For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A half-mile extension of the Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail in Breewood Park was recently completed by volunteers under a public/private partnership between the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Northwood High School, Neighbors of Northwest Branch and Montgomery County Department of Parks. The new segment connects Sligo Creek Park, just below University Avenue (on the Parkway across from the last playground), to Northwest Branch Park at the Loxford Terrace connector trail. The new trail section is part of a two-mile trail planned and installed by the partnership over the last three years.
Densely developed southern Montgomery County’s largest green spaces -- Sligo Creek Park, Northwest Branch Park and Rock Creek Park -- all had trail systems but they did not connect to each other. To improve trail access, the public/private partnership secured an agreement with the Maryland State Highway Administration in 2009 to bank 15 acres of state-owned land for environmental protection. The property is adjacent to Northwood High School but was used for years as an unofficial community landfill. With funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, students and community volunteers removed 11,000 pounds of trash, built a three-quarter mile interpretive trail about the Chesapeake Bay watershed, removed invasive species and planted native trees and plants. This first phase of the trail project was completed in June 2010 and celebrated with a National Trails Day event and a five kilometer community fun run and hike.
“The Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail project is a successful example of a public/private partnership that has left a positive legacy in an urban area with previously scattered but valuable green space,” said Jennifer Chambers, Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail project coordinator. “Montgomery County residents greatly regard their County parks and highly value trails. Our partnership protected land for green space and environmental education, restored land to improve ecosystem and watershed health and built a recreational resource that ties the community to the land.”
In April 2011, volunteers constructed more of the trail, extending it to University Avenue. In November 2011, 25 students and community volunteers built the half-mile extension of the Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail in Breewood Park.
DEP’s role in the partnership included assisting in the removal of invasive plants and trash to improve the health of the nearby stream. The agency continues to monitor water quality in the stream near the trail and plans to perform a stream restoration and install bioretention areas in the future. A bioretention system is a facility that filters stormwater runoff from hard surfaces like streets and sidewalks through a soil bed planted with native plants. This process removes pollutants and filters water before releasing it downstream. Oftentimes, these structures are located along streets or the right-of-way and blend into the normal landscape. In partnership with the County’s Department of Transportation, DEP has installed some of its first bioretention systems on nearby Arcola Ave.
For more information about the trail project, contact Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail Project Coordinator Jennifer Chambers at [email protected].