2026
“Dear PoPville,
I live in the Navy Yard and enjoy running the trail in Anacostia Park. It’s always been delightful to have our own little slice of urban wildlife along the riverfront.
This week during a run, it was impossible not to notice how the riverfront has been destroyed.
It appears that NPS clear cut the formerly protected meadow area that runs along the shore, mowing over all of the plants, including milkweed, that created what used to be a lovely natural space with its own little ecosystem of flora and fauna. And they constructed this metal fencing the entire length of the shoreline. I plan to inquire with NPS, but I don’t have high hopes of getting a response. Perhaps your readers can opine on this disaster. Maybe there’s some good reason – but I can’t imagine what it is. The fencing extends along the park to other seemingly pointless locations. Photo below show the contrast from 2023 to now.”
2023