1) Why is Reston Association pursuing Stream Restoration?
Reston streams are in very bad shape and severe eroding process is evident. Trees and plants are not getting enough water due to drying of streams each summer caused mainly by new commercial and residential development that has changed the natural flow of water into the Glade Preserve. The violent storms, which we are now experiencing, are badly damaging the streambeds and the trees along them, causing a substantial number of trees to fall.
After years of neglect, Reston Association has found a cost-effective way to restore its streams. Reston has established a Watershed Bank that enables real estate developers to buy credits earned by Reston through the restoration of its streams. To date, Reston has banked approximately $12 million of these credits, which developers can purchase for other watershed developments. The Stream Restoration project may save Reston approximately $700,000 every five years by keeping silt and runoff out of Reston’s Lakes. Glade Stream does not run into Reston’s lakes so it does not contribute to that savings.
• QUESTION: What we have not yet determined is Reston’s financial consequences, if these credits are not purchased. Given our nation’s current economic crisis, is the purchase of these credits still viable? If they are not purchased, will the residents of Reston be assessed a special assessment to fund this project?
2) How are residents being informed?
Fairfax County, the Corps of Engineers and Reston Association have been involved in creating this plan for some time, but only selective Reston citizens have been notified. If your property abuts the designated area for restoration, then you will receive a notice but no specific information is included in that notice. In actuality, anyone who uses the paths in Reston will be affected by this project, not just the adjacent property owners. It appears that not all of the information is being shared, such as the actual number of trees being removed. Residents of lower Snakeden, with whom I have spoken, state they are shocked at the amount of tree removal and did not know about the program before the trees were removed. Those that did know of the program stated their belief that they felt they had no reason to be concerned based on the fact that Reston Association has always defended the trees and monitored residents’ tree removal activities with a careful eye. They never suspected that removal of such a wide swath of trees would ever be allowed by RA. Others stated that they were told they could not do anything about it since the program was already approved.
• FACT: Reston Association members are elected to represent the best interests of the residents of Reston, not the Corp of Engineers or Fairfax County. You do have a legitimate voice in this issue, if you care to use it. If you care to use it, do not wait until it is too late. There is no way that vast amounts of tall, hundred year old trees will be restored to their original beauty, once this project is underway.
3) What will the restoration look like?
Reston has decided to return the streams to their original elevation. This method of stream restoration requires substantial tree removal as bulldozers work to achieve the proper elevation. This type of restoration will enable storm water to flood the Glade Valley, which should be very beneficial to the trees and plants that are experiencing ongoing drought conditions. This type of restoration is very expensive and several studies have expressed concern over the merits and effectiveness of this type of restoration.
The contractor doing this work has carte blanche rights to remove whatever trees they see fit as defined by the plan on each side of the stream in order to accomplish the restoration goal. The contractor also has “lumbering rights” for the trees they remove. Wherever you see a silver tag on a tree, that tree may be removed by the contractor since it is in the approved targeted zone, which is marked by orange red flags. A major concern is that the streams project appears to have achieved the status of another of Reston’s award-winning programs, while the trees and wildlife are being treated as the enemy standing in the way of stream restoration. It is important that a well-qualified ombudsman is a viable part of the Glade restoration to ensure that the full ecology is considered before any trees are removed. By having a sanctioned Ombudsman, we will shake out the true benefit of stream restoration versus woodland destruction. No one has been able to tell us how many trees will be removed nor will they answer specific questions such as: will the tree that the owls nest in be removed and what will happen to the owls if the trees are removed?
It is not only the main streams that will be restored, the small feeding ditches that only rarely have water in them are also scheduled for restoration so tree removal will take place along those dry ditches as well. One such dry ditch comes from the Pony Barn picnic pavilion and proceeds to Glade stream next to my home. Even after violet storms this ditch is mostly dry, but the plan calls for extensive excavation and tree removal to day light the ditch by digging up the old paddock area and the sewer system below it. Instead of the level field that is now there, the terrain will drop steeply to approximately fifteen feet below its current level. No consideration has been given to the human uses of this field or to the cost benefit of doing this work. The plan is to cover the whole area in wildflowers (much like the ones that are there now) instead of replacing the trees that will most assuredly be removed. Wildflowers and very small saplings will replace old stands of trees for the most part where 100 year old trees used to stand.
• SEE FOR YOURSELF: See the impact of Stream Restoration yourself. Park in the 7-11 parking lot on Soapstone and go behind the cleaners to see the work under construction. The leveled and barren area you will see was, just a short time ago, a lush and beautiful forest of tall trees as thick or even thicker than the Glade preserve. Go across Soapstone and up Snakeden to see what it looks like when work is complete. Draw your own conclusions as to what you want in the Glade preserve, whether or not stream restoration is needed, and, if so, is this is the only way to achieve restoration. Once the trees and other flora are removed and the wildlife has vanished, there will be no going back. Picture your Glade preserve filled with huge gray boulders not unlike those that are placed along roads and highways – rarely seen in a natural setting in Northern Virginia.
4) What can I do to become more informed?
The purpose of this blog is to keep the citizens - the primary stakeholders - of Hunters Woods informed as to the progress and consequences of the Reston Stream Restoration, which will dramatically impact the Glade preserve. As a monitor of the site, I will do my best to provide both sides of the issue. As residents of Reston, I expect you to state your views as frankly as you see them. It is only through informed active citizen participation that we will get the results that we expect. I, for one, would like to have restored streams but only if this can be achieved with a very minimal loss of trees and impact on wildlife. Is that possible? What are your views on Glade Stream Restoration?
• TAKE ACTION:
o Voice your opinion on this blog
o Attend the December 16th Design Review Board Meeting.
o Contact Reston Association. RA has hired Ms. Nicki Foremsky to head up the Stream Restoration project as its watershed supervisor. Ms Foremsky very effectively defends the removal of trees for stream restoration. She can be reached at 703/435-6560 (I have yet to locate anyone representing what Reston calls our “breathing buddies” -- the trees that will be removed).
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4 comments:
Ron,
Isn't it too late to have any real impact on this project, since the contract is signed and underway? Aren't all sections of the Snakeden planned and scoped already?
Also, have you seen any report on the number of trees to be replanted, the location of the replanted trees, and size (saplings vs. semi-mature)?
At the far end of town
where the Grickle-grass grows
and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows
and no birds ever sing excepting old crows...
is the Street of the Lifted Lorax.
And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,
if you look deep enough you can still see, today,
where the Lorax once stood
just as long as it could
before somebody lifted the Lorax away.
What was the Lorax?
And why was it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere
from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?
The old Once-ler still lives here.
Ask him. He knows.
You won't see the Once-ler.
Don't knock at his door.
He stays in his Lerkim on top of his store.
He lurks in his Lerkim, cold under the roof,
where he makes his own clothes
out of miff-muffered moof.
And on special dank midnights in August,
he peeks
out of the shutters
and sometimes he speaks
and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.
He'll tell you, perhaps...
if you're willing to pay.
On the end of a rope
he lets down a tin pail
and you have to toss in fifteen cents
and a nail
and the shell of a great-great-great-
grandfather snail.
Then he pulls up the pail,
makes a most careful count
to see if you've paid him
the proper amount.
Then he hides what you paid him
away in his Snuvv,
his secret strange hole
in his gruvvulous glove.
Then he grunts, "I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone,
for the secrets I tell you are for your ears alone."
SLUPP!
Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear
and the old Once-ler's whispers are not very clear,
since they have to come down
through a snergelly hose,
and he sounds
as if he had
smallish bees up his nose.
"Now I'll tell you,"he says, with his teeth sounding gray,
"how the Lorax got lifted and taken away...
It all started way back...
such a long, long time back...
Way back in the days when the grass was still green
and the pond was still wet
and the clouds were still clean,
and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space...
one morning, I came to this glorious place.
And I first saw the trees!
The Truffula Trees!
The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees!
Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.
And, under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots
frisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits
as they played in the shade and ate Truffula fruits.
From the rippulous pond
came the comfortable sound
of the Humming-Fish humming
while splashing around.
But those trees! Those trees!
Those Truffula Trees!
All my life I'd been searching
for trees such as these.
The touch of their tufts
was much softer than silk.
And they had the sweet smell
of fresh butterfly milk.
I felt a great leaping
of joy in my heart.
I knew just what I'd do!
I unloaded my cart.
In no time at all, I had built a small shop.
Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop.
And with great skillful skill and with great speedy speed,
I took the soft tuft, and I knitted a Thneed!
The instant I'd finished, I heard a ga-Zump!
I looked.
I saw something pop out of the stump
of the tree I'd chopped down. It was sort of a man.
Describe him?... That's hard. I don't know if I can.
He was shortish. And oldish.
And brownish. And mossy.
And he spoke with a voice
that was sharpish and bossy.
"Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top if my lungs"-
he was very upset as he shouted and puffed-
"What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"
"Look, Lorax," I said."There's no cause for alarm.
I chopped just one tree. I am doing no harm.
I'm being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove, It's a hat.
But it has other uses. Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheets!
Or curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!"
The Lorax said,
"Sir! You are crazy with greed.
There is no one on earth
who would buy that fool Thneed!"
But the very next minute I proved he was wrong.
For, just at that minute, a chap came along,
and he thought the Thneed I had knitted was great.
He happily bought it for three ninety-eight
I laughed at the Lorax, "You poor stupid guy!
You never can tell what some people will buy."
"I repeat," cried the Lorax,
"I speak for the trees!"
"I'm busy," I told him.
"Shut up, if you please."
I rushed 'cross the room, and in no time at all,
built a radio-phone. I put in a quick call.
I called all my brothers and uncles and aunts
and I said, "Listen here! Here's a wonderful chance
for the whole Once-ler Family to get mighty rich!
Get over here fast! Take the road to North Nitch.
Turn left at Weehawken. Sharp right at South Stitch."
And, in no time at all,
in the factory I built,
the whole Once-ler Family
was working full tilt.
We were all knitting Thneeds
just as busy as bees,
to the sound of the chopping
of Truffula Trees.
Then...
Oh! Baby! Oh!
How my business did grow!
Now, chopping one tree
at a time
was too slow.
So I quickly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker
which whacked off four Truffula Trees at one smacker.
We were making Thneeds
four times as fast as before!
And that Lorax?...
He didn't show up any more.
But the next week
he knocked
on my new office door.
He snapped, "I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees
which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
But I'm also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits
and happily lived, eating Truffula Fruits.
"NOW... thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground,
there's not enought Truffula Fruit to go 'round.
And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies
because they have gas, and no food, in their tummies!
"They loved living here. But I can't let them stay.
They'll have to find food. And I hope that they may.
Good luck, boys," he cried. And he sent them away.
I, the old Once-ler, felt sad
as I watched them all go.
BUT...
business is business!
And business must grow
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.
I meant no harm. I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger.So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads
of the Thneeds I shipped out. I was shipping them forth
to the South! To the East! To the West! To the North!
I went right on biggering... selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.
Then again he came back! I was fixing some pipes
when that old-nuisance Lorax came back with more gripes.
"I am the Lorax," he coughed and he whiffed.
He sneezed and he snuffled. He snarggled. He sniffed.
"Once-ler!" he cried with a cruffulous croak.
"Once-ler! You're making such smogulous smoke!
My poor Swomee-Swans... why, they can't sing a note!
No one can sing who has smog in his throat.
"And so," said the Lorax,
"-please pardon my cough-
they cannot live here.
So I'm sending them off.
"Where will they go?...
I don't hopefully know.
They may have to fly for a month... or a year...
To escape from the smog you've smogged up around here.
"What's more," snapped the Lorax. (His dander was up.)
"Let me say a few words about Gluppity-Glupp.
Your machine chugs on, day and night without stop
making Gluppity-Glupp. Also Schloppity-Schlopp.
And what do you do with this leftover goo?...
I'll show you. You dirty old Once-ler man, you!
"You're glumping the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed!
No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed.
So I'm sending them off. Oh, their future is dreary.
They'll walk on their fins and get woefully weary
in search of some water that isn't so smeary."
And then I got mad.
I got terribly mad.
I yelled at the Lorax, "Now listen here, Dad!
All you do is yap-yap and say, 'Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!'
Well, I have my rights, sir, and I'm telling you
I intend to go on doing just what I do!
And, for your information, you Lorax, I'm figgering
On biggering
and BIGGERING
andBIGGERING
and BIGGERING,
turning MORE Truffula Trees into Thneeds
which everyone, EVERYONE, EVERYONE needs!"
And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!
From outside in the fields came a sickening smack
of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall.
The very last Truffula Tree of them all!
No more trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be done.
So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one,
all waved me good-bye. They jumped into my cars
and drove away under the smoke-smuggered stars.
Now all that was left 'neath the bad smelling-sky
was my big empty factory...
the Lorax...
and I.
The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance...
just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance...
as he lifted himself by the seat of his pants.
And I'll never forget the grim look on his face
when he heisted himself and took leave of this place,
through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace.
And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
was a small pile of rocks, with one word...
"UNLESS."
Whatever that meant, well, I just couldn't guess.
That was long, long ago.
But each day since that day
I've sat here and worried
and worried away.
Through the years, while my buildings
have fallen apart,
I've worried about it
with all of my heart.
"But now," says the Once-ler,
"Now that you're here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not.
"SO...
Catch!" calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
"It's a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula.Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back."
~Dr. Seuss
In 3), you say "This type of restoration will enable storm water to flood the Glade Valley, which should be very beneficial to the trees and plants that are experiencing ongoing drought conditions. This type of restoration is very expensive and several studies have expressed concern over the merits and effectiveness of this type of restoration." Could you provide references to some of these studies, preferably professional rather than editorial?
Is there an EPA environmental study on file?
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