Your Piece of the Planet

Parkland for Plants, People and Wildlife

When: Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 pm
Where: Bull Run Unitarian Church, Bull Run Unitarian Universalist Church, 9350 Main Street, Manassas

Speaker: Charles Smith, Fairfax County Park Authority Natural Resource Specialist & PW Wildflower Society

The Virginia Dept. of Conservation and Recreation has recognized the significance of the globally rare Upland Depression Swamp and Basic Oak-Hickory Forest at Silver Lake.

Given that this site is public land, protecting these resources would seem to be an easy task. But that’s not the case at Silver Lake, where globally rare natural areas were identified only after the fact  -  after the County accepted the property and, more importantly, after the County drew the borders of the middle school site in an area that includes both resources.

If these important resources had been identified in a timely manner, it would have been easy to locate the school site in an area that left globally rare natural areas on the parkland portion of Silver Lake, where they could have been protected.

The good news is that School Board members, working with the Park Authority, are making their best effort to protect these important natural areas. Although the outcome is still not certain, there are good opportunities for success. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the Washington Business Journal, it will cost $15 billion to redevelop Tysons Corner.  That includes increasing housing from 17,000 to 100,000 people, adding a $5.2 billion Metrorail Silver Line, and a few other “minor” details.

If you think extending Route 234 to create a new commuter road west of Dulles Airport will somehow attract office jobs to Gainesville… you are ignoring reality.  Companies that expand/build along the Silver Line will be connected directly to both DC/Dulles by Metrorail, as well by major highways.

If you think Prince William can pry state/Federal dollars away from the never-ending redevelopment of Tysons Corner in Fairfax, and get other taxpayers to fund a Metro extension to a shopping center near Woodbridge as a national priority… you’re delusional.  We don’t even have a business community that would endorse a tax district to finance the local share of any Metro extension to Prince William.

Prince William will never be closer to Dulles, Tysons, or DC than other jurisdictions competing for government contractors to build satellite office buildings.  Loudoun and Fairfax will always be closer.

How will Prince William compete?  Will we simply tell companies “Land in Prince William costs less – move to a cheap county”?
Read the rest of this entry »

It was interesting to hear Martin Briley’s comment at the “business community” meeting with the Board of County Supervisors last Thursday, October 21.  He had gotten out of balance with his sales pitch to government contractors that might create jobs in Prince William.

Briley had stopped highlighting the “quality of life” aspects of the county.  However, in discussions with corporate executives, they kept focusing on the environment, the culture, and the “livability” of the county.  (It’s back in his pitch.)

What would happen if the Board of County Supervisors reject basic environmental protections, and give developers 100% flexibility for their version of “AAA” growth – where developers can build Anything, Anywhere, at Any Time?
Read the rest of this entry »

Prince William is currently undergoing a debate, the outcome of which will decide the future appearance and direction of our County. The County’s Comprehensive Plan is in the process of being updated, and there are strong feelings from many quarters about what should be in that plan.

There are two major factions driving the discussion. On one side are the folks that represent the development community, basically builders, bankers, professionals such as surveyors and environmental consultants, and realtors – all the folks who make a living from land development.

The other stakeholder group is the citizen community – the civic associations, community groups, and individual residents who want to influence how their community looks and feels in the future.

This is the same old tug of war that happens across the country in areas lucky enough to have the kind of employment opportunities that attract people to live. The development community wants to maximize their short-term profits to satisfy their business (quarterly report) needs, and this can conflict with community wants and needs. Read the rest of this entry »

The annual wintering grounds of the monarch butterflies are clearly recognized as a valuable natural asset to Mexico. A rare forest provides the protection needed for the butterflies who migrate from North America, including some which fly from Prince William County to go south of the border.  The pattern of trees in that forest creates a microclimate that is warm enough for “our” butterflies who made the journey, and keep them from freezing to death until the cycle begins next spring.

Mexico is actively managing the monarch wintering site now, protecting it from loggers who were cutting holes in the forest pattern and altering the microclimate.  However, now Mexico is selectively removing trees infected with bark beetles, before those insects spread and result in the death of the entire forest.  The forest is an actively-managed wildlife refuge, not a wilderness area where nature takes its course.

You can read more in the October 21 issue of the Christian Science Monitor.

While going through my computer looking for a picture, I came across one of my favorite Silt Fence Photos. This one, taken in March 2005, is from the South Market development site, on the west side of Route 15 south of Haymarket.

This particular silt fence was installed along the edge of a road project in an area that was not identified as a Jurisdictional Wetland, which means no wetland permits or mitigation were required.

These inexpensive, plastic fences are the most common erosion control seen at local development sites, regardless of site conditions. The one shown in the photo isn’t doing much of anything but, even when they’re correctly installed and in the right place, silt fences have limited value.
Read the rest of this entry »

When planning to develop in natural areas, it always pays to look before you leap. Otherwise important resources could be accidentally lost.

With this in mind, the Prince William Wildflower Society (PWWS) offered their expertise to survey plants and plant communities at Silver Lake before work to develop the park begins. In early September PWWS member Charles Smith completed a preliminary assessment of the property and found two very special plant communities – an upland depression swamp and basic oak-hickory forest.

Following Mr. Smith’s discovery, a Virginia Dept. of Conservation and Recreation expert visited Silver Lake and verified the presence of these unique plant communities. According to their review, the depression swamp is considered globally imperiled (G2 ranking), and the one found at Silver Lake is a large, mature, high-quality occurrence. Read the rest of this entry »

For decades, Federal, state, and local officials have promised to “Save the Chesapeake Bay.”  Six months ago, the latest president signed yet another Executive Order to determine what to do.

Maybe we’ll see more studies-on-a-shelf and more hand-wringing.  Maybe we’ll see another delaying exercise that avoids the tough, expensive decisions that are required, if we expect to have any real impact.  Maybe we’ll see yet another list of “specific programs and strategies to be implemented’ – someday, far far in the future.

Then officials at all levels can say we’re working on it, while we continue business as usual.  If so, everyone can keep poisoning the bay gradually, with excessive sediment carried by urban/suburban stormwater, agricultural runoff loaded with excessive phosphorous, and so much wastewater that even the small amount of permitted nitrogen will still fertilize algal blooms.

Or maybe, just maybe, there’s a recognition now that we’ve reached the limit;  our streams and the bay can’t absorb more pollution without degrading significantly.  After we see the Federal agency reports due on September 9, we’ll have a clue about this Administration’s Executive Order will make a difference.  When we see the regulations adopted and the money appropriated to implement the policies, we’ll know if times have changed.

Maybe Lucy won’t pull the ball away.  Maybe Charlie Brown gets to kick it this year, and we see action strategies that gore oxen, upset various interest groups, and trigger changes in the same ‘ol-same ‘ol business as usual.  If the reports based on the Executive Order have substance, then we can start to play ball on cleaning up the streams in Prince William and every other jurisdiction, and start to restore the health of the Potomac River and the Bay.

In the bad ol’ days, the litany was “the solution to pollution is dilution.”  We could pour all sorts of dirty gunk into the air or water, so long as there was enough clean air/clean water to dilute the gunk before someone breathed or drank it.

Now, of course, we’ve overloaded the air with tailpipe emissions, mercury from coal-fired power plants, and dust particles from land disturbance.  The once-clear vistas from the Blue Ridge are obscured except after a rainstorm.  Natural streambeds have been excavated by surges of stormwater running off pavement.  The Potomac River is poisoned a little more after each rain by sediment/chemicals carried into the tributaries.  We have reached the “total maximum daily load” of pollution that natural systems can absorb.

So what do we do about it?

Read the rest of this entry »

Large National Forests are located in the mountains of Virginia, and of course in the Western states (where wildfires generate spectacular video on the evening news every August/September…)

In urbanizing Northern Virginia, it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of our tiny percentage of the 700+ million acres of forested land in the United States.  The State of Chesapeake Forests report says the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been converting 100 acres of forest each day, on average, since the 1980’s.  (It also notes that “Private owners, particularly families, hold nearly 80% of Chesapeake forests.”)

While some forests have been cleared for pasture, the major impact has been conversion of tree-filled acres into tree-sparse subdivisions.

You may have noticed some of that conversion in Prince William, over the last 20 years… but what can we do about it? Read the rest of this entry »