We provide educational programs, nature walks, and other activitities. D**e Marsh, in Alexandria, VA, is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. During the last half of the twentieth century, the growth of the Washington area led to pressures on environmentally sensitive areas, including D**e Marsh. Plans were developed to again use the marsh as a dumping area, this time as a depository fo
r dredged river spoil. (In the 1930's, construction scrap was heaped into the marsh). In 1975, a group of local people decided to form a non-profit organization for the purpose of cooperating with the U.S. National Park Service in promoting the well-being of the marsh. Since then the Friends have continued to work as an educational group, holding quarterly open meetings, publishing a newsletter known as The Marsh Wren, raising money to sponsor scientific studies of the marsh and conducting weekly nature walks. The Friends also play an activist role, opposing inappropriate activities that impinge on the health of the marsh as a wildlife habitat. Many volunteers compile and organize data to serve as a basis for preserving the integrity of the marsh. Our members devote hundreds of hours in the field to complete our annual Breeding Bird Survey that helps us understand avian life in the D**e Marsh Wildlife Preserve
