FODM Vice-President Ned Stone helps a youngster make a bird.On June 20, 2015, the Friends of Dyke Marsh spread the news about the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve to new friends and old at the annual Gum Springs Community Day. Gum Springs is a historic community in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County founded by West Ford, a freed slave, in 1833.
FODMers joined others in a "hats off" salute to the Fairfax County Police.
Students dug holes and planted new native plants. Photo by Glenda Booth.Biology students from the T. C. Williams High School International Academy visited the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve on April 25, 2015 to learn about native and non-native plants. They planted native wetland-friendly plants along the trail between the “dogleg” and the boardwalk. The students are from all over the world.
Thank you, T. C. Williams students! You are a great group. Come back soon!
Ned Stone receives the Potomac Champion Award. Photo: Alice Ferguson Foundation.FODM Vice President Ned Stone received the Potomac Champion Award at the Alice Ferguson Foundation's 8th Annual Trash Summit on October 18, 2013. Lori Arguellles, Executive Director of the foundation, lauded Ned's untiring efforts to remove trash from the Potomac River and the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve. “Whether he's cruising along Belle Haven Marina in his kayak with DC Surfriders or making upgrades to the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, he graciously works to mold a future generation of environmental stewards,” she commented. She also cited Ned's work to control invasive plants and lead nature walks.
The Trash Summit is a forum of elected officials, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and citizens gather to develop approaches to reduce litter and waste in the Potomac watershed.
Congratulations Ned!
Carson Cameron at the newly installed bulletin bd. Photo by Scott Cameron.On August 9, 2014, Carson Cameron and his Boy Scout Troop 1509 colleagues installed a new bulletin board and bicycle racks at the Haul Road entrance as an Eagle Scout Service Project. Carson organized 16 boys and adults who worked diligently from 8 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. FODM thanks Carson, his helpers and the National Park Service for the new bulletin board.
Sixty Belleview Elementary School students, teachers and parents visited the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve on a blustery November 4 to learn how animals and plants in the wetland ecosystem are preparing for winter. National Park Service rangers Emily Zivot and Miguel Roberson led the walk. FODM President Glenda Booth attended the walk and provided the following photo essay.
Standing on the wooden bridge, Ranger Emily Zivot told the youngsters that the “sad looking plants” caked in mud and disappearing into the muck are spatterdock, a common wetland plant.
Ranger Miguel Roberson let the students feel a beaver pelt and explained that beavers live in Dyke Marsh (photo at top).
