Did you know that the District of Columbia is home to large tracts of forest and national parks? Washington boasts several wetlands, almost 1,000 acres of parkland, and two rivers - the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, along with Rock Creek. These areas provide home and shelter to a wide variety of wildlife species. DC is home to such animals as red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and migratory warblers. The District Department of the Environment is responsible for conserving these valuable habitats and the species that use them.

In order to identify what species are living here, and to better manage these limited areas, the Department of the Environment (DDOE) developed the District Wildlife Action Plan. Staff biologists worked with many other agency partners, such as the National Park Service, the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, the US Geological Survey, the US Arboretum and others, to utilize the best scientific expertise in the area for this important plan. Wildlife projects are carried out to determine overall diversity and abundance of wildlife and to prescribe actions to conserve species and their habitat. Conservation is a proven way to protect animals before they become rarer and more costly to protect.

During the Spring and Fall you can find DDOE bird expert Dhananjaya, searching the thick woods of Rock Creek Park identifying all the birds he can see and hear. While conducting the city-wide Bird Monitoring Program, he carefully records every bird he identifies, along with their individual characteristics: color, shape, size, male or female. Another wildlife biologist, Betty, spends her days humanely trapping small mammals to determine information such as weight, age, gender, overall health, and more. All together, there are four wildlife biologists in the Department who carry out the Wildlife Action Plan to gather basic data on wildlife and their habitats.

In May 2007, DDOE participated in National Geographic’s BioBlitz: a 24 hour species inventory of everything living in the City, both plants and animals. A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of scientists, volunteers, and community members join forces to find, identify, and learn about as many local species as possible. The 2007 Rock Creek Park BioBlitz was the first of ten annual BioBlitzes to be conducted around the nation by National Geographic in partnership with the US National Park Service.

Teams found and identified 666 unique species in Rock Creek, plus several more that have not yet been identified. All this in just one of our urban parks!

Still in development, the Wildlife Action Plan has expanded to now include an impressive variety of new programs, including the following.

• The Backyard Habitat Program – is a network of community educational and outreach efforts to attract wildlife to residential yards while increasing property values and providing benefits to wildlife, especially birds.
• Herptofauna monitoring – surveys conducted to determine the diversity and abundance of amphibians and reptiles, such as frogs and turtles.
• Invasive species monitoring – evaluation of non-native species that change the character of habitat and eliminate or decrease native plants and animals through competition.
• Invertebrate monitoring – surveys to determine the diversity and abundance of non-vertebrate species, such as butterflies and beetles.
• Wildlife Education Program - educational activities to inform residents of the types of wildlife present in the city and how to conserve them.

Canada Goose Management Plan

As part of the Wildlife Action Plan, DDOE and the National Park Service developed a Resident Goose Management Plan. Canada Geese are often perceived as a nuisance because they taint soil with their droppings, which makes park visits unpleasant and unhealthy due to bacteria and pathogens. Canada Geese are migratory birds, but many have adapted and become year-round residents creating a year-round problem. These resident geese are now over- populating the area due to an abundance of food and a lack of predators. Besides leaving dirty fecal matter on yards and parks, they destroy valuable wetlands by over-grazing beneficial wetland plants. For example, the District Department of the Environment has invested millions of dollars to reconstruct Kingman Lake (along the Anacostia River) and the vegetative plantings have been nearly destroyed by grazing geese. To successfully restore our local wetlands, DDOE will assist the National Park Service in enacting a Goose Management Plan for Anacostia Park.

Biologists monitor resident Canada Goose populations within Anacostia Park and perform egg-oiling control methods to halt egg reproduction and to control population numbers. Goose management efforts will directly improve water quality, and will indirectly benefit native plants and animal diversity. For example, the re-establishment of Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica), a native wetland plant along the Anacostia is expected to benefit the Sora (Porzana carolina), an aquatic bird listed as a species of greatest conservation need.

As you can see, the Wildlife Action Plan serves as guide for DDOE in conserving wildlife species. This places the District Department of the Environment in the unique position to serve as the premiere agency to educate, inspire, and encourage residents to conserve and protect wildlife species in our highly urban environments. The Plan can be viewed in its entirety on our website. It is a living document that will be updated and changed as technology improves.