PROTECT RATTLESNAKE CREEK!
Kristen N. Larson (City Council Member, 4th District), The Richmond City Council, and Levar Stoney (Richmond Mayor)
Protect Rattlesnake Creek!
*Protect Our Water* *Keep the Trees* *Stand Up For Justice*
Tell the City of Richmond to protect the Rattlesnake Creek and suspend plans to remove over 100 mature trees from creek banks!
The City wants to destroy a wildlife corridor and rip out the creek’s natural water quality protection, in the name of a misguided stream “restoration” project. The Rattlesnake Creek Stream Restoration Project has not followed any best management practices, no site assessment was conducted, and the project will not address the root issues of upstream watershed mismanagement. The Richmond Department of Public Utilities’ other failed stream restoration projects tell us that the project is likely to cause more harm than it will repair. The city’s careless rush to meet regulatory requirements via the most invasive, destructive approach thwarts the potential value of restoration and puts the creek, our water quality, and wildlife in danger.
Protect the rights of nature and tell the City of Richmond “NO” to the Rattlesnake Creek Restoration Project until best environmental assessments are completed and fully vetted with the public! Please sign and share the petition.
Additional background information about the project can be found here.
Please follow us on the The Friends of Rattlesnake Creek Facebook page here.
Contact FriendsOfRattlesnakeCreek@gmail.com for more information.
Sponsored by
To:
Kristen N. Larson (City Council Member, 4th District), The Richmond City Council, and Levar Stoney (Richmond Mayor)
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Councilperson Larson, Richmond City Council, and Mayor Stoney,
We demand that the Richmond City Council suspend the Rattlesnake Creek stream restoration project until the Rights of Rattlesnake Creek and its Wildlife are assured and the following steps are completed:
1. Upstream watershed restoration is fully evaluated and implemented;
2. DPU conducts a trade study to determine whether the project is even needed, based on best management practices;
3. An environmental impact report for the project and adjacent staging areas where mature trees will be removed is conducted; and
4. Public meetings with City Council and DPU are held to discuss risks/benefits of the project.
Sincerely,
Friends of Rattlesnake Creek
FriendsOfRattlesnakeCreek@gmail.com
Background:
The City of Richmond wants to remove over 100 mature trees from Rattlesnake Creek in a harmful, misguided attempt at “restoration.” The trees and understory span several acres and serve as a wildlife corridor, while also providing natural protections to the water quality of the creek. The stated goal of this ill-conceived project is to reduce sediment from erosion that flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
However, the lack of foresight demonstrated in this “restoration” plan is anything but restorative. It sacrifices the local ecosystem and attacks the problem at the symptom level, not the source. It does not address the real issue of watershed remediation, and comes at great cost to ecosystems and taxpayers.
No Site Assessment was conducted. No Environmental Impact Survey was done. The information needed to make an informed decision was not presented at public hearings.
Previous stream restoration projects the City has undertaken have had questionable outcomes; improperly stabilized banks have washed out in high water events, invasive species have negatively impacted new plantings, and newly planted trees have died.
The tax credit money the City would receive for this project will not make up for the ecological destruction that this shortsighted project will cause at taxpayers’ expense.
There’s still time to protect Rattlesnake Creek! Other RVA restoration projects, including the Reedy Creek Project, were abandoned or discontinued after citizen outcry.