On Wednesday, February 11, 2009, from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., the Cheverly Green Plan Committee and the Cheverly Conservation Alliance (a consortium of environmental organizations in Cheverly including Progressive Cheverly, Friends of Lower Beaver Dam Creek, and Cheverly Garden Club) are pleased to co-sponsor a presentation by Dr. Robert Fireovid, a Research Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on the connections between economic growth models that encourage uncontrolled and unsustainable growth and development, the health of our ecosystems including loss of habitats and biodiversity, and what we can do about building a sustainable future.
Dr. Fireovid’s current work focuses on bioproducts and bioenergy. He has been working in biotechnology for over thirty years and is one of the main advocates in the country for a sustainable economy compatible with native ecosystems conservation. In addition to his USDA work, Dr. Fireovid leads the Maryland Chapter of Citizens for a Steady State Economy (CSSE), an advocacy organization dedicated to replacing growth-dependent economies with sustainable economies.
The presentation will be held at Judith P. Hoyer Early Education Center Cafeteria, 2300 Belleview Ave. Please join us for this informative and challenging talk.
Learn how to design and make your landscape more GREEN by creating wildlife habitat, using native plants, and reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides in this 2-part workshop at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary.
Part 1: January 17th: Design a BayScape
- Teach participants about the landscape design process and how to create a BayScape.
- Apply your new skills on-site to help create a new landscape for the Plummer House.
- Empower you to create a landscape design for your yard.
Part 2: March 14th: Install a BayScape
This part of the workshop will focus on the implementation of the landscape design that was created during the first workshop.
- Site preparation, planting techniques, and maintenance will be the focus of this part of the program.
- Learn more about native plants, rain gardens and how BayScaping can be a beautiful complement to your property.
Where: Plummer House, Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary-Glendening Preserve near Upper Marlboro
5702 Plummer Lane
Lothian, MD 20711
10-2pm (Lunch will be provided)
There is NO registration fee for this workshop.
Registration is required. Please register by January 12th!
To register contact Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary at 410-741-9330 or email programs@jugbay.org.
County planners will hold a town hall meeting regarding the Subregion 4 area Wednesday, December 3rd from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Cedar Heights Community Center.
This is a great opportunity to make your voice heard about environmental concerns in our area.
The Cedar Heights Community Center is at 1200 Glen Willow Drive, Seat Pleasant, MD, 20743.
A proposal to preserve open space and rural farmland in Prince George’s County was killed yesterday after council members raised concerns about the impact the program might have on the county’s more-populated areas.
The bill would require developers to purchase a certain number of transferable development rights (TDR) credits, which help preserve land in rural parts of the county, in exchange for the right to build projects of higher density.
An editorial in The Washington Post supports the bill.
Unfortunately, the County Council approved a special exception for American Resource Management Group to build the Marvaco Concrete Batch Plant in the 5800 block of Sheriff Road.
Both the Gazette and The Post covered the 8 to 0 vote. Charles Gallion, president of the Cedar Heights Civic Association, plans to take the issue to court.
The Gazette reported on Cheverly’s Green Infrastructure Workshop.
Noting their town’s multiple parks, access to waterways and hilly geography, Cheverly residents listed neighborhood attributes they want preserved in a future green infrastructure plan.
FLBC’s Dan Smith will be presenting at the Strengthening Stream Stewardship Workshop this Saturday, November 15th. Learn how to become a better watershed and stream steward. Sessions will highlight the resources that are available to stream stewards in the Anacostia watershed, and will provide guidance on maximizing interaction with local governmental agencies. The workshop will be held at the M-NCPPC Brookside Auditorium on 1800 Glenallan Avenue in Wheaton, Maryland 20902.
Wetlands store amazing amounts of carbon:
The USGS project has captured eye-popping amounts of carbon — an average of 3000 grams of carbon per square meter per year (g-C/m2/yr) over the past 5 years. For comparison, reforested agricultural land, eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, socks away carbon at a rate much less than 100 g-C/m2/yr, says Gail Chmura, a biogeochemist at McGill University (Canada).
But they also release tons of methane which is worse than CO2. Scientists are searching for ways to mitigate the methane output to take advantage of the fantastic benefits of wetlands carbon storage.
Friends of Lower Beaverdam Creek is working with other groups in Cheverly on a green infrastructure plan to guide future development.
A green infrastructure public workshop will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Judith P. Hoyer Early Childhood Center in Cheverly.
Pepco has rain gardens at its Benning Road service center to educate homeowners and business about the importance of managing runoff.
