If you have been to one of the parks along the Anacostia River or walked along the Anacostia River Trail lately, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that one recent study found that park use has nearly doubled in the District of Columbia during the pandemic. The power of natural spaces to boost our mental health is more apparent and crucial than ever, and park managers are balancing enthusiasm about visitors with concerns about safe recreation and social distancing.
Read MoreMuch of the work that the Collaborative has accomplished over the past years has been due to the support of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network's Capacity Building Initiative. Administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, this three-year comprehensive program provided support to APACC and other watershed organizations throughout the region through grants, one-on-one training, networking, and tailored technical assistance to increase operational effectiveness. In our third year of this program, the Collaborative has accomplished a lot!
Read MoreAPACC is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with it’s internal relief fund. Three projects were recently approved for emergency support as our networks mobilize to share information, trace contacts, build internal capacity to work from home, support residents, engage our community and restore the river during this crisis.
Read MoreA group of black environmental leaders from around the world, including several leaders active in the Anacostia River watershed, have published this statement in which they demand an end to the systemic and pervasive racism within the environmental field.
Read MoreMichael Bochynski (Clean Water Fund, fiscal agent to APACC and steering committee member) provides a reflection on the pandemics of COVID-19 and racism, with an update on APACC’s shared policy agenda.
Read MoreDanielle Burs, chair of the Anacostia Park & Community Collaborative’s Policy Working Group, submitted testimony to the Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Recreation and Youth Affairs Virtual Public Oversight Hearing on the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Read MoreThe Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative has updated it’s meeting schedule for the year, and these meetings have been posted on our calendar of upcoming events.
Read MoreClean Water Action and Clean Water Fund are seeking a full-time Regional Director to oversee our programs in the Chesapeake region.
Read MoreMayor Bowser announced that starting this week, the National Park Service (NPS) and the United States Park Police (USPP) will close Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park and roads in Anacostia Park and Fort Dupont Park to vehicle traffic so that residents can access these roads for essential exercise.
Read MoreWith non-essential services shutting down and people staying at home, parks became an obvious destination to get out of the house, get some fresh air, shake off that cabin fever, and relax a little in the face of a crisis while still maintaining “physical distancing” recommendations. Yet at the same time that leaving the house became less encouraged, it suddenly seemed like everyone was going to the park. As the Times reported, “Too many people were socially distancing in the same places, and therefore not at all.”
Read MoreAPACC member organizations have been sharing resources that can support you and other community members during this crisis and we have compiled them here. If you have additions to this page, please email mbochynski [at] cleanwater .org.
Read MoreThe Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative recently hosted a webinar featuring Marianne Krasny, founder of the Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab. The online event introduced the principles of “Civic Ecology,” a practice grounded in the overlap between community development and environmental restoration. You can download the materials from the webinar event and watch a recording of the event.
Read MoreAs roomfuls of professionals discuss plans for the Anacostia River and postulate how restoration of the river and its parks might also help lift up under-served residents, we need to recognize that we are being paid to have those conversations.
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