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protecting our watershed . Whether you live in Seneca , Monocacy , Muddy Branch or another watershed , I highly recommend joining your local watershed nonprofit .
The great thing is , you don ’ t have to be a watershed expert to volunteer . But whatever your expertise , it ’ s likely to be helpful . My interest is in sustainable gardening , so I ’ ve been able to help with native plant events including an annual native tree give away . For nine years I ’ ve obtained free native tree saplings each spring from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources ( 450 trees last year ) and distributed them with the help of other volunteers to the community along with planting advice . Instead of just worrying about habitat loss or climate change , it ’ s satisfying to know native trees are growing here helping preserve habitat , clean water , reduce stormwater runoff and erosion , and lower summer temperatures . It ’ s also satisfying to be continually learning about “ my ” watershed .
There ’ s a range of videos about
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Seneca Creek now available on the SWCP website including one covering the fascinating history , geology , plants and more of Lower Seneca . Perhaps you ’ d like to prepare a talk about the portion of Seneca you know best ? We ’ d love to have someone local do a talk on Dry Seneca , for example , or on the upper reaches of Great Seneca . There ’ s a video by Kevin Misener on monitoring for macroinvertebrates ( see sidebar ). I knew that the diversity and types of small animals living in our streams are indicators of water quality , but until I helped with monitoring ( mentored by experts ) I had no idea of the range of small creatures inhabiting Seneca . I was surprised to see , for example , a small marsupial creature under the microscope . I had no idea that female sow bugs have a marsupial pouch in which eggs hatch and young develop for a month , or that sow bugs are important scavengers of dead and decaying tissue in freshwater . Like everything in nature , it seems that the more you learn the greater you |
working on Clean Water Act and endangered species issues to lead
SCWP from 2019-2021 . My term ended July 2023 and it has been an intense learning opportunity . Volunteer David Anderson , an expert in botany , leads hikes focused on native plants . Rena Sellner applies her skills in accounting to keep our financial records . Kevin Misener has for years led stream monitoring on Seneca and is our new
SCWP president . Many others have helped too , including those who have given financial donations .
Basically , our greatest need now is simply more people who care enough to help , like neighborhood leaders Françoise Andre and Apostol Vassilev who gather neighbors to clear trash and advocate for better protection of the
“ Horse Hole ” area of Lower Seneca .
Or the Aaron Martin family that led a six-hour trash pickup event this spring , completely cleaning the
Diamond Farm Park area in Gaithersburg and nearby stream . Ideally there would be volunteers to lead events such as hikes , invasive plant
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