Bulldozers Poised to Destroy Rachel Carson Meadow in North Four Corners Park

By Carole A. Barth

Will this be the last spring in Rachel Carson Meadow? The last time to see the delicate fringe of the daisy fleabane flowers or to smell the heavenly scent of the black locust blossoms? The last leaf-out for the 190-year old walnut tree? Is it the end for the wishing tree, the place where the fairies dance, and firefly alley?

Montgomery Parks is proceeding with its plan to chop down most of the trees (including a tree that may be the county champion black cherry tree) to convert this six-acre green oasis into a soccer field and 50-car parking lot. The revised plan calls for “saving” the walnut tree, but even if it survives construction, it is unlikely to survive with its critical root zone under the soccer field run-out. At the same time, the park’s existing youth soccer field would be converted to a “natural area” or “civic green” (translation: a lawn).

If Parks staff succeed in their goal, the end result after spending roughly $6 million will be lost green space and no additional soccer fields gained. This is the opposite of a win-win outcome. It is lose-lose. Silver Spring and Takoma Park residents will lose a very well-loved and well-used green space. Soccer players will lose as well, because the money budgeted to build this single field could instead have renovated 11 fields.

The branches of the 190-year-old walnut tree in Rachel Carson Meadow would overhang the new soccer field planned by the Parks Dept. The existing soccer field would be removed, meaning $4.2M spent without actually adding another soccer field.

This is why the project has been opposed by the Montgomery County Civic Federation, the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board, all of the Four Corners civic associations, residents of the Oaks Independent Living Facility, over 600 neighborhood residents who signed a petition, the Takoma Soccer League Commissioner, and many other individual citizens around the County.

Unswayed by this opposition, Parks requested $4.2 million dollars in state Program Open Space (POS) funding for this project. The District 19 State Delegation was successful in blocking this use of POS money; however, Parks has simply re-allocated the POS funding to other projects and taken the money from those projects to fund the soccer field.

Nonetheless, despite having been ignored, patronized, and disrespected for 13 years, the Northwood-Four Corners community has not given up. We’re still pursuing our vision of a win-win solution. Our vision includes a flexible, multi-use park with active and passive amenities for all ages, designed in a way which showcases and enhances the site’s natural resources. Our vision also includes a five-point plan for increasing the number of playable adult soccer fields in Silver Spring and Takoma Park.

On Sunday, 2 June 2013, we will again gather for Rachel Carson Meadowfest: Celebrating a Sense of Wonder in North Four Corners Park. An exciting new addition to this year’s festival will be a performance by Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra and an appearance by the green man and green woman. These “spirits of the forest” will join us in a ceremony to honor all that this place has meant to County residents and to celebrate the wishing tree, the spot where the fairies dance, and firefly alley. Come join us for the festival and join us in our effort to save the meadow.

Want to Help?

Ask the County Council to save the meadow (see contact information in the President’s Message on page 2). Call, email, write, tweet, or post on Council members’ Facebook pages. Spread the word. Ask your friends to contact the Council, too. Write letters to the editor and post them on your Facebook page. Watch the list serve and NFCCA web page for more ideas. Bottom line, be a Lorax: if we don’t speak for the trees, who will? ■