Join Us for a Virtual Eagle Festival

2 PM, Saturday May 8

                      Photo by Randy Streufert

The Friends of Mason Neck State Park will host a virtual program featuring Buddy the Bald Eagle at 2 PM on Saturday May 8 in lieu of the Park's annual Eagle Festival. Buddy has appeared at several previous Eagle Festivals. This year, Lauren Edzenga, the Outreach Educator for the Wildlife Center of Virginia, will join us in a Zoom program during which she will show Buddy live and on-camera while she discusses the lives of Bald Eagles.  The Friends of Mason Neck State Park are presenting this program without charge, thanks to the generosity of our donors and members.  You can register for the program here.

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Learn about the Health of the Potomac River and its Future

May 26, 7 PM

The Friends of Mason Neck State Park are co-sponsoring a program by the Friends of Dyke Marsh on the state of the Potomac River. Hedrick Belin, President of the Potomac Conservancy, will discuss the Potomac's water quality results from the latest Potomac Report Card, the role of tree protection,  stormwater pollution and climate change and how citizen activism is opening new opportunities to protect water quality.  

The program on the Zoom platform and is free and open to the public.  You can register for the program here (on the left side of the home page).  

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Learn about the Pre-History of Mason Neck

Join us at 10 AM on June 12, 2021 when Carina Velazquez-Mondragon, the Visitor Services Specialist for the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, will present a program on Mason Neck's pre-history.  

Discover the history of Mason Neck as we explore what the area looked like and who lived here over the last 18,000 years.  Learn about the geological changes that occurred, and what happened to the native people who lived here. The historical artifacts unearthed on the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge help us understand the way they lived.   

You can register for the program here.

Join the Fight Against Disposable Plastic

The Friends of Mason Neck State Park are doing their part to slow the production and disposal of plastics.  Plastic bottles take as long as 450 years to decompose in the environment.  Before they do, they break down into "micro-plastic" bits that are eaten by animals and can end up in our own bodies.  On land, plastic adversely affects soil fertility, and can choke our streams and rivers.

The Friends of Mason Neck State Park have stopped offering disposable water bottles to Park volunteers and at Friends events.  Instead, they are offering free multi-use bottles that recipients can take home with them.  Hopefully, people will use these bottles instead of buying more disposable ones.  

Mason Neck State Park also is committed to reducing the use of disposable plastic bottles and has installed water bottle filling stations at the Visitor Center and the picnic area.  

         

Do your part too:  find ways to limit your use of disposable plastics, including those grocery store bags that have a typical useful life of 15 minutes -- the time to get from store to home -- and take 1000 years to decompose in a landfill.