Patuxent River Greenway listed among
Top Conservation Priorities for Washington D.C. Region.
Proposed Regional Land Conservation Act of 2009 May Provide Funding for Regional Greenspace.
Five Locations Identified within Greater Washington Area

Bethesda, MD (December 14, 2009) – The District’s longest municipal park, originally known as Watts Branch Park, is named a top conservation priority for the region, according to a new report by the Washington Smart Growth Alliance. The Greening of Tysons, recommended as part of the “Transforming Tysons” redevelopment plan, and preserving the South River Greenway, a proposed natural park just ten minutes from Annapolis, are among the top targets of the Regional Conservation Priorities list, the annual report of the Smart Growth Alliance. Maryland’s Patuxent Greenway and Alexandria’s “Green Crescent” of green space encircling the city complete the list for 2009.

The report also calls for a dedicated source of funding and a collaborative intergovernmental effort to identify and preserve resources like these, which make up our “regional green infrastructure.” The proposed National Capital Region Land Conservation Act of 2009, introduced by Congressman Moran of Virginia, could provide both. If passed, the bill would offer up to a fifty-fifty match of Federal dollars to leverage state and local funding for land acquisition, conservation easements and other tools for land conservation. All the cities and counties within the Washington DC Metropolitan Statistical Area would be eligible to apply for grants. The program would be administered by the National Park Service, but it would also set up an intergovernmental process for regional collaboration in identifying sites to be preserved.

The Smart Growth Alliance’s programs seek to promote the overall sustainability of the region by encouraging smart growth alternatives such as compact and infill development that can be more affordable for citizens in the short term and more sustainable over the long term. At the same time, it is clear that smart conservation – preserving working open space, parkland or natural areas and restoring green components of urban environments – can help shape growth patterns over time, as well as enhance land stewardship, air and water quality, and quality of life.

The Conservation Priorities Report, A Call to Action, notes that by 2030, the National Capital Region is expected to grow by two million people and more than 1.6 million jobs. “Without a concerted region-wide effort to promote both infill development and the preservation of green infrastructure,” said Sam Black, president of the Smart Growth Alliance, “a large proportion of these individuals and jobs will locate in scattered development patterns in outlying areas of the region, where many valuable green infrastructure resources lie.”

The goal of the Regional Conservation Priorities List is to promote conservation initiatives that contribute most to our future quality of life. The five priorities for 2009:

• The Marvin Gaye Park is the longest municipal park in the District of Columbia, following the path of Watts Branch, the District’s largest tributary of the Anacostia River. Once fallen into disrepair, the park now enjoys the renewed interest and attention of the community, represented by major public and private restoration efforts and substantial capital investment to create bike paths and playgrounds and to restore the stream itself. The District government, along with Washington Parks & People and other nonprofit organizations, has made the restoration of this park and stream system and the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhoods a high priority. With continued community leadership, sustained intergovernmental partnership and capital investment, the park can fulfill its potential as a model of urban park restoration and park-based community renewal, not only for this region but for the nation.

• The Greening of Tysons is an integral part of the “Transforming Tysons” plan recommended to Fairfax County by the Tysons Land Use Task Force. In addition to transforming the automobile-dominated shopping district into an urban center – by increasing the number of residents from 17,000 to 100,000 and jobs from 105,000 to 200,000 by 2050 – the plan recommends a doubling of open space to 320 acres and establishment of stormwater management goals that will allow for stream stabilization and restoration. This ambitious plan faces many potential obstacles as recommendations are translated into adopted policies and regulations that guide redevelopment. The Greening of Tysons can become a reality if strong recommendations become strong policies and regulations.

• The South River Greenway, located just minutes from Annapolis, contains two of the largest forested tracts remaining in Anne Arundel County, along with 100 miles of streams, 800 acres of wetlands, and a number of historical and cultural sites. The Greenway provides regionally important habitat for birds, reptiles and aquatic species and if preserved could also provide a network of trails to serve the region’s recreational needs. Located in the Washington-Baltimore corridor, the unprotected forested lands have faced intense development pressures. Key purchases and easements to connect the 2,500 acres already under permanent protection can help save the South River Greenway as an environmental and recreational resource.

• Alexandria’s Green Crescent, a guiding concept of Alexandria’s Open Space Plan, will link currently isolated parks and natural areas along the City’s eastern and southern borders. One of the most regionally significant sections of the Green Crescent is the Waterfront Area, which has been improved through land acquisition and is now undergoing a renewed planning effort with active community participation. Clermont Cove, a 14.5-acre wooded site near Brenman Park, is among the top five priority parcels for open space preservation. Preservation of this parcel would reduce by almost half the balance of 34 acres of open space the city has pledged to add to its current inventories by 2012.

• The Patuxent River Greenway/Watershed encompasses 900 square miles of land stretching from Howard County Maryland south to the Solomon’s and includes forests, wetlands, floodplains, wildlife habitat, farms, rural landscapes, aquatic life, and archaeological and historical sites. The watershed has become increasingly urbanized over the last four decades, but over 40 percent of the area remains forested. Public and private organizations are collaborating to preserve open space, establish riparian buffers, and open public access to the river. These efforts can ultimately succeed if the current budget woes of state and local governments are not allowed to delay their progress.

All five conservation priorities for 2009 were chosen by an independent jury that reviews numerous nominations and selects those few projects or programs that offer the most promise or that are of the highest urgency.

“The criteria we apply examine specific parcels or geographic areas in need of preservation as working open space, parkland or natural areas, as well as larger projects and policies,” said Mike Kane of the Piedmont Environmental Council of Virginia, who chairs the Alliance’s conservation jury. “We focus on preserving green space, capital projects that will benefit the natural environment, and restoration of blighted parcels, places or resources.”

Kane added that the jury also selects those projects that can benefit most from independent support as they seek to increase public awareness, obtain critically needed funding or legislative support, or gain local or regional consensus or approval.

Because the Alliance is made up of real estate, business, environmental, and affordable housing organizations, this independent support signifies not only that these initiatives are critical to our region’s natural heritage and working landscapes, but they will also attract thriving businesses and enhance job creation and retention. “By providing business and real estate support for conservation, this program mirrors our Smart and Sustainable Growth program, which provides support of smart growth development in the region by conservation interests,” said Deborah Westbrooke, Alliance Executive Director. “The Alliance’s diverse organizational members have overcome long-standing differences over growth issues to support both conservation and smart growth.”

For more information on the Smart Growth Alliance, visit their website: http://www.SGAlliance.org or contact them: Deborah Westbrooke, Executive Director, 301.986.5959 or 301.219.1100; Sam Black, Board Chairman and President, 202.626.6887; Mike Kane, Conservation Jury Chair, 703-371-4373.

The Washington Smart Growth Alliance is a partnership of the following organizations: Chesapeake Bay Foundation | Coalition for Smarter Growth | Enterprise Community Partners | Greater Washington Board of Trade | Metropolitan Washington Builders’ Council | ULI Washington |ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing.

For more information on the National Capital Region Land Conservation Act of 2009, contact: Office of Rep. James P. Moran, 202.226.0015.

For more information on the individual initiatives selected as 2009 Regional Conservation Priorities, contact:

Marvin Gaye Park – John Stokes, District Department of Parks & Recreation, 202.673.2195; Steve Coleman, Washington Parks & People, 202.744.8695.
Greening of Tysons – Chairman Clark Tyler, Tysons Land Use Task Force,
703.893.3336.

South River Greenway – Nick Williams, Biophilia Foundation, 410.268.1802; Alyssa Domzal, Scenic Rivers Land Trust, 410.424.4000.

Alexandria’s Green Crescent – Laura Durham, Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities, 703.746.5493; Nancy Williams, Alexandria Department of Planning & Zoning Department, 703.746.3851.

Patuxent River Greenway – Frederick Tutman, Patuxent Riverkeeper, 301.249.8200; Tom McCarthy, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 410.260.8429.