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Location: River Terrace Park on the Anacostia River in SE DC
Project Status: Enhancement actions started in 2024 and are still underway.
Project Overview:
DOEE has funded a wetland enhancement project at River Terrace in southeast Washington, DC. The project involves invasive treatment and native plantings in 11 acres of marsh and the riparian buffer in River Terrace Park. Additionally, the project seeks to enhance the visitor experience through community engagement and improved sightlines within the wetland and buffer. DOEE has issued a grant to Actaeon, LLC to complete the wetland enhancement project.
The River Terrace wetlands were created in 2003 as part of a project to restore 17 acres of freshwater tidal wetlands along the shore of the Anacostia River adjacent to Kingman Island. Like many urban wetlands, the River Terrace wetlands have suffered from ongoing pressure from non-native invasive species colonization, especially Phragmites australis, which degrades the habitat available for native fauna. The riparian buffer has been dominated by large invasive bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), which obscures views of the wetland and river.
Invasive management techniques for this project include traditional methods such as cutting and herbicidal application but also include the experimental use of solarization plots to explore low-tech, low-cost methods of Phragmites control.
Project Objectives:
- Improve the visitor experience to the River Terrace park area with an attractive, biodiverse natural area with interpretative signage and sightlines no longer obscured by invasive bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), and other non-native invasive (NNI) species
- Protect and improve wetland functions, including habitat for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), through invasive plant management and the restoration of greater than 85 percent native vegetation, and
- Find opportunities to increase community engagement with the wetland area through events such as community walks or trash clean-ups.
Project Area Map:
Contact Information:
Michelle Campbell
Environmental Protection Specialist
[email protected] | (202) 236-4432