DRAFT: Battery Kemble Park Partnership April 30, 2004

DRAFT:  Battery Kemble Park Partnership

April 30, 2004

Assets

Battery Kemble Park is popular with residents and visitors

Adjacent landowners appreciate and enjoy the park and know a great deal about its past.

Community leaders want to help NPS improve management of the park

Battery Kemble is a good place for sledding, sitting to read or eat lunch, walk dogs, hike, or appreciate nature and culture.

Community has a tradition of and experience with volunteerism, advocacy, fundraising and civic engagement.

Community has experience with other park projects including Capital Crescent Trail and Whitehaven.

Issues and matters of concern

Late afternoons, weekends and holidays the parking area is jammed.  

    Gate is sometimes locked half the day on weekends.

Hurricane Isabelle did damage. Citizens are concerned about wind and lightning damage to trees.

Park trails, in certain locations, are blocked by brush.  Brush is placed to the side and becomes a fire hazard.

There is a perception that Battery Kemble is treated like a big park.  Some leaders feel that NPS should not let fallen trees rot.

Years ago poor topsoil and rubble placed on hillside and the debris created safety concerns.  

In the past the hillside was bare and needed seeding.

Water is needed for trees and shrubs.

Concerns about damage to trees from wind, vines and bugs.

Community leaders believe that Congress should provide more funds to Rock Creek Park, especially for damage from hurricane Isabelle.

Goal:  Local leaders and NPS will work in partnership to raise public and private funds to manage, plant and maintain trees, shrubs and flowers in Battery Kemble Park.

Objectives:

Create more community advocacy for Battery Kemble Park and Rock Creek Park.

Remove trees that are in the wrong place

Work together to find ways to thin, feed and spray trees and remove non-native plants.

Use private donations to leverage federal dollars to replace and plant trees and shrubs.

Use volunteers to cleanup area to make the trails safe and reduce fire hazards.

Explore a maintenance endowment for future park management.

Actions

Landscape Plan

The community should look at the NPS Landscape Plan before they begin fundraising.

Superintendent Applewaithe Coleman will prepare an inventory and cost estimate of the park.

NPS should do a cost estimate for implementing the Landscape Plan

NPS could do a cost estimate for maintenance of Battery Kemble Park.

NPS and the community could consider an endowment fund for managing, planting and maintaining Battery Kemble Park.

Community Engagement

The community wants to hold a function May.  Consider having parties with neighbors where NPS could present plans and community leaders could ask for donations.

NPS should do a presentation to the Citizen's Association on Battery Kemble Park, partnerships and the Landscape Plan 

The community wants to help with an inventory of trees in Battery Kemble Park.

The community wants to hold a cleanup

Use of Battery Kemble Park

1. The community should contact Superintendent Applewaithe Coleman 

if there is a problem with the US Park Police opening the gate on schedule contact. 

Donations

The community indicates that some sort of token annual gift for Battery Kemble Park is likely.

The community wants donations to be used to replace trees and plant more shrubs and bulbs.

NPS suggests that the community use the existing Rock Creek Park donation account for Battery Kemble donations.

The community wants NPS to provide written guidelines on public/     

   private partnerships--a template for a partnership.

Other Funding

Glenn Eugster will identify sources of assistance for tree planting (i.e. NPS Tree & Shrub Replacement Fund, COG, Forest Service, Casey Trees, Ranger Registry, etc.)