Our Priorities

Since 1897, ANS members, staff and volunteers have worked to help people in the D.C. region enjoy, learn about, and protect nature. Today, the climate crisis is a fight like no other the environmental movement has experienced. In 2020, ANS adopted the following Priority Campaign Areas to guide our work:

Human Health & Access to Nature: All people live in nature. A healthy natural environment is one that includes healthy people who have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and safe places to be active and explore nature. Some communities in our region have been deprived of access to wealth, land, and healthy environments because of systemic racial, ethnic, and economic injustice. Therefore, ANS supports local environmental justice advocates, campaigns, and policies that intersect with our conservation priorities.

All people deserve access to a healthy environment. We support environmental justice campaigns that intersect with our conservation priorities.

Since 1897, ANS has worked to protect the habitats and wildlife of the Washington, DC, region. The stream valley corridors that knit our region together with ribbons of blue and green space are critically important in protecting clean drinking water, habitat for fish, birds, insects, and amphibians, and migratory corridors for our wildlife. We also steward Woodend and Rust Sanctuaries. Our science-based advocacy emphasizes resilience, connectivity, and networks of habitats in order to give our native wildlife the best possible chance in the face of a changing climate.

We protect natural places that provide clean drinking water, habitat for fish, birds, insects, and amphibians, and migratory corridors for wildlife.

We work to combat greenhouse gas emissions by advocating for solutions in our region’s biggest contributing sectors: transportation, electricity, and buildings. We also promote natural solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as forest conservation, tree planting, and green infrastructure. These same techniques will help address some of our region’s most significant climate impacts—stormwater flooding from increased storms and hotter heat waves, especially where the forest ends and pavement takes over. Finally, we advocate for systemic education in our region’s public schools on the causes, solutions, and opportunities that the climate crisis presents.

We advocate for regional reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while promoting natural solutions like tree planting and green infrastructure.

According to some projections, the metropolitan Washington region is expected to grow by 1,535,000 new people between 2015 and 2045. These new residents are estimated to need at least 100,000 more housing units than the region is currently projected to build. Where will our new neighbors live? How will they get to work? Where will their clean drinking water come from and where will they learn to love nature? How will long-time residents afford to stay here as we build a more sustainable society? ANS works to ensure that the answers to these questions best ensure access to Nature for All while protecting our region’s most important natural assets and responding to the climate crisis.

The D.C. region is expected to grow by 1,535,000 people by 2045. Where will our new neighbors live? Where will they learn to love nature?

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRIORITIES

Community Science: Protecting Our Waters

Our flagship Water Quality Monitoring program is one of the largest and longest-running community science programs in the country. Volunteers (adults and families) learn to monitor 25-30 stream sites in ten watersheds in Maryland and DC. We encourage you to train with us to become a monitor!

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Creek Critters® empowers people to check the health of their local streams by finding and identifying small organisms – or critters – called benthic macroinvertebrates living in freshwater streams, and generating stream health reports based on what they find.

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Taking Action for Our Environment

Current Campaigns and Actions

Act Now!
Comment on Beltway Expansion

What is Happening?

The 90 pound and 18,000+ page Beltway I-495/I-270 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is out for public comment review until Oct 8, 2020...

Fairfax City Council approves Northfax West Redevelopment

We are outraged over the granting of a special exception which paves the way for the elimination of a living stream and forest. The Council should not have traded away this precious natural space for man-made green infrastructure and stream restorations...

Take Action
at Home

Learn what you can do to help make a difference and have a positive impact on nature in your community.

Conservation
Blog

Read the latest stories, news and Action Alerts on how you can help protect nature throughout the DMV region.

Training &
Workshops

ANS Conservation Workshops and Training Opportunities

Become empowered through workshops on watershed stewardship, advocacy, and organizing for community action.

Upcoming Events

Join us for upcoming workshops, classes, speakers, and online and in-person events that get you involved in conservation science, stewardship, and advocacy throughout the region.

Current Month

january, 2021

Loudoun County “Greening Your Neighborhood” program

03decAll Day28febLoudoun County “Greening Your Neighborhood” programDo you live in an HOA or Condo Association in Loudoun County, VA? Do you want to help make your community more ecologically sustainable?

Conservation Café: Spirituality in Nature with Beth Norcross

14jan7:00 pm8:30 pmConservation Café: Spirituality in Nature with Beth NorcrossLearning from Our Elders

Montgomery County's Draft Climate Action Plan (CAP) Presentation at ANS

28janAll DayMontgomery County's Draft Climate Action Plan (CAP) Presentation at ANS

CONSERVATION SITE MAP

Conservation
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Take Action for Clean Water at Home

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Conservation Blog
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Creek Critters
Training & Workshops
Water Quality Monitoring

Our Priorities

Community Science: Protecting Our Waters

Taking Action for Our Environment

Current Campaigns and Actions

Act Now!
Comment on Beltway Expansion