January Tree Planting: The Buffer Brigade showed up in early January to plant scarlet oaks in the upper portions of Curtis. Chrissa has done an amazing job of tracking all the planted trees: when and where they were planted, and keeping them labeled so that we can follow their progress and learn from what does and does not do well.

Clearing at Curtis continues: Given the invasive strangulation of vines and multiflora roses that once was killing the Rock Creek Buffer trees, it was a tremendous mark of progress that the Buffer Brigade turned its attention to the hillside above the dog park and along the parking lot. This new effort was possible because so much clearing and invasive removal had been completed along both sides of Rock Creek. This new initiative should take many months but will rescue the beleaguered trees and bushes along the parking lot hillside. It will also open up the area for additional native shrub and tree plantings in the spring. We expect a significant infusion of new labor, when the current Master Watershed Steward class graduates this spring. Each graduate will need to complete 50 hours of volunteer work their first year. We hope the Curtis project intrigues and draws in a number of them. Our own Ed Vanderloop is among the new trainees.

Monitoring Rock Creek: Chrissa and Geoffrey completed the monthly monitoring and chloride measurements. During the monitoring day, we noticed significant bank collapse in the upper section of Rock Creek in the arboretum, as well as excessive muddiness in the feeder creek from the parking lot. In the photo below, note the muddiness and the backed-up water just below the parking lot. We were concerned about the conditions that caused this.

Winter Salt Watch: The January salt readings were also high—as in past months. We have communicated this data with the Izaak Walton League, who manages Winter Salt Watch, and they report that many of the mid-Atlantic states are experiencing high chloride levels, even though the roads have not been salted for a long time. We hope FOCA will find ways to address this in the community.
Keystone Ten Million Tree initiative of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation: In late March, the Buffer Brigade will be receiving 500 FREE understory bushes from the Keystone program. These will be interplanted around the trees we’ve already planted, to try to restart the forest understory and provide native plant competition for the invasive species. FOCA is now an OFFICIAL PARTNER of the Keystone Ten Million project!! This means we will be able to easily order trees and bushes in the future (the program is set to run through 2025). Included with the bushes will be high quality tree tubes and stakes, so that deer protection will be built into the planting. Donna and Wes have MOST GRACIOUSLY AGREED to receive the seedling trees and tubes/stakes earmarked not only for FOCA, but for four or five other Montgomery County MWS projects, in their driveway. We will do our best to get all these trees and bushes out to the various projects ASAP.