Despite my plea, Arlington did not enjoy their meadow, instead they murdered it

Two years ago, the Arlington County Board voted not to build a small connector trail between the W&OD Trail and Carlin Springs Road. They did so at the behest of the Buckingham Community Civic Association, which was concerned with protecting the "meadow" which the trail would replace. 

Saying they believed it was unnecessary, the County Board today voted 4 to 1 to deny a permit sought by the County to build a Connector Trail to the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail at North Carlin Springs Road. County staff had sought the permit, in partnership with the Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority, to build an eight-foot-wide, 220-foot-long trail for cyclists and pedestrians. Residents had complained that the proposed paving would degrade an existing open area.

“We need to protect and enhance open space,” said Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Walter Tejada, who described himself as a “fanatic” cyclist. He and fellow cyclist Board Member Jay Fisette said they believed there were adequate trails in the area.

Well, recently the meadow was clear cut to control invasive species. 

Though preserved at the time, the meadow was recently mowed down and stripped of most plant life. A sign indicates that it was done by Dominion as part of its invasive species control measures along power line right-of-ways, like the W&OD Trail.

Though I'm sure it will grow back.

Comments

[Ren]

Clear-cutting invasive plants does not equate to murder in my book. Instead, it shows a willingness to do what is necessary to allow a native meadow to thrive. I'm not sure what the plan is there but I will be paying attention to it. Pulling invasives by hand is hard, hard work and much work has gone into establishing a productive invasives plan with Dominion along the W&OD. I pull invasives for hundreds of hours each year and it is starting to get to me. I can only speak for myself and I do not live in Buckingham, but I do ride through that area in ways that would benefit from the nonexistent connector and am personally more than happy to ride a little extra for a meadow. Hopefully in the future, as a result of this work, I'll be able to do so while admiring some Lepidoptera, birds, and native plants.

[washcycle]

Yes. The title is hyperbolic, and a bit tongue in cheek.

The point is that the Board didn't vote to preserve some meadow, they (unwittingly) voted to build a meadow on a former railroad line that was then a construction staging area and for the last ~17 years has become a place filled with invasive species. That's fine if that's what they want, but it's not the same as saving a meadow.

[DE]

The objection of preserving the "meadow" rather than a making the desire trail and official trail was always specious. Some people hear anything about "bicycle" and just go mental in their opposition.

[DE]

I sound like a damned illiterate. Edit function for us idiots, please. Since I can't seem to read my own posts until they're posted. :)

[MB]

Seriously, it was about throwing some asphalt down on an already well-established desire-line path through a bunch of high grass and weeds.

The opposition to this did not come from anti-bicycle people. By "Buckingham Civic Association" we mean its bike-riding (seriously, everywhere) president and a handful of permeable-surface/open-space fanatics (some of whom also ride bikes quite a bit). Given that it was such an obvious good (already in the plan, cheap & easy, supported by staff, etc.) the advocates didn't think they'd need to spend too much time countering the specious opposition.

Well. Lesson learned.

(Sort of. Look at what just happened up on Washington Boulevard.)

[DE]

There are pervious pavements. They've even been used for bike paths. However, I am suspicious of people who claim to worry about runoff from a bike lane when half the county is paved over and much of the rest of it has houses too large for their plots. I hike most of the stream valleys in Arlington and have even kayaked a few, and all of them are ravaged from excessive runoff. This isn't because we have too many bike trails.

[David Hothem]

Although I don't know the details, when I was discussing doing an Adopt-a-Spot near the Bluempont caboose in April, the Arlington parks department person said there was a longer term to plan to re-vegetate the corridor with desirable species. Fighting porcelain berry, etc is pretty much a hopeless task without massive use of herbicides, but at least they are trying. If you want to help make it more successful, please contact the parks dept about volunteer opportunities.

Also, please remember that if it weren't being used as a Dominion Power right-of-way we might not have the trail at all. The rail line was abandoned in 1968, and rail-banking did not come into effect until 1983