FOREST SURVIVING PROGRESS ENDANGERED SPECIES LIVE IN `D.C. SHADOW'

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 12, 1993                   TAG: 9304120096
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TRIANGLE                                LENGTH: Medium
FOREST SURVIVING PROGRESS ENDANGERED SPECIES LIVE IN `D.C. SHADOW'
Tucked away in southern Prince William County lies the last significant public forestland in Northern Virginia - a 17,000-acre haven for endangered species in a region known more for traffic and commercial development.
"We have been able to retain a viable ecosystem in the shadow of Washington, D.C.," said Marcia Keener, management assistant for the National Park Service, which operates the Prince William Forest Park.
Whether that ecosystem will survive is still in question.
The Park Service is receiving public comment on a new park management plan, which includes options ranging from turning most of the park into a small wilderness area to making few, if any, changes.
Each option, however, emphasizes the need to gain control of the headwaters of the Quantico Creek watershed that drains through park.
Each of the options includes a land exchange with neighboring Quantico Marine Corps Base that would give the Park Service control of that vital acreage.
The importance of such control can be seen in Virginia's other major wildlife area bordering an urban area.
The Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge sits on the southern border of Virginia Beach. A winding two-lane road connects the 24,000 acres of water, marsh and island to one of the state's fastest growing areas.
But the connection goes far beyond the road. The bay lies at the mouth of the drainage of most of Virginia Beach. Rain that falls on developed Virginia Beach eventually ends up in the bay.
"The bay is simply a sump for whatever the developed areas send it," said Tony Leger, refuge manager. "Every time it rains, you can see the plumes of silt flowing into the bay, choking the life out of the water."
The sedimentation disrupts plant growth, which interrupts the delicate food chain. The result is a lifeless bay.
That is why the Prince William Forest Park is anxious to gain control of the remaining acreage at the headwaters of Quantico Creek, Keener said.
Erosion has played a major role in the history of the watershed.
Quantico Creek empties into the Potomac at Dumfries. At one time, the creek mouth was deep enough to accommodate oceangoing ships. In the early part of the 18th century, Dumfries was a major port along the Potomac.
The Quantico Creek area was under intense cultivation for tobacco. The farming quickly wore out the soil, reducing the yield. Soon the soil washed away, filling the Dumfries harbor with silt.
By the time the federal government bought the land for the park in the 1930s, it was subsistence farm land.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB