30 H East of the River | May 2009

by John R. Wennersten

Watts Branch, one of the few uncovered and un-piped tributaries of the Anacostia River, starts in Capitol Heights and continues into the District. It flows through several economically distressed communities in the far northeast

section of the District into Marvin Gaye Park. Beginning at 63rd St. NE, Marvin Gaye Park winds 1.5 miles

along Watts Branch through what Washington Park authorities call “arguably the longest continuous African-American commu-nity in the country.” According to Steve Coleman, administrator of Washington Parks and People programs, there have been black landowners in this section of northeast DC, since the original patentees settled Maryland under the jurisdiction of England’s King Charles II in 1696.

The Transformation of Watts BranchUntil recently, residents were unwilling to wade in Watts

Branch stream in Anacostia. They feared tramping on drug nee-dles. Watts Branch was the site of a heroin market where DC officials were reluctant to enter without an armed police escort. The watershed was strewn with garbage and trash. Trucks came in broad daylight and illegally tipped concrete, landfill and other debris from construction sites around the city.

Times have changed, however, and the citizens of Ward 7 are now making positive efforts to improve Watts Branch in terms of water quality, rubbish, storm water erosion, and recreational opportunities. “Watts Branch is a whole lot cleaner and safer than it used to be,” says Rebecca Stamps, a local community leader. “Gangs have taken their crime somewhere else because we are using our park. Kids play here, ride their bikes and relax with mov-ies in summer at the outdoor amphitheater. We also have a mayor who knows where Watts Branch is,” she adds.

Basically, the people and kids of Watts Branch fought to

the View fromWATTS BRANCH

Marvin Gaye Park sparks an environmental transformation

Dennis Chestnut of Washington Parks & People shows Earth Day volunteers what trash looks like.

Photo: Andrew Lightman

capitalcommunitynews.com H 31

retake their watershed from the drug lords, dumpers and other villains. The families of Ward Seven got fed up with the killings and heroin. They realized that by restoring Watts Branch as a civil place for families and children, they were not merely participat-ing in the luxury of enviro-restoration. They were reclaiming their home place.

The bottom line to the story of Watts Branch has been a de-cade-long 50,000 volunteer effort organized by Washington Parks and People to build Marvin Gaye Park and restore Watts Branch. According to Steve Coleman of Washington Parks and People, “it was the kids of Ward 7 who dreamed the impossible dream of a sane home place for Watts Branch.” Working with Steve Coleman, scores of young middle school and high school kids got permission from the DC government to set up a Saturday Fruit and Vegetable market at Watts Branch Park. They set up their stands early, long before the drug lords got their heroin market into operation. The kids intimidated the thugs. And a swelling throng of shoppers forced the drug lords to seek a new area. Adds Steve Coleman, kids and “oldsters” who remembered better times in the area worked in tandem to reclaim an area that the DC government had given up on.

Making a reality of the “invisible park” Not so long ago everybody seemed to write off Watts Branch

except the kids. They had what Coleman calls “the invisible park in their heads,” a perception of what Watts Branch should look like. By removing trash and cutting out invasive plants, volunteers opened up the sight lines for the environmental vision and a “visible park” began to emerge. Changing the name of Watts Branch Park to Marvin Gaye Park was a masterful political and environmental stroke. Gaye once sang in a nightclub that is now the Community Center of Washington Parks and People. Volunteers began to imag-ine the park as a center for song and entertainment. They construct-ed a makeshift amphitheater on a hillside for talent shows for kids and adults from Ward 7 and the dream started to become reality.

Dennis Chestnut of Washington Parks & People addressesEarth Day Volunteers.Photo by Andrew Lightman

32 H East of the River | May 2009

Coleman and his corps of kids and adults pulled five million pounds of trash and 13,000 hypodermic needles out of the stream and opened up a two-mile trail leading down to the Anacostia River. Public pro-gramming of events and activities in Watts Branch is still a struggle, says Steve Coleman. Funds for the watershed park’s upkeep have been scarce, save for the efforts of volunteer organizations. Councilman Yvette Alexander of Ward 7 notes that what has happened to Watts Branch has been “almost magi-cal. We want this park to be used by all the citizens of the District, not just Ward 7.”

Lingering Problems and Viable GreenspaceAlthough Watts Branch is no longer “the Wild,

Wild East,” there are crime pockets along the water-shed. “Drugs are still a problem, just more hidden,” reports John Peacock, a Division Ave. resident. But for observant citizens like Rebecca Stamps, the neighbor-hoods around Watts Branch are safer than they were. Watts Branch no longer endures the “perfect storm” of government ambivalence, aggressive polluters, crime, and lack of public dialogue. Jim Collier, a retired DC Health Department official, regularly prowls Watts Branch in gumboots with a clipboard. “The biological contamination of Watts Branch through sewage is not anywhere near as bad as it was ten years ago,” he says. “But the trash is worse because of plastic bags.” Collier, however, is surprised at how many people will seek him out when he is down in the stream-bed to tell him how much they care for Watts Branch and the Anacostia.

“The watershed is still transitioning,” says Den-nis Chestnut of Groundwork Anacostia, DC. “Out of debris, garbage and landfill, local residents have created something of value.” Watts Branch and Marvin Gaye Park have become a “viable green space vital for community stabilization and civic pride,” Chestnut points out. “A restoration project like Watts Branch can create jobs and we can use environmental restoration to improve the quality of life for our kids.”

Green Outreach and Watts BranchLast month Mayor Fenty announced that a

major green outreach program involving hundreds of school age children will take place this summer in the District. The “Mayor’s Conservation Corps” will provide kids with jobs to clean up parks and stage community events to help raise environmental consciousness. Specifically, around 200 youths are slated to work in the Watts Branch tributary to help the waters run clean and unobstructed by sediment piles and rubbish. This will all be part of the mayor’s “Green Summer Program” funded in part by Presi-dent Obama’s federal stimulus package. This sum-mer some 27 different funding sources in the Dis-trict government will be brought to bear on Watt’s Branch and other areas “to help green Washington.” According to District Director of the Environment, George Hawkins, “This is all part of our effort to rescue the city as a green space. We have to believe in our city as the suburbs are no longer something we

can believe in. We must also now recognize the eco-nomic impact of green programs in our neighbor-hood through jobs and other revitalization efforts.”

Recently the DC Department of the Environ-ment reported the beginning of a $5 million stream banks revitalization program for Watts Branch. The District will stabilize, regrade, and replant some 1.9 miles of Watts Branch to strengthen and beautify the stream bank. This will be a showcase, George Hawkins says, one of the largest stream bank sta-bilization programs in the United States that is all of one piece. “Green summer,” he notes, “is the start at a new effort at community outreach. We want schools, organizations and interested individuals to check our web site at www.Green.DC.gov. We are more than willing to send our people out to talk to community groups about our new green initiatives for Watts Branch,” says Hawkins.

Towards the FutureOne major environmental fact emerges when you

walk the Watts Branch Trail into Kenilworth Park. With the exception of the national mall, there is more green park space east of the Anacostia River than in any other part of the District. If Washington is to be a glorious national green showcase, it will be because of the Anacostia River and Watts Branch. Says Yvette Alexander, “I still have a very strong hope of one day seeing a clean, crystal blue Anacostia River.”

For more information go to www.Green.DC.gov H

Some of the young people, who demanded a better Watts Branch Park. Photo by Washington Parks & People. Two young volunteers try on wading boots for size. Photo by Andrew Lightman

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