Arlington, Virginia is the most urban county in the United States. Less than two percent of its land is natural– the rest has been developed. Yet even here, there are islands of wild. I watch over the land in about 10 acres within Arlington County. One parcel of that land is Windy Run Park. The other is within the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP) adjacent to Windy Run Park.

The GWMP is part of the national park system, managed by the National Park Service. It stretches the length of Arlington County along the Potomac River (it is the green ribbon on the map below). The science of Restoration Ecology has identified a key influencer in the ability of urban ecosystems to survive over time is whether or not they are connected to other natural areas. The scientists call this having “biodiversity corridors.” A sad aspect of the state of invasive invasion along the Potomac is that the natural function of the river and its shoreline as a biodiversity corridor is severely reduced.

The area I work in is only a subset of the entire GWMP, and consists of from the Windy Run waterfall to about 1/2 of the way to Donaldson Run. Based on my work, I believe that it is quite feasible to restore the entire Virginia waterfront in Arlington.

Throughout the time I have worked along the river, I have tried to sort out how to know whether what I do is having any longer-term impact. The process of removing entrenched invasives is time consuming and difficult. And everything grows back after it is removed the first time. So it is essential in any long term plan to have the time/cost of maintenance (e.g. after something is removed the first time) to be far less than the initial time/cost. But how can that be quantified and understood? What techniques result is less regrowth overall and longer time to regrowth?

I decided to learn how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to work this issue. My first steps were to map the areas I work in detail. Here is an example of one area, just north of Windy Run.

I will write more about this in the future, but I now track every work trip — what I have done and how long I spent. So I am beginning to create a database that can help determine impact and effectiveness of different approaches. The below map shows recent activity in the area I have worked the longest— just north of Windy Run. Based on my initial evaluation, I am finding that in the area I am working, restoration can be successful.