Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 20:42:03 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Bob Mumford Subject: Re: Affront Along the Canal (long) Comments: To: Gemmill@erols.com, HmYouth@erols.com, Jschultz@uschamber.com, Mark.Garl@erols.com, mgmouse@mindspring.com, Olmerj@aol.com, Rblasco@umd5.umd.edu, SandraZ@erols.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ten days ago the bank between the C&O canal and the towpath, and between Pennyfield and Violette's Locks, teemed with a plethora of wildflowers: Joe-Pye-Weed, Wingstems, Wood Sunflowers, Indian Paintbrush, Coneflowers, as well as numerous butterflies. The strip provided food and cover for Indigo Buntings, Goldfinches, Chipping Sparrows, among others. Berries were ripening for fall and winter food for Cedar Waxwings and Bluebirds. Today there is an ugly, brown, dead strip for more than two miles. On August 19, the Park Service mowed the strip to the ground. A casual examination reveals that in many places the mowing bar cut deeply into the turf, effectively scalping the ground, killing perennials and making the bank subject to erosion into the canal with the first big rainstorm. I simply cannot imagine why the Park Service would do such a thing, unless it was a misguided attempt at "neatness" or to eliminate woody plants. If one wants the manicured lawn look, there are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of local parks one might visit. The reason most of us use the C&O Canal Park is for a close-in taste of nature and wildlife. It is not like the strip can be played on or even walked, for that matter. It is much too steep. It is an area ideally suited for native grasses and wildflowers and all the wildlife that use them for food and cover. Their seeds have been important food for wintering sparrows, for example. Monday the Park Service repeated this ill-advised action by mowing the river side of the towpath, killing thousands more wildflowers and god-knows-how-many reptiles, amphibians and other small creatures. This is certainly not what Justice Douglas had in mind when he made his famous walk that resulted in the canal being declared a national park. If the intent was to prevent woody plants from gaining a foothold, only a biennial cut is required and the time to cut would be March, when the seeds are gone and new growth is about to start. And then four inches above the dirt. I would invite all interested to take a look for themselves at this nasty scene. You don't even have to get out of your car at Violette's to see the damage. If you are as outraged by what you see as I am, I would ask that you write: Mr. Douglas Faris Superintendent C&O Canal National Historical Park PO Box 4 Sharpsburg, MD 21782 Since the damage this year is irreversible, please ask for assurances that this will NEVER happen again. If a hundred of us write, we are sure to make an impact. If we do not get the assurances we want, then it will be time to "go political". I have documented with photographs the before and after, if we need a "picture book" for such purposes. Please forward this message to anyone who is a friend of the environment or a friend of the canal park. Bob Mumford Darnestown, MD 301 948 6813 ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================