Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 22:58:44 -0500
From: Morgan/Rodenbeck
<Dogfood@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock Creek Park March/Rally Announcement
Put Mother's Day, May 10 on your calendar. That's when hundreds of bicyclists, skaters, joggers, walkers, equestrians, gardeners, and other park users from throughout the Washington area will descend on the nation's premiere urban national park to deliver our message to the National Park Service: "Rock Creek Park -- 7 Days a Week!"
This is the year when the National Park Service is deciding the fate of Rock Creek Park for decades to come. When the park's general management plan is adopted next fall, will we have a real park every day of the week, or will it continue to be a commuter highway?
Join the 21 organizations of the People's Alliance for Rock Creek (PARC) to celebrate Rock Creek Park -- not only for what it is, but what it can be. That means better trails, more environmental protection, and less automobile traffic!
PARC's event will include a march/ride across historic Boulder Bridge, followed by a rally near the weekend car-free zone on Beach Drive. Activities will include speeches, live music, poetry, art show, a "stroller brigade," and a nature walk for kids. We'll be there rain or shine!
March/ride participants should assemble at 1:00 PM sharp in Sunday, May 10 at one of the following assembly points:
The rally begins at 2:00 PM in Picnic Area #28, at the corner of Broad Branch and Glover Rds., NW. That's just a few steps from the southernmost gate that closes Beach Drive on weekends, and 1/3 mile north of Peirce Mill. The rally site is just a 1-mile walk from Van Ness Metro station via Soapstone Valley Trail, behind Calvert-Woodley Liquor.
The purpose of the march/rally is to tell the National Park Service that we don't want a status quo plan for Rock Creek Park, which all indications tell us is where they are headed. That would only mean more traffic, more noise, and more road kill -- instead of more nature and more recreation!
There is an alternative! The 21 organizations in PARC have each endorsed a plan called "Alternative 2 1/2," which would improve trails and increase public access and protection of Rock Creek Park's natural resources. And it would create permanent auto-free zones on Beach Drive -- thereby discouraging rush-hour traffic in favor of wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities -- every day of the week!
So take a stand for Rock Creek Park -- Seven Days a Week! Come and join us on Mother's Day, May 10. Bring your mom! Or, if you are the mom, bring your family!
Volunteers for the march/rally are urgently needed now to help with publicity such as weekend leafleting in Rock Creek Park. To find out what you can do, call WABA at (202) 628-2500, or send an e-mail to <bfakaren@transact.org>. See http://www.waba.org for more information.
[People's Alliance for Rock Creek (PARC) includes the following organizations: American Discovery Trail Society, American Hiking Society, Audubon Naturalist Society, Bicycle Federation of America, Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail, D.C. Bicycle Courier Association, DC Road Runners Club, Friends of Meridian Hill, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Rock Creek Horse Centre, League of American Bicyclists, Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, Montgomery County Road Runners Club, Reed-Cooke Neighborhood Association, Road Runners Club of America, Scenic America, Sierra Club--New Columbia Chapter, Sierra Club--Montgomery County Group, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Washington Area Roller Skaters, Washington Parks and People.]