Your participation and generous contributions enable us to improve the health of the Northwest Branch.
Membership levels:
Salamander Saver - $20 (student)
Wood Frog Friend (and joint)- $35
Brook Trout Backer - $50
Kingfisher Keeper - $100
Great Blue Heron Hero - $250
ALL donations are appreciated!
Prefer a check? Send to P.O. Box 4314, Silver Spring, MD 20914. Thanks!
Is it safe for your kids to cool off in the Northwest Branch? What's going on with stream restorations? Who is now the MoCo Parks Volunteer Coordinator? Get some answers and an opportunity to ask questions!
WHAT: Contributing to the Collective: The Role of Montgomery Parks in the Monitoring and Protection of the Northwest Branch
WHERE: Zoom (Link will be on our listserv and NNWB notices.)
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 7:30 - 9 p.m.
WHO:
Please plan to join us on Feb. 2! For more information, click on the picture.
Dismayed by Ed Murtagh's video of largely street runoff litter, NNWB members Kem Morawski, Anne Ambler, and Scott Zillmer joined Ed in de-littering both sides of the NWB downstream of Colesville Rd. The action greatly improved, at least temporarily, this otherwise beautiful area. The cleanup was a spur-of-the-moment affair, not an official MoCo Parks cleanup, so we used our own equipment. Photo by Ed Murtagh, 1/6/21.
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On Tuesday, Dec. 1, Maryland Master Naturalist and science educator Paula Wang showed us what to look for in the winter forest. The program had an excellent virtual turnout of 32 people, who are now primed to observe the winter woods in a whole new way. If you would like to review the material, or you missed the program, please click the button below, which takes you to our Events page and a link to the video. To focus on any particular slide, just pause the video. The file is too large to post.
Saturday, Nov. 7, was a beautiful day for cleanups!
We hosted two cleanups, one starting at the end of the NWB Trail on Alderton Road, the other on the Lamberton Tributary of the NWB. In the age of COVID-19, our cleanups definitely have a new twist: participants had to sign up with MoCo Parks ahead of time and sign a waiver. And during the cleanup, they stayed masked and apart. Even our group pictures were affected! Many thanks to leaders Kristin Backert, Michael Evans, Laura Turbe, and Ed Murtagh and all who participated! It is always amazing how much trash we haul out of our parks!
November 14 was another beautiful day for a cleanup!
A small group tackled litter in several fallen tree dams and on the banks, and extracted a radiator and a tire from the stream bed. A productive morning! But the big takeaway was that the trash mixed with the leaves and mud in those partial dams was less than expected. And that's good!
Click on the button below for a gallery of pictures from the Oct. 31 W. Hyattsville and Nov. 7 Alderton sites, a gallery from the Nov. 14 Kemp Mill site, and a video from the Nov. 7 Lamberton site.
(Pictured is the Northwest Branch at the monitoring site.) The water quality monitoring results for the most recent testing, on 9/16/20, are also posted there.
With so many things closed, and people working at home, the parks have become extremely important for getting the exercise we need to stay healthy. The NWB trails map now includes some new trails between Colesville Rd. and the Prince George's line. (Click on the picture to link to the trails map via the Montgomery Parks site.) Information about park road closures to provide yet more space to walk and bike is provided here. Enjoy, and stay safely away from everyone else! And please carry your trash and recyclables to the cans now at trailheads. The trash is unsightly, unhealthy, and is a danger to wildlife.
Wetlands trail in Magruder Park, NWB