Fairfax Trails and Streams
e-newsletter Oct. 17, 2002
Next FTAS meetings
Mon. Nov. 11, 7:30 pm, at McLean Govt Center.
Mon. Dec. 9 , 7:30 pm, at McLean Govt Center.
Mon. Jan. 27, 7:30 pm, Fairfax High School: 2nd Annual Cross County
Trail Caucus
NO meeting 10/22 (erroneously announced earlier)
If you would like to become more active to plan
and complete the Pimmit Run Trail, please call Bill Niedringhaus
at 703 821 0975
19 October 2002 9am Pimmit Run Litter Cleanup
THIS SATURDAY at EIGHT sites
1) Great Falls Streeet near Lemon Road;
2) Westmoreland Street near Lemon Road and the Little League;
3) Kent Gardens Elem. School (by woods in back);
4) Old Dominion Drive at bridge over Pimmit Run at bottom of hill
from central McLean;
5) Brookhaven Drive where it dead-ends;
6) Brian Branch Road where it dead-ends;
7) Colleen Place (in Potomac Hills where it dead-ends;
8) Kirby Road at Claibourne Drive at bottom of hill from 123.
Come out and support your community by helping clean up Pimmit
Run, the Potomac and Cheaspeake Bay. Gloves and garbage bags will
be provided at each cleanup site. We suggest volunteers wear long
pants, long shirts and old shoes.
Pimmit Run runs through the heart of McLean, from
Tysons Corner to the Potomac River at Chain Bridge. Fairfax Trails
and Stream adopted Pimmit Run in 1997 under Virginia’s Adopt
a Stream Program and sponsors two cleanups of Pimmit Run annually.
Our cleanup is part of simultaneous broader-scale efforts:
- the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's "Fall
2002 Virginia's Rivers Renaissance"
- "Clean Virginia Waterways"
- "International Coastal Cleanup Program"
New Easement On Cross-County Trail
The right-of-way for the CCT is now complete for three off-road
miles south of Vale Road in Oakton. CCT signage will be installed
there soon.
Awards at Potomac Trail Caucus
Winners of awards at the Caucus Oct 11 included:
For public servants: Dranesville Supervisor Stu Mendelsohn and
NVPC's Doug Pickford
For citizen volunteers: the Great Falls Trailblazers
Fairfax Trails and Streams
e-newsletter Nov. 4, 2002
Next FTAS meetings
Mon. Dec. 9 , 7:30 pm , at McLean Govt Center. (no Nov. meeting)
Mon. Jan. 27, 7:30 pm, Fairfax High School: 2nd Annual Cross County
Trail Caucus
PLEASE VOTE TO SUPPORT PARKS Your "yes"
vote tomorrow on the Park Bond Referendum will make available
$20 million, most of which will be used to preserve open space.
TRANSPORTATION REFERENDUM Fairfax Trails
and Streams and Potomac River Greenways Coalition have not formally
taken a position on the referendum. We asked Supervisor Connolly
(who supports the referendum) to comment on the possibility/likelihood
of using the referendum funds for non-motorized transportation,
and received this reply:
EVENTS
Dec. 9, 7:30 pm, Monthly Meeting, McLean Govt Center, 1437
Balls Hill Road. Agenda: Pimmit Run Planning, CCT Caucus Planning
Jan. 27, 7:30 pm Cross-County Trail Caucus, Fairfax High
School (details next enewsletter)
Feb. 24, 7:30pm. Speaker will discuss volunteer trail bridges
built in Montgomery Co.
DETAILS
A New Hero for Pimmit Run. Every day starting Oct. 1, Victor
Litwinski has worked in the Pimmit Run Valley from Kent Gardens
to Westmoreland St, collecting litter and non-natural materials
like bricks and concrete. In November he crossed Westmoreland,
working towards Great Falls Street, and has cleaned up the nearby
tributaries as well.This area now looks virtually spotless. If
you walk there, you are likely to meet him standing in the stream,
with tall rubber boots, hat, gloves and rake.
Victor has promised to keep this up through July.
He is also interested in doing trail maintenance. Victor ASKS
FOR YOUR HELP if you live along Pimmit in this area. He would
like permission to leave filled, tied-up litterbags for people
to put in their dumpsters, so he does not have to haul everything
out himself. If you are willing to do this, please contact Victor
at litwinski@erols.com.
Victor would also like permission to use dumpsters
at Kent Gardens Elementary School and at the McLean Little League.
VOLUNTEER NEEDED to make this request. If you are interested,
please let Victor know.
Kudos to Victor, the newest hero for Pimmit Run!
Scoping for Pimmit Run Trail Expected by Feb-Mar
2003. Christina Schuler, the Park Authority's Project Manager
for Pimmit Run Trail, wrote on Nov. 4 that the project is "already
in the early stages of the scoping process now. I have tentatively
set a kick-off meeting with our project team in mid-November.
Once the team starts developing the whats, whos and hows during
the scoping process, we should be able to get a rough idea of
cost. I think cost is the key to determine timing for design &
construction since we have limited funds. Another very important
factor for the timing of construction is the probable need for
easement acquisition first. The scoping process will probably
take 3-4 months, so Feb to March timeframe it should be complete."
The mid-November meeting did occur at the Old Dominion/Brookhaven
site; FTAS does not yet have feedback from it.
FTAS Briefs McLean Chamber of Commerce on Pimmit
Run Trail. On Nov. 11, Gordon Harris, Ed Pickens and Bill
Niedringhaus presented a 10-minute talk on the Pimmit Run Trail
to the McLean Chamber of Commerce. Several members expressed interest
in hiking the Old Dominion to Pimmit Bend Park section with us
on Nov.16, but this had to be postponed due to heavy rain. The
McLean Times printed an article on our presentation in its most
recent issue.
Niedringhaus to head Potomac Trail Council.
On Nov. 25, Bill Niedringhaus was elected president of the Potomac
Trail Council (PTC), a volunteer group which works with local
governments to establish the Potomac Heritage National Scenic
Trail (PHNST). He replaces Tom Johnson (who spoke at one of our
recent meetings), who now becomes president of the Potomac Appalachian
Trail Club. FTAS-er Ric Francke was elected PTC treasurer. Other
PTC board members who are active in FTAS are Bruce Glendening
and Robin Rentsch.
CCT Surveyed and (partially) signed south of
Vale. FairfaxCo. Park Authority staff (with FTAS-er Bev Dickerson
and other volunteers) recently erected CCT signs south of Vale
Road, along a newly-acquired easement that provides continuous
wooded right of way from Vale to the Difficult Run trailhead on
Miller Heights Rd. There is one problem: the right of way crosses
two Difficult Run tributaries at poor spots; we need to get volunteers
there to look at the locations and work with the Park Authority
to decide how to cross. The CCT signage stops at these crossings.
A poor crossing of a small stream has also delaying signage of
a newly-built CCT section at Oak Marr Recreation Center, from
the driving range area to Miller Heights Road (this section is
hikable in good weather).
Cross-County Trail/Hike Photos Needed for Caucus.
The Park Authority has asked for photos of events on the Cross
County Trail (hikes, trail clearing/building, litter cleanups),
for an exhibit at the Cross-CountyTrail Caucus on January 27.
Please reply with digital photos to this address (FairfaxTrails@aol.com),
or mail hardcopies to Fairfax Trails and Streams, 1532 Wrightson
Drive, McLean, VA 22101. Please identify people and date if possible.