When Bob Ehrlich and George Bush teamed up in 2003 to fast-track the
ICC, oil was selling at about $40 a barrel, and the nation's
consciousness of global warming was only dawning.
But now oil costs more than $130 a barrel, and gas costs more than $4 a
gallon. The Federal Highway Trust Fund is forecast to be bankrupt in
2009, and Maryland faces its own fiscal crisis. The Chesapeake Bay is
decades behind in its recovery, and most of Maryland still fails to meet
the federal clean air standards for smog and fine particle pollution.
And there's growing evidence that climate change is accelerating and
that Maryland and the Bay are especially vulnerable.
Isn't it time for Maryland to rethink its transportation priorities and
pull the plug on the ICC?
*****
Please Forward This Invitation Far and Wide!
Join Us Saturday -- June 28
Come Hike the Beautiful Upper Paint Branch Watershed.
Come see for yourself how close the ICC would pass to Drew Elementary.
Hear expert presentations on critical issues and share your ideas.
Come be inspired! See what so many people are working so hard to protect!
This is easy terrain and can be managed by children, so bring the kids!
And bring your friends, neighbors and colleagues, too!
Time: 10:00am to Noon
Join us for an easy educational hike of the Paint Branch Stream Valley
Park beginning at Charles R. Drew Elementary School Please arrive by
9:45am.
Noon Lunch, slide show presentation, Q & A, and discussion at Drew
Elementary
Join us for one or both!
Place: Charles R. Drew Elementary School
1200 Swingingdale Drive
Silver Spring
The forests that shelter the Upper Paint Branch and two of its
healthiest tributaries -- Gum Spring and Good Hope streams
Directions are below. So is a list of things to bring.
Hike and Presentation Sponsors Include
The Anacostia Watershed Society, Audubon Naturalist Society, Clean Water
Action, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Community Research, Eyes of Paint
Branch, Friends of the Earth, Maryland Native Plant Society, Neighbors
of Northwest Branch, Sierra Club
About Drew Elementary, Air Pollution and the ICC
The ICC would pass within about 90 yards from the playing fields of Drew
Elementary School, exposing children and staff, and the neighboring
community, to air pollutants that have been linked to a wide array of
diseases.
About the Hike and the Upper Paint Branch Special Protection Area
The forested stream valley we'll hike borders on the playing fields of
Drew Elementary and shelters the Gum Springs and Good Hope tributaries
of the Paint Branch. This wonderful natural area is a true ecological
gems and ground zero for the ICC.
Good Hope and Gum Springs are two of the healthiest streams in the
Anacostia Watershed and the Washington region, thanks largely to the
survival of wetlands and large tracts of mature forest in the area that
we'll hike..... and thanks to the tireless efforts of Eyes of Paint
Branch and other groups to save those forests and wetlands.
These streams and the forest that shelter them are so vital to the
Anacostia's recovery that Montgomery County established the Upper Paint
Branch Special Protection Area -- and designation that State Highway
would like to ignore.
The forests we'll hike abound with oaks, hickories, tulip poplars,
sassafras, sycamores, mountain laurel, spice bush, native azaleas,
dogwoods and honey suckle, and many others native species.
Standing among hardwoods that soar more than 100 feet from the forest
floor, listening to the stream and to the sweet, flute-like song of the
wood thrush, you might like you're in nature's cathedral and gain a
deeper sense of how precious this area is.
The Paint Branch is the only stream in the region to shelter a
self-sustaining trout population. Trout thrive only in cool, clean,
healthy streams and are considered a sensitive indicator species.
About the Lunch Time Slide Show and Discussion
Experts will be on hand to present information and answer questions on
this $3+ billion highway's potential impacts on the environment, public
health, working families, and Maryland's ability to invest in wiser
priorities.
We'll cover:
• Energy
• Global Warming
• Public Health
• Transportation Finances and Priorities
• Watersheds and the Bay
The slide show will be followed by question-and-answer and discussion.
Please RSVP ASAP and....
* Spread this invitation far and wide!
* Bring family, friends, neighbors and colleagues!
* Bring still cameras, video cameras.... and a sense of wonder.
* It's fine to show up without RSVPing, but we would like to know
roughly how many folks to expect.
For More Information or to RSVP
Write or call Suchitra Balachandran at: cp_woods@yahoo.com
Things to Bring
* Plenty of water or other liquids to drink.
* Lunch or substantial snack. Please avoid or minimize disposables.
* Binoculars.
* Cameras -- still and video (Help us a create a beautiful display of
the natural beauty threatened by the ICC!)
* Guides to local flora and fauna.
* Note pads or note books.
Directions to Drew Elementary
Driving North on New Hampshire Avenue....
* Roughly 1.1 miles north of Randolph Road, turn right onto Cape May
Road. Cape May will dead end into Good Hope Road.
* Turn right onto Good Hope Road.
* Just past Good Hope Union United Methodist Church, turn right onto
Twig Road.
* Turn right onto Cavendish Drive.
* Take the first right onto Swingingdale Drive.
* You'll then be looking at Drew Elementary and the forests that shelter
Paint Branch's Good Hope tributary.
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Want to Help Stop the ICC?
Whatever you skill or interest, chances are, we have a job for you!
Write to: stoptheicc@igc.org
Be sure to type "Volunteer" in the subject line.
