General Resources

Many of the projects refer to forms.   Project specific forms are located under the subheading of each season.  The following forms are general in nature and might be used for all projects.  The Potomac Basin Information Resource List is an alphabetical listing of organizations throughout the Potomac basin that might be of some help to you in your stewardship efforts.

• Sample Liability Waiver
• Sample Press Release
• Sample Sponsor Letter
• Potomac Basin Information Resource List
   

SPRING RESOURCES

Planting Trees From Seeds
Source:  Virginia Department of Forestry

• American Forests - How to Plant a Tree  - Information on planting trees and seedlings.
• Arbor Day Foundation - Everything you could want to know about trees, planting them and caring for them.
• Casey Tree Endowment  - A D.C. based organization dedicated to increasing tree cover in the nation's capital.
• USDA Forest Service Tree Owner’s Manual for the Northeastern and Midwestern United States  - A comprehensive tree care guide.

Organizing a Stream Cleanup
Source: Alice Ferguson Foundation Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative

• Georgia River’s Alive Program – General information on Georgia's stream cleanup program.
• International Coastal Cleanup – A national cleanup event.
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation –  A local adopt a stream initiative.
• Sample Cleanup Flyer (61 KB PDF file) - For volunteer events.
• Sample Data Form (25 KB PDF file) - For volunteer events.
• Sample Cleanup Sign (124 KB PDF file) - For volunteer events.

Creating a Seed Grow Out Station
Source: Community Commons
 

• Growing Native  - A Potomac-based program on collecting native seeds to help stock nurseries.
• Grow out station instructions
• Maryland DNR Treemendous Program – A Maryland program focused on increasing tree cover in the state.
• TreeHelp.com –  A simple guide to growing trees from seed.
• USDA Silvics of North America – Guides to the natural history and range of North American tree species.
• Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental conservation -  fact sheets and searchable database of trees.

Building Rain Barrels
Source: Low Impact Development Center

Rain Barrel building guides (there are thousands out there, this is just a sampling)

• Center for Watershed Protection -  A short how-to document on rain gardens and rain barrels.
• City of Rockville, MD Environmental Management Division RainScapes Program – Information sheet on rain barrels that includes rain barrel assembly instructions.
• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Portland’s Environmental Services
• YouTube video of HGTV rain barrel building project

Creating Bat Boxes
Source: Maryland DNR

• Bat Conservation International - One of two organizations dedicated to the conservation of bat species.
• The Organization for Bat Conservation - One of two organizations dedicated to the conservation of bat species.

Bat House building guides:

• Bat Conservation International’s  Single Chamber Bat House
• Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Section’s Small Bat House
• Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension– a Homeowner’s Guide to Bats.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Four chamber Bat House

SUMMER RESOURCES

Leading a River/Stream Sojourn
Source: Pennsylvania Organization of Watersheds and Rivers (POWR)

• POWR’s The River Sojourn Organizer’s Guide: Pennsylvania’s Experience, An Introductory Manual to Organizing a Sojourn Event on Your Waterway
• Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay – Customizable PowerPoint  on sojourns from the organization that invented them!  Follow the link and scroll to Bay and River Sojourns section.
• Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin's River Ramble -- Information on sojourns in the Potomac River basin.
• Delaware River Sojourn - Information on our neighbor to the east's river paddle trip.
• River Sojourn - GreenTreks Network, Inc. - A multimedia website on river sojourns.

        Sample Documents  for leading a sojourn

• Sample Waiver
• Sample Sponsor Letter
• Sample Sojourn Evaluation
• Sample Risk Management Plan
• Sample Press Release
• Sample Policies
• Sample Equipment List
• Sample Daily Planning Sheet
• Sample Medical Form
   

Adopting Storm Drains
Source: Revised from the District of Columbia’s Office of the Clean City Adopt a Block Program

• University of Northern Colorado’s Adopt a Storm Drain Lesson Plan - A teacher's guide to leading adopt a storm drain work.
• Arlington County’s Adopt a Street Program - A local site on storm drain clean up as part of a street adoption campaign. 
• Berkley (CA) Adopt a Storm Drain - A guide to cleaning and marking storm drains.
   

Sample Storm Drain Adoption forms.

• Sample Release Form
• Sample Letter of Intent   

Creating a Community Environmental Story
Source: Albuquerque's Environmental Story and the Process Manual  

Removing Invasive Species
Source: Maryland Native Plant Society

• Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas. National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Helpful color guide to invasive plants in the mid-Atlantic.
• The Bugwood Network The University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health - Information and programs focused on invasive species, forest health, natural resource and agricultural management. 
• Maryland National Parks and Planning Weed Warriors - Education program for citizens about identification and management of non native invasive plant species.
• Center for Invasive Plant Management – Several resources on invasive plant management.
• Weeds Gone Wild - An invasives site from the perspective of the National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/
• U.S. Department of Agriculture – Invasives Website - Basic information on invasives as well as links to invasive sites by state and subject.
• The Nature Conservancy - A site on invasive plant species from an organization deeply interested in their control.

Installing an Amphibian Pond
Source: North Carolina State University Wildlife Extension Office   

• Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s Build a Frog Pond- a photo guide to help you create a new home for amphibians.
• National Wildlife Federation’s How to Attract Frogs, Toads and Other Amphibians – “If you build it they will come.”  Help attract amphibians to your new pond with some tips from NWF.
• United Sates Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center – learn who is visiting your pond utilizing this call database.
• University of Maryland’s Cooperative Extension Home and garden Information Center offers two fact sheets that may prove helpful to pond builders.  Aquatic Gardening: Construction and Maintenance and Basics of Planting Aquatic Plants.