the Forest Conservation Plan for the Kermit development. M-NCPPC agreed to hold a public meeting and Ed Murtagh, Caren Madsen and Alison Gillespie attended for Friends of Sligo.
July 11, Bruce represented us at a walk in the park with Berlage organized by Heather Mizeur, Takoma Park City Councilwoman. He then sent Heather an email focusing on paved/people¿s trails in the park.
Ed Murtagh and Kathy Michels attended a July 25th meeting with several other people and organizations to talk about permitting and other Montgomery County issues. The group is considering becoming an ¿accountability coalition.¿
On September 13, Sally testified on our behalf at the County Council Budget Hearing. She talked about the maintenance budget and the need for more work on invasive plants.
September 30, we sent a letter to Berlage and counsel, drafted by the Stormwater Committee and co-signed with Jim Fary of the Sierra Club, commenting on the Forest Conservation Law. The hearing on the Law was held October 11.
Monday October 10, several people interested in advocacy issues met with Blair Ewing, former Councilman, to discuss next steps.
Also Monday Oct 10, Jim Baird represented us at the MCWQAG meeting, spoke for a few minutes and reported that they find us ¿dazzling.¿
October 20, Sally Gagné, Michael Pollock, Barbara Francisco and Ann Hoffnar spoke about the need for greater maintenance in the parks at the P&P Budget Forum on the 2007 Proposed Operating Budget.
November 4, Jim Baird, Ann Hoffnar, and others sent comments individually to Rick Brush and David Kuykendall of MC Department of Permitting Services on the Stormwater Management Concept Plan for Woodside Hills, Kermit Road proposal.
November 4, letter to Berlage, commenting on the Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan (LPPRP), following up on original set of comments sent June 20th.
November 16, Ann Hoffnar, Mike Smith and Jenny Reed attended a one-day Urban Nutrient Management Forum, presented by the Middle Potomac Tributary Team
¿From Our Backyards to the Bay¿
On November 29, Caren Madsen, new Advocacy Chair, testified before the Montgomery County Council at a hearing on Strengthening the County Planning and Zoning Process
Also on November 29 Ed Murtagh spoke for us at the first public hearing on the Montgomery County NPDES Stormwater Permit. The set of suggested changes from which Ed worked were drafted by Diane Cameron and supported by NRDC, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Audubon Naturalist Society, and the Anacostia Watershed Society. (A group, including representatives of Friends of Sligo, interested in working on this draft met December 20 at the Audubon Naturalist Society¿s Woodend facility.)
November 30, led by Caren Madsen, Friends of Sligo members, along with members of other organizations held a brainstorming session to discuss changes needed in the County Forest Conservation Law. The group hopes to development amendments to the law to be suggested to the County.
December 8, Friends of Sligo Creek signed a ¿Citizen¿s Call for an Accountable Land-Use Planning Process in Montgomery County.¿ Drawing on the mistakes of Clarksburg, the call asks for consistency and predictability, transparency and several other principles. Over 14 organizations signed as well as many individuals.
Three members participated, along with many other activists and environmental groups, in a public meeting sponsored by Councilmember Nancy Floreen, held December 10th. The forum addressed accountability in a post-Clarksburg World.
December 14 Friends of Sligo sent a letter to Berlage regarding ¿What We Have Learned Since Clarksburg¿¿ with comments and suggestions.
