Bloggin' About It

In 2011, when we began working intensively to restore Shepherd Parkway, the park was invisible on online. A web search for Shepherd Parkway turned up almost nothing.

In celebration of our growing web presence, we thought we’d share a few of the website and blogs that are helping spread the word.

Julie Kutruff, the dedicated and dynamic site supervisor for national parks in Wards 7 and 8, spearheaded the creation of an official NPS website for Shepherd Parkway, complete with a wildlife guide and historical photographs.

The Restore Shepherd Parkway Facebook Group has been replaced by a much more user-friendly “Like Page.” Click here to Like it now!

In the last two years, hundreds of volunteers have worked in the park, and many of them have shared their experience on the net. Here are three of my favorites:

Thurgood Marshall Academy: The Other 17 Hours

Theta Chi's Service Blog

James Madison University “Be the Change”

Perhaps most enlightening of all is the Shepherd Parkway Study Area Landscape Assessment Plan commissioned by the General Service Administration as part of the project to turn the West Campus of the old St. Elizabeths Hospital into the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

June is shaping up to be the best month Shepherd Parkway has seen in decades.

On Wednesday, June 19, 25 students from Crosslake Lutheran Church in Crosslake, Minnesota will be coming to us through the Steinbrook Center for Urban Studies. Anyone who is interested in joining should email Nathan at nbharrington@yahoo.com.

Saturday, June 22, will be our final Community Clean-Up of the spring season. As always, we will be meeting at 4th and Newcomb Street SE at 10 AM.

The United Planning Organization, whose Petey Greene Center is two blocks from Shepherd Parkway and hosts monthly meetings of the Congress Heights Community Association, has signed on a partner in our campaign. They'll be helping with direct outreach to Ward 8 residents to expand our base of support and awareness of Shepherd Parkway as a community asset.  

Finally, throughout the week of June 24-28 church youth groups from Texas will be hauling from the woods what trash and invasive are still left.

We'll be taking off July and August off before roaring back into action with monthly clean-ups from in September through December 2013.

All told, it is not unrealistic to imagine that the 40 acre area north of Malcolm X Avenue could be virtually free of trash by the end of 2013.  What began as the most polluted wooded area in DC is about to be pristine again.

One Tire at a Time

Saturday, March 23 marked the third Shepherd Parkway community clean-up in as many months.

Participants included a boisterous group from the Wild Bunch Sports Bike Club of Maryland,  and American University's Zeta Psi fraternity.

During the February clean-up, a huge pile of tires and trash bags was left at the bottom of the escarpment below LeBaum Street because it was too slippery to haul up. Fifteen volunteers formed a chain to move it all up to the street, while others pulled dozens of bags full of trash off the slope just to the north.  In total, we removed an estimated 200 tires and 300 bags of trash from the forest.

A small but enthusiastic group from University of Maryland rescued trees south of Malcolm X Avenue from invasive English Ivy. 

Spring has sprung, and Shepherd Parkway is growing healthier and more beautiful with every clean-up event. 

Mark your calendars now for our next best chance on Saturday, April 20 from 10 am to 1 pm. 

The job is immense but every little bit counts. We need you, and your friends.

Who Says DC Can’t Handle Snow?

We knew we were taking a risk when we decided to have community clean-ups in January and February, but the week leading up to January 26 was remarkable, with the longest run of freezing temperatures in DC in five years. The afternoon before the event saw the winter's first snow fall. The half an inch that accumulated was enough to closed area schools two hours early, but the ten volunteers who appeared at our new meeting location at the corner of 4th and Newcomb Streets SE were undeterred. Temperatures rose to near 40, the began to melt, and the forest smiled on us.

An intrepid group from University of Maryland saved more than thirty trees along the south side of Malcolm X Avenue from an infestation of English ivy, while three strapping young men hauled 30 tires up the hill.

On Saturday, February 23, we hope for even better weather and an even better turn out from our amazing volunteers.

2013 Community Clean-Up Dates Announced

The epic quest to restore the natural splendor Shepherd Parkway continues throughout 2013. By removing trash, debris, and invasive species from one of DC’s most unique wooded areas, we will be protecting our trees, wildlife and rivers and creating a new recreation destination in Ward 8.  Be a part of history!

Join us from 10 AM to 1 PM on:

Saturday, January 26

Saturday, February 23

Saturday, March 23

Saturday, April 20

Saturday, May 18

Saturday, June 22

Our new meeting location is the corner of 4th and Newcomb Streets SE, a few blocks north of the old location on Malcolm X Avenue. 

Gloves, bags, and a pizza lunch will be provided. 

Wear sturdy shoes and clothes you can get dirty.

For more information, please contact Nathan Harrington at nbharrington@yahoo.com or call 301-758-5892.