Special Project Warrior Events
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What You Need to Know
Ongoing Events
Special Project Warrior events help citizens learn about and work on invasive plants in their parks without making the commitment to become full-fledged Certified Weed Warriors. Events are supervised by a Natural Resources Stewardship staff member or a trained Certified Weed Warrior. They take place throughout the year — on weekends and weekdays — in small and large parks throughout the County.
Come out and help us! Find out if more intensive non-native invasive work is your cup of tea. We will give you a brief orientation at each worksite and then let you get to work.
Search Volunteer Listings
- Are YOU interested in joining in a Special Project Weed Warrior project for a day? Click here to search the current individual volunteer listings.
- Is your GROUP interested in joining the fight? Click here to search the current group volunteer listings.
Do you have a group that would like to join in the effort? We may be able to accommodate you. Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator for more information and to register.
What You Need to Know
- You must register with our Volunteer Office to participate in Special Project Weed Warrior events
- No experience is necessary. We will train you on-site
- The minimum age for most projects is 14
- Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult
- We are Student Service Learning (SSL) approved
- Wear clothes that are good for working in the out-of-doors
- Bring gloves, pruners, and water - we will have extras on-site if you don't have them
- We work rain or shine, however, thunderstorms do cancel the project
Ongoing Events
To help fight the battle against invasive plants, we are looking for you to lend a helping hand! Join us for one of several invasive plant pull projects in a number of different M-NCPPC parklands. With the help of your muscle power, and hand tools, we will manually remove non-native vines and shrubs and save the mature trees and other native plants that the invasive plants are strangling and out competing. Your help during one of these projects could make a difference for years to come! Events are listed below and on the Park Events Calendar.
Capital Crescent Trail
The 1st Wednesday of the month - Rain or shine. October thru May at 10-11:30 AM - June through September projects run from 8:30 - 10 AM
Meet at the gravel parking lot at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave and Little Falls Parkway. Help us save the magnificent native trees along Little Falls Branch and the Capital Crescent Trail! Join Certified Weed Warrior Supervisor, David Brooks, as we manually remove the invasive vines from trees along this much-used trail. English ivy vines cover the trees, slowly killing them. The vines also harbor a bacterial leaf scorch that affects a wide variety of native and ornamental trees. Other invasive vines completely engulf the trees, shading them out and overburdening them with added weight, causing the trees to topple. - map
Little Falls Stream Valley Park
Two workdays a month through May. 8-10 AM - Rain or shine. January 7 & 21; February 11 & 25; March 10 & 17; April 14 & 28; May 5 & 19.
Meet at the gravel parking lot at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave. and Little Falls Parkway. Work in various locations on different plants in the section of Little Falls below River Road. Join Weed Warrior Supervisors, Lynnwood Andrews and Suzanne Richman, to manually remove the invasive vines from trees, pull garlic mustard or wineberry, or cut and pull other plants depending on the season and the weather. Your work will help preserve mature trees and maintain a healthy ecosystems for all native plants. - map
Ovid Hazen Wells Recreation Park
The 1st Tuesday of each month all year long - from 9AM to 11AM
Meet at Red Wiggler Community Farm 23400 Ridge Road, Germantown, MD 20876. Join Certified Weed Warrior Supervisor, Beth Van Leer, as we manually remove invasive plants and vines from the wetlands and woodland areas. Red Wiggler Community Farm has partnered with M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks at the Ovid Hazen Wells Park since 2006 on both wetland restoration and reforestation projects. These projects are working to build native integrity by providing much needed native nectar and wildlife habitat for our native species. Please join our efforts to establish these restoration areas and preserve one of Maryland's natural treasures! For reservations or inclement weather please call 301-916-2216.
Rachel Carson Greenway Trail / Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park below Burnt Mills Dam
The 4th Saturday of each month from 10 AM to 12 noon March through October. Event cancelled in the event of rain.
Meet at 10711 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20901 - the Burnt Mills WSSC parking lot where Route 29 crosses Northwest Branch (same side of the road as nearby Trader Joe's and California Tortilla). Join Weed Warrior Supervisor Larry Hush to manually remove invasive vines and other troublesome plants from the woodlands along Northwest Branch. You will hike along the rocky fall zone of the stream to the work area, Be prepared to walk on uneven trails for about 1/4 of a mile. This is a spectacular section of Northwest Branch, come help protect this Montgomery Parks treasure. - map
Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park
Dates, times and meeting locations in the park will vary - Rain or shine. Check the FOSC website at: http://www.fosc.org/RIPEventSched.htm for the latest schedule.
Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park is home to a large and active friends group called Friends of Sligo Creek (FOSC). Certified Weed Warrior Supervisors who are also FOSC members will lead invasive plant removal projects throughout the park. They need your help to strengthen their efforts to preserve the park’s large canopy trees. Please join them.
Underground Railroad Trail at Woodlawn Mansion
The 2nd Saturday of each month from 10AM to 12Noon all year long – Rain or shine.
Meet at the parking lot behind Woodlawn Mansion at 16501 Norwood Road. Join Montgomery County Parks Certified Weed Warrior Supervisor, Jeremy Arling and Montgomery County Sierra Club as we manually remove invasive vines from along the Underground RR Trail. - map
Contact Us
Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator for more information and to register for Weed Warrior events and classes.
Paul Carlson
Phone: 301-962-1343 or sign up by email at
Email : mcp-weedwarriors@mncppc-mc.org
back to top - Last update: January 12, 2012
Montgomery County Department of Parks