Within and Outside of Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve: Part Two

Part One of this series appeared in The Marsh Wren,
Summer 2010 issue.
BY J. GLENN EUGSTER

Open space in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area
continues to be converted to development as the population
of this region increases. In 2008 the Metropolitan Washington,
D.C. Council of Governments concluded that the region
is losing at least 28 acres of open space each day and that
that trend would continue until the year 2030. Research
conducted by the Washington Post in 1996 revealed that
there were few proposals for the protection of additional
open space and development would continue to outpace
land conservation.

Much of the development is significantly increasing
traffic congestion and flooding, degrading air and water
quality, removing plant and animal habitat, and diminishing
the area’s historic, cultural, archaeological, and outdoor
recreational value. New development is also increasing
demand for roads, schools, water, sewer, solid waste management,
police and medical services and parks. Despite
local plans, there is not any coherent region-wide plan for
open space protection.

In June 2009, a bi-partisan group of members of the U.
S. House of Representatives, led by Congressman Jim
Moran (D-8-VA), introduced the “National Capital Region
Land Conservation Act,” a bill that would authorize up to
$50 million per year for cost share grants to state, regional
and local governments. The funding would be used to acquire
land in the Washington, D.C., metro area for a variety
of conservation, environmental and recreational purposes.
“Development density in our region is outpacing population
growth by a four to one margin,” said Congressman
Moran. “It’s unsustainable and without increasing land preservation
efforts it will result in the continued decline of the
Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. By preserving more
land for parks and other green space, we can reverse this
deadly trend and save our precious waterways before it’s
too late.”

In January 2010, President Barack Obama and Secretary
of the Interior Ken Salazar began discussions with Congress,
through the 2011 federal budget process, about ways
to increase the protection of open space values and the important
functions they perform. The appropriation reflects
the President’s agenda to protect America’s treasured landscapes
and demonstrates a sustained commitment to a 21st
century conservation agenda.

“Americans are losing–and losing touch with–the lands
and places that set our Nation apart,” said Secretary Salazar.
“The great outdoors that fuels the American spirit and the
American economy is disappearing under the pressures of
population growth, habitat fragmentation, and climate
change. Every year, Americans lose large areas of open
space to development.”

These are welcome initiatives. Over the years, despite
broad public and private support, a high level of political
commitment to provide a total system of parks, open space
and natural areas has been largely lacking.
A major problem with traditional approaches has been
the narrow focus of these initiatives, rather than a more holistic,
ecosystem approach. Most government agencies and
private sector organizations have laws or missions directing
them to concentrate on pieces of ecosystems. In many ways
federal, state, and local laws have pulled apart these ecosystems
and divided them into different value-based categories
rather than considering them as a holistic natural system
that reflects the interaction of these values. This compartmentalization
of sites and systems fragments efforts and
drives agencies and constituencies toward “stove-piped”
individual project funding without a coherent plan for the
total ecosystem being protected.

Time will tell if our leaders will redirect the way we try
to protect our open space. However, the idea of a connected,
interdependent system of lands, wetlands and waters--
a green infrastructure--is necessary if we are to protect
the values and functions of places like the Dyke Marsh
Wildlife Preserve.

J. Glenn Eugster is a former employee of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, National Park Service, various
state, regional and local governments, and the private
sector. He is trained in landscape architecture and ecological
planning. He lives in Alexandria.

The Marsh Wren
☼ Fall 2010