Support Youth Conservation Internships during Spring2ACTion!

Wednesday, April 24, is Alexandria's Spring2ACTion giving day, an opportunity to support the work of local nonprofit organizations, including the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation. This year our $7,500 Spring2ACTion campaign supports paid internships for local youth!

Four Mile Run conservation interns work as a team on such tasks as woodland assessment, photographic wildlife surveys, invasive plant removal, water quality monitoring, and assistance with outdoor programs for children/youth. Through their experience, Four Mile Run conservation interns develop skills in natural resource conservation, field research, and leadership, and they have even co-authored scientific research (see the 2020 microplastics study in the Virginia Journal of Science).

Help build the future of conservation at Four Mile Run with a Spring2ACTion donation!

Kayak Clean-up Season Starts Next Month!

More daylight and warmer temperatures mean we'll be getting back on the water to keep Four Mile Run litter-free while experiencing the amazing nature found right here in the city. Kayak clean-up dates for May are posted below, so save the date! Dates for June/July will be added soon.

• Saturday, May 11, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, May 19, 9:00 a.m. to noon
  

Sign-ups will open at the end of this month; for each event, the sign-up opens 2-3 weeks ahead of time.

Nesting Gourds for Purple Martins!

As part of an initiative called Stretch Our Parks,  we partnered with the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia to install a Purple Martin nesting colony in the big meadow at Four Mile Run Park. Purple Martins are North America's largest swallows -- beautiful, acrobatic birds that swoop and dive, eating flying insects near water. They are migratory, spending their nesting/breeding season here, and overwintering in South America's Amazon River basin.

Purple Martins are also secondary cavity nesters: unlike woodpeckers, they do not excavate their own nests, but instead claim already-existing cavities like old woodpecker holes or natural cavities in dead trees or rock ledges. Thousands of years ago, people began providing man-made housing for the Purple Martins in the form of dried, hollow gourds. Over time, the birds nested successfully in these inviting homes, and now, most eastern Purple Martins nest in them.

More details and photos of volunteers at work installing the Purple Martin colony can be found in the ASNV news post. We hope these beneficial birds will move in at Four Mile Run later this spring!

Winter Stream Clean-ups

There are plenty of opportunities to explore lower Four Mile Run and help keep it clean this winter. Come out for one of our land-based clean-ups in Alexandria and Arlington.

• Saturday, January 27, 9:30am at Long Branch Creek in Troy Park, Arlington
  
• Sunday, February 11, 3pm, trail/shoreline starting from South Eads Street, Arlington
  
• Presidents Day Monday, February 19, 9:30am, Alexandria shoreline near Mount Vernon Avenue
• Saturday, March 2, 8:30am park/shoreline near Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria
  
• Saturday, March 16, 8:30am, Arlington shoreline near Mount Vernon Avenue
• Sunday, March 24, 3pm at Sunnyside tributary, west side of Four Mile Run Park

Details on these and other upcoming events are on the events calendar. Sign-ups open 2-3 weeks prior to each clean-up event.

 

Support Accessible Paddling Access with Comments to VMRC

Our accessible kayak/canoe launch project continues to move forward, and the permit request with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission is now open for public comment until Friday, February 2. Please consider submitting a comment in support of this needed public amenity!

Comments can be submitted at the VMRC website -- be sure to reference project # 20232538.