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The Muddy Branch Alliance is working hard to protect the Muddy Branch stream for people and wildlife. Here’s what we achieved together between our annual meeting in September 2023 and our subsequent gathering in June 2024.

Shortly after our previous annual meeting, we released the Fall 2023 edition of “Wild Wanderers.” “Wild Wanderers,” an initiative led by our director and communications chair Julia Rasnake, encourages families to get outdoors, explore the watershed, and learn about interesting native plants.

Also in September of last year, we were invited to table at the open house event of the Izaak Walton League’s Rockville Chapter. Unfortunately that event was rained out by passing hurricane remnants. So instead, we created a LinkedIn page. We post about upcoming events, success stories, and fun things to know about our watershed. Be sure to follow us so you’ll see what we are talking about.

A little bit later in fall of last year, we got nationally famous when the Izaak Walton League featured a photo of our meadow in their Outdoor America magazine. That magazine reaches about 40,000 people across the country. If you haven’t seen our meadow, you are welcome to visit any time.

As 2023 rolled into October, we joined a sign-on letter. The Muddy Branch Alliance is a member of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, and we stood with our Coalition partners to comment on the Maryland Climate Pathway Report.

The weekend of October 7 and 8, we were very busy. Lauren Hubbard, the Alliance’s native plant consultant, and Janette Rosenbaum, the Alliance’s president, hosted a tour of the meadow. Despite another round of rain, 30 people showed up, and most of them stayed for two hours or more, enjoying a rare opportunity to see our water management systems in action. Meanwhile, Alliance director Katie Lucas was out tabling at MoCo Epic, where we provided snacks to folks enjoying bike trails through our watershed.

The following weekend we were out in the field again, hosting a trash pickup and weeding event at Malcolm King Park.

In November, we learned that a local resident, Benjamin Salb, had won an award for a wildlife photo he took along our trail. Then he wrote us a blog post about it. Next month he’s leading a workshop about it so more folks can learn how to find, identify, and take amazing photos of some of the smallest wildlife in our stream valley.

In December we set some exciting wins in motion. First, we joined another sign-on letter – this one from our neighbors, the Seneca Creek Watershed Partners – urging planners to incorporate native plants and restore native ecosystems in development projects. The final rule on that arrived in April of this year. It included requirements for federal officials to seriously consider…

• Avoiding development in floodplains or impacts to wetlands to the extent practicable
• Fostering protection of the natural environment by preserving ecosystems (including native ecosystems), avoiding development of green space, and promoting climate change adaptation planning
• And, advancing environmental justice and equitable development

That certainly is better than this rule could have been, and we are glad to have advocated for this one.

Also in December, we secured a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to work with HOAs and develop a replicable process for establishing conservation landscaping. This project builds on the success of our meadow, which was also funded by a CBT grant, and which was intended to serve as a demonstration of how to design and install a large-scale, low-maintenance native plant garden. Mission accomplished!

Shortly before we learned that we had won this follow-up grant, Lauren was already out talking to HOA Green Team leaders about how to establish pollinator gardens and other kinds of conservation landscaping. This spring, Lauren has been out in the community with Alliance director Roger Rasnake, visiting HOAs and creating concept plans for native plant gardens. The HOA boards are excited and we think they will commit to implementing those plans. This summer we expect to work with the HOAs to apply for another round of CBT grants that will fund the installation of the garden designs. Then this fall we will wrap up the current grant project by reflecting on our work with the HOAs and creating materials that other HOAs can use to more easily move through the process of planning and installing conservation landscaping. The ultimate goal is to fill our community with meadows that provide habitat, protect water quality, and fight back against invasive plants.

As the calendar turned over to 2024, Alliance director Guillermo Irahola and President Janette Rosenbaum were working on bringing our website up to date with the organization’s current priorities. Check us out and see what we’re working on! There are so many ways for everyone to get involved.

Among things you can do on our website, as of February you could find the Winter 2024 edition of “Wild Wanderers.” Those activity books are designed to download, print, and take with you as you explore our greenway.

Also in February, we joined no fewer than three sign-on letters from the Choose Clean Water Coalition. All three of the letters related to federal appropriation requests for Fiscal Year ‘25. In the first letter, we asked Congress to fund the Chesapeake Bay Program and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund from EPA, the Chesapeake WILD program from the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Chesapeake Bay Science and Monitoring program from US Geological Survey, and the Chesapeake program under the National Park Service. In the second letter, we asked for full funding for mandatory agriculture conservation programs, $1.2 billion for agriculture conservation technical assistance, no decrease in conservation funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, and fixes to the USDA inspection of wild-caught invasive blue catfish. Finally, in the third letter, we asked for funding for the Chesapeake Bay Office, which sits within NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In March, Alliance director and treasurer Mary Hlavinka led a Weed Warrior event at Malcolm King Park, and immediately followed it with a trash pickup event for fifth graders from Fields Road Elementary.

Also in March, we submitted a letter in support of a grant application from the City of Gaithersburg Environmental Services Department to fund an inclusive process for updating the sub-watershed plans.

Speaking of great things the City of Gaithersburg does, in April we received an Appreciation Award from the City. We believe we have won these awards every year since 2012, which is quite impressive, since we were founded in 2011, shortly after awards would have been presented in that year.

When presenting this year’s award, the mayor of Gaithersburg read this statement about our accomplishments in calendar year 2023:

“This past year, the Muddy Branch Alliance distributed 400 native trees and 1,000 native plants to members of the community. The Alliance continues to develop community education and engagement about the local ecosystem and wildlife through new installments of its Wild Wanderers program. The Alliance has also been instrumental in removing invasive species from local parks. Through its hands-on removal efforts and community engagement, the Alliance has raised awareness about the importance of invasive species management and helped stabilize areas of Malcolm King Park against non-native invasive plants. Furthermore, the Muddy Branch Alliance has played a vital role in monitoring salt levels in local streams. These monitoring efforts have provided valuable data that inform conservation strategies and policy decisions.”

Later in April and continuing into May, we kept right on doing the things the mayor had praised us for. Mary led two more weeding events at Malcolm King Park, while Roger, Lauren, and Janette pulled off the organization’s fifth annual native plant sale.

This year, we sold 1,507 native plants. For the fifth year in a row, that was all the plants we had. This helped 138 people in our community garden more sustainably. It was possible thanks to 16 volunteers, not counting the lead organizers, but including five students who gained SSL hours and valuable life experience. We also want to thank our partner groups, G-PARC and the Wild Ones.

On that note, we would like to thank our directors who are concluding their terms. Katie Lucas, Karl Van Neste, Donna Baron, and Ifor Williams have contributed to our organization throughout their time on the board, and we appreciate their service. Thank you also to everyone who showed up at the plant sale, the Weed Warrior events, the trash clean-ups, the tabling opportunities, and everything else the Alliance does throughout the year. You are the ones who make things happen.

How can you make more things happen in the coming year? As we refreshed our website, we created a new Get Involved page. Among other opportunities, we’re looking for volunteer scientists to monitor salt pollution in our stream, advocacy champions to talk to decision-makers about our priorities, and storytellers to write blog posts about why the Muddy Branch is important to you. All of these things help to advance our shared mission of ensuring that the surrounding streams, lakes, forests and parks are teeming with life, safe for families, pets and wildlife to enjoy, and that we have a community connected to preserving the area’s intrinsic beauty.

When my wife and I were thinking of putting an offer on a home in Gaithersburg, one of the first things I did was look at Google Maps to see how close it was to parks and trails. I was excited to see the neighborhood was adjacent to a city park that ran along Muddy Branch creek. The proximity to nature wasn’t the main reason we ultimately ended up buying the home, but it was a major bonus for me and my hobby: bug photography.

The first time I actually walked onto one of the trails leading to the creek, I knew I was going to become intimately familiar with the landscape. Just this past year I likely spent over 50 hours on and off trails, in the brush and in the forest. I know where damselflies spend the night. I know which logs six-spotted tiger beetles use for shelter. I know which bushes gnat ogre robber flies like to perch on. I know where to find the biggest wolf and fishing spiders. But even after a year of encounters, I’m still surprised and amazed by the variety of bugs I can find in just a few square feet. And there are SO many square feet to search.

For a macro photographer, the habitat around the Muddy Branch is a dream. But the quality of habitat is about so much more than photography. Our tiny invertebrate neighbors are critical to the ecosystem we all share. Given the amount of developed land in our area, they need the space more than we do. It’s their home.  

And I feel like I owe them. Since I moved to Gaithersburg, my photography hobby has transformed into something else entirely. Over the past year I’ve become an OM System (formerly Olympus) Ambassador, won international awards, and had my images viewed by millions of people through news/magazine articles and social media.

An image I took of a wolf spider mom with babies on her back recently won first place in The Nature Conservancy’s global photo contest, a massive contest with over 80,000 photographers. I’m always quick to share that the image was taken just down the road from my house, not on some exotic trek through the jungle.  

Because of my time in nature around Muddy Branch, I’ve been able to create a platform to advocate for insects, spiders, and our environment. I think the best thing I can do to pay back the bugs of the Branch is to continue to highlight their uniqueness, and introduce people in the community to the world of bug photography. The more appreciation, the more awareness.

How close is YOUR home to the Muddy Branch? Learn about trail access points.

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Wild Wanderers Fall Edition is here! Bring this family-friendly, self-guided activity with you on your next hike to deepen your observation skills and connect with your inner naturalist. You can download, view and print this nature learning activity.

Treat it like a scavenger hunt — all of the plants in this guided activity have been spotted recently on the Muddy Branch Trail. Use this guide to learn about their place in the ecosystem and deepen your connection to the wilderness around you.

Please share your wilderness finds with us on Instagram @MuddyBranchAlliance and Facebook at facebook.com/MuddyBranchAlliance using hashtag #MBAWildWanderers to join the conversation and perhaps be spotlighted! We will be shining the spotlight on our participants throughout the year on social media and in our newsletter!

This activity was made specially for the Muddy Branch community by board member and UMD Master Naturalist Julia Rasnake, LCSW-C 

The Muddy Branch Alliance is working hard to protect the Muddy Branch stream for people and wildlife. Here’s what we accomplished between our annual meeting in September 2022 and our subsequent gathering in September 2023.

Not even a full week after the 2022 annual meeting, we hosted a tour of our meadow at the Izaak Walton League national headquarters. Though the group that day was smaller than what we had seen at earlier similar events, our attendees were highly engaged and asked lots of great questions as we walked around the meadow and the lake.

 

The week after that, we tabled at the open house event of the Izaak Walton League’s Rockville Chapter. We talked to lots of visitors about compost, native plants, Salt Watch, and the Muddy Branch Trail.

In October of 2022, we tabled for MoCo Epic. From our location at the corner of Turkey Foot and Query Mill Roads, which is an access point to our trail, we served over 400 bike riders as they enjoyed outdoor recreation in our watershed.

In January we started off the new year by hosting a trash clean-up around Lake Varuna, in honor of the Martin Luther King Day of Service.

In February, Seneca Creek Watershed Partners distributed a sign-on letter regarding the redevelopment proposal for the Lakeforest Mall. We supported this effort to protect streams and forests in the Seneca Creek watershed on the north side of Gaithersburg. At least 34 advocates signed the letter and sent a copy to the mayor and council.

 

In March we held another successful tree giveaway event, sending over 400 young trees to new homes in our watershed.

In April we won an Environmental Achievement Award from the City of Gaithersburg. This award was specifically for the “Wild Wanderers” project, an initiative led by our director and communications chair Julia Rasnake. “Wild Wanderers” encourages families to get outdoors, explore the watershed, and learn about interesting native plants.

Not to be outdone, our director Karl Van Neste won an Individual Achievement Award for his work on road salt, and our long-time member Kevin Misener won an Individual Appreciation Award for his work leading stream monitoring initiatives, organizing trash clean-ups, and serving as a Weed Warrior. We also recognize and celebrate the Watts Branch Watershed Alliance, who won an Appreciation Award for a salt monitoring project they did in partnership with us.

 

Moving on through the spring, in May we hosted our fourth annual native plant sale. This year we engaged about 115 people in native plant gardening and welcomed 1,269 native plants to our community. This was made possible through the hard work of 19 volunteers, some of them members of the Muddy Branch Alliance and others pitching in on behalf of partner groups. We thank our two official partner groups, G-PARC and the Wild Ones, for their invaluable contributions to the success of our event.

This past spring also brought a new edition of the seasonal “Wild Wanderers” activity books from Julia, while in the summer our director and treasurer Mary Hlavinka led three Weed Warrior events in Malcolm King Park. We also took action on the proposed redevelopment of the historic missile site on Muddy Branch Road, which sits just above a stretch of our stream.

Rounding out the summer, we corrected a longstanding oversight and became an official partner in the Izaak Walton League’s Salt Watch program. Throughout the year, we had been monitoring at Route 28, Quince Orchard Road, Great Seneca Highway, and Lake Varuna, among other sites. In November of 2022, we submitted a memo asking the City of Gaithersburg to collect salt use data in terms of pounds per single lane mile, and in early 2023 we rapidly gathered over 300 signatures on a petition making a similar request. We will continue advocating for all of these priorities.

Finally, in August we submitted a grant application to develop a replicable process to help HOAs get started with native plant gardening. We look forward to a decision in December. That grant, if successful, would augment the healthy organizational funding we already have.

In the coming year, we’ll continue to pursue many initiatives to protect the health of our watershed and promote outdoor recreation around our stream. Your support makes our work possible!

 

This self-guided, family-friendly, seasonal nature activity will teach you about plants that can be found throughout our trails and in our backyards. You can print this document and use it as a coloring book and explorer’s journal! Record your finds in the scientific report box at the top of each page. Remember to keep the last page digital, to view color photos of these plants on your device.

We invite you to share your forest adventures with us! Take a picture of your wild self with your plant finds or artwork and tag us on Instagram @MuddyBranchAlliance and Facebook at facebook.com/MuddyBranchAlliance using hashtag #MBAWildWanderers to join the conversation and perhaps be spotlighted!

We ask that you please do not pick any plants that you find on the trail, but rather leave them to grow free. We also remind you that this is not a scientific identification guide, but rather a learning activity, and should not be used to help you forage plants for any reason.