June 2025 Newsletter

Grant Funding

We were notified about two charitable grants. We received a $10,000 grant from the American Water Charitable Foundation to go towards the water fountain replacement. The other is a $5,000 grant from Keep America Beautiful and Keep Virginia Beautiful to support the beautification and restoration of Lady Bird Johnson Park.

Help Protect GWMP's Natural Beauty – Become a Certified Weed Warrior!

Have you ever wanted to know more about invasive species in the Washington D.C. area? Do you ask yourself questions like, "Why is bush honeysuckle an invasive species?" or "How can you tell the difference between native grape and porcelain berry?"

Then we highly recommend you register to attend a 2-day Weed Warrior training (5 hours total) offered by the National Park Service. This virtual and in-person course covers the basics of invasion ecology, removal techniques, species identification, the theory behind the Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) framework, and field safety.

The required two-part training—featuring an online session and in-person training at GWMP (aka, George Washington Memorial Parkway)—will be held June 4 and June 7.

Storm Cleanup

A severe storm on May 16 caused tree damage along the George Washington Memorial Parkway, with extensive damage south of Alexandria. Volunteers hit the trail on Saturday May 17th to clean up storm debris and clear branches from the trail. Thank you to the volunteers who came out and pivoted from invasive plant removal to storm debris pickup.

Bat and Firefly Walk

How do fireflies produce their glow? Why are bats an important part of the ecosystem? Come find out on our firefly and bat walk!

After talking briefly about the different species of fireflies and bats, we'll take a short walk on the Mount Vernon Trail to show you our favorite locations for bat and firefly watching. You'll get to see our special bat microphone that identifies different species based on the frequency of their echolocation.

May Recap

In May we hosted 6 volunteer events with 167 volunteers giving 385 volunteer hours. Highlights included hosting BSA Troop 130 and tabling at Bike to Work day.