Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan
The Cheverly Environment
The area that today is Cheverly was a land of plantations and farms in the early 1800s. When farming ceased, woods grew back in the former fields, and then were cleared again for development. Founded in 1918 and incorporated in 1931, today Cheverly is home to a diverse population of more than 6,300 residents and about 2,400 housing units across a 1.27 square mile area located one mile outside of Washington, DC.
Much of Cheverly is now surrounded by three major highways, Routes 50, 295, and 202, and three rail lines, which fragment the population and lands and partly isolate our natural areas from the larger natural network of our region. Air quality has also suffered from increased traffic, industrial and residential emissions.
The area hydrology has been disturbed by excavation and impervious surfaces. Many stretches of streams have been rerouted and piped, and all are subjected to large volumes of polluted runoff. Maryland Department of Natural Resources studies show that most of Cheverly’s streams support little or no aquatic life. The streams show overt signs of erosion and siltation, and accumulate large quantities of trash that is flushed from our streets through the county-maintained storm water system.
Our forests are fragmented and suffocated by invasives, which are destroying our trees and native plants. Very few old trees remain; currently most large trees fall within the 50-80 year old range. Native herbaceous vegetation is greatly reduced in diversity, with many species existing only in scattered isolated patches. Our wildlife is increasingly threatened by a disconnected and ever-diminishing habitat and subjected to additional stress from noise and light pollution.
These problems dramatically affect quality of life as habitats lose their ability to provide ecosystem services that benefit the community. Local environmental degradation also impacts adjacent communities, the Chesapeake Bay and the larger region.
A Botanically Rich Region
Cheverly is located in one of the most botanically rich regions in the country. We live at a crossroads for northern and southern plant communities. Huge losses to this diversity have occurred in recent years from intense and widespread development, and also from invasive species and deer browsing. Despite the damage, there are still many valuable sites that can and should be protected. Experts say that conserving the best of what's left – to protect fully functioning nature – is the most important thing we can do.