Share Your Talents
The Friends of Dyke Marsh welcome the help of everyone, efforts big and small. We hope you will help us preserve and restore the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve. Everyone’s efforts make a difference. Check below the Upcoming Volunteer Events for more ways to share your talents.
Upcoming Volunteer Events
Help Tackle Invasive Plants
Help protect native plants by pulling and clipping invasive plants. We will train volunteers to identify the five or so target plants. We kindly ask that you not bring pets. Invasive plants can threaten and outcompete native plants.
Dates:
- September 5, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- September 19, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- October 3, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- October 17, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
More Ways to Share Your Talents
If you wish to participate, please send an email to
We need help in the following areas, but feel free to indicate other ways you would like to contribute:
- controlling invasive plants
- planting native plants
- helping with trash cleanups
- staffing tables at FODM and community events
- testing water in streams that feed into Dyke Marsh
- helping with school groups (with other volunteers)
- contributing articles for the Marsh Wren (newsletter) or website. What subject?
- planning programs and meetings; bringing refreshments
- planning and leading nature walks (Do you have a particular expertise?)
- providing photographs for our website and publications
- adding photographs in Facebook and Instagram posts
- conducting research:
- scientific
- issues
- other
- designing print materials
- updating, maintaining and operating our website and online membership systems
- raising funds
- hosting a fund raiser or other event
- meeting with elected and other officials
Help Stop the Spread of a New Species of Water Chestnut
Be on the lookout for a new species of water chestnut (genus Trapa) found in the Potomac watershed, Trapa bispinosa Roxb. var. iinumai Nakano. It has been spreading since 1995 and is floating aquatic vegetation growing over the surface of a pond, lake or other fresh waterbody.
This species is identified by the seed cases having two spines instead of four found on Trapa natans. Report all invasive aquatic species to the US Geological Survey’s Nonindigenous aquatic species website.
Water chestnut (an annual) sprouts in May, spreads over the water surface and then flowers and fruits by July. It drops seeds all season until it senesces after a hard frost. To stop the spread, management by harvesting the plants by early July is very successful in eradicating the plants, but it may take several years of effort, if some seeds fall before the plants are harvested or lay dormant in the current year and sprout in a later year.
