he Environmental News —
December 11, 1999
Street Trees
Corrections Corp. of America
Get Those Watercolors Out
Save Klingle Valley
Cell Phone Tower Blues
Street Trees
Street Trees are all the rage over at the Department of Public Works, which recently
announced the penning of new contracts calling for the planting of 9,000 trees between our
streets and curbs during this fiscal year. Yes, this is the same DPW which single-handedly
crashed our street tree population from about 95,000 in 1993 to about 75,000 last year.
(without new planting, about 4,000 die every year.)
Credit goes to (1) Mayor Williams, who recently asked the federal Office of Management
and Budget for a one-time grant of $15 MILLION for tree-planting, (2) Councilmember Carol
Schwartz, who rightly labeled the Administration’s FY 2000 tree planting budget request as
lame and persuaded the Council to tack on another million and change, (3) the Committee of
100 on the Federal City, whose November report on the decline of the City’s street tree
population, and some behind-the-scenes-lobbying, helped Williams see the light, and (4)
American Forests, a national group whose graphic depiction of the plight of Washington
total "urban forest" made it to the front page of the Metro section.
Thriving street trees are more than the soft-core fantasies of the tennis-shoed
environmental set. Studies show that they reduce summertime temperatures by 5-8 degrees in
the City, thereby reducing energy use and pollution generation — and making the place
attractive to residents, businesses, and tourists. A Council oversight hearing is
scheduled for December 15. Contact: Sally Boasberg, 363-2147.
Corrections Corp. of America
Corrections Corporation of America, with leadership from former Councilmember John Ray,
continues its fight to convert National parkland along the Potomac in Ward 8 into a
prison. Last month they filed a court appeal of the Zoning Commission’s heroic rejection
of their petition. Representing the neighborhood and civic defenders is land-use
specialist Richard Nettler. Contact: Eugene Kinlow — 563-2131
More than 100 concerned citizens filled the officer’s club at the Navy Yard December 3
for an all-day "summit" on the Anacostia River Basin and the challenges it
faces. Issues include the fate of the islands once slated for development into the
Children’s Island amusement park, and what to do about the 40-foot high "mystery
mountain" of construction debris that appeared in Kenilworth Park last year under the
nose of National Capital Park East chief Gentry Davis. Contact: Sue Gunn — 429-2676.
Get those watercolors out!
This correspondent and Friends of the Earth staffer Elizabeth Berry testified at the
hearing held December 3 by the Councilmember Carol Schwartz on her bill to create an
environmental license plate. We urged the Council to put the sale proceeds into a trust
fund to be used by non-profits for eco projects — and to sponsor a public competition
on the plate’s design. Schwartz is collecting all of the best ideas and finalizing the
bill, which is deemed likely to pass. Contact: your Councilmember — 724-8000. Just
say yes.
Save Klingle Valley!
This little-used road once twisted its way up from Beach Drive at Porter (in Rock Creek
Park) along the Zoo, under Connecticut Ave., and into Woodley Park. A storm-induced water
main break wiped out a major section of the road about nine years ago, and no one noticed!
After nine years, the woods have gradually reclaimed much of the roadway like a
post-apocalypse B movie, and are on the verge of reestablishment.
Park advocates, cyclists, enviros, and local property owners have banded together in a
call for a return to nature — or possibly a gravel trail. A few local road warriors,
however, and pushing for the restoration of pavement. The man to watch: At-large
Councilmember Phil Mendelson, whose impressive record of civic accomplishment was founded
on a 1985 campaign to restore Glover-Archbald Park by removing an inappropriate road. On
Klingle Valley, however, he is strangely silent… Contact: DPW (Vanessa Burns, Director)
939-8035; Isabel Furlong 333-3345.
Cell Phone Tower Blues
A year-long campaign to prevent BELL ATLANTIC MOBILE from erecting a pair of cellular
phone transmission towers in Rock Creek Park was deal dual setbacks last month when: (1)
the National Capital Planning Commission ("NCPC") voted 9-4 to approve BELL
ATLANTIC MOBILE’s application; and (2) Congress approved the D.C. appropriations bill with
a rider sponsored by Senator Tom Daschle (D) that compelled the NCPC and the National Park
Service to install the towers, no questions asked. Tower opponents were mildly
disappointed by the outcome. At our urging, the NCPC had retained a consultant to consider
the technical and precedential implications of the proposal. The consultant reported in
October that BELL ATLANTIC MOBILE really had no need for two towers — one would
improve coverage along Beach Drive significantly, and the other (on the east side) would
not. At this point, however, the political winds were howling. The NCPC, a political
animal if ever there were one, was in no mood to obsess over facts. The vote went through
quickly, and we expect the towers to go up quickly (e.g., concrete pouring in December).
On-site demonstrations are planned — please join us.
The consultant’s report contained a warning that sent a chill though Park defenders. It
predicted that BELL ATLANTIC MOBILE is probably just the first of many cell phone service
providers with designs on the forested hills of the Park. As many as seven other companies
can be expected to push applications along the skids that have now been greased by BELL
ATLANTIC MOBILE. Leaders of the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth recently sent letters
to the heads of many cell phone service providers in an effort which are hoping to erect
towers in the Park, and which are not. The responses will be reported here. Contacts:
Elizabeth Berry — 362-0789; Jim Dougherty, 488-1140.