Treehugger Tuesday

From the website "Mother Nature Network":

The once hopelessly polluted Anacostia River is making a comeback
Krista Schlyer is photographing the people, wildlife and landscapes of America's 'forgotten' river.
Jaymi Heimbuch
January 3, 2017, 7:34 a.m.

The Anacostia River joins the Potomac River and flows into our nation's capital. But despite the prestigious location, it has suffered years of abuse. (Photo: Krista Schlyer)

Among the many rivers that course through the United States, there's one that flows right into our nation's capital as it joins the Potomac River. Yet despite the prestigious location, it has been nicknamed “the forgotten river.”

The Anacostia River has endured centuries of abuse. It runs 8.7 miles from Bladensburg, Maryland, to the District of Columbia. From the time that Europeans first arrived, development has cleared its wetlands, clogged its banks and poured sediment, agricultural waste, industrial pollution and raw sewage into the water.

Once teeming with fish and clear water, the river is but a bedraggled ghost of its former self. But it's a ghost with the potential to come back to life.

Though centuries of neglect have altered it, mere decades of dedicated work may bring it back to the sparkling, life-giving river it once was.

To encourage this conservation and document the complexity of the task, photographer Krista Schlyer has brought her talent for visual storytelling to the front lines. In the process, she reaffirms the importance of looking at one’s own backyard for ways to make a big difference through environmental stewardship.

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