A forest in the heart of our neighborhood
Fort Stevens Park · Van Buren Street NW · Washington, D.C.
A forest in the heart of our neighborhood
Fort Stevens Park · Van Buren Street NW · Washington, D.C.
Protecting Our Forest Together
About
Tucked inside Fort Stevens Park, the Fort Stevens Forest Patch is a two-acre urban forest of roughly 100 trees. It is easy to walk past without a second thought. But this quiet corner of our neighborhood is doing extraordinary work — filtering the air we breathe, soaking up stormwater before it floods our streets, and storing carbon that took nearly a century to accumulate.
It is not the most visited part of the park. But it may be the hardest working.
What This Forest Does for Us
Every year, the trees of the Fort Stevens Forest Patch:
- Filter 118 pounds of air pollution from the atmosphere
- Absorb more than 33,000 gallons of stormwater that would otherwise overwhelm streets and storm drains
- Pull 2.31 tons of carbon out of the air annually
- Hold 55 tons of stored carbon — accumulated over the better part of a century
That stored carbon deserves special attention. It is not a renewable resource. It cannot be replanted into existence. It took this forest nearly 100 years to build, and it would take another 100 to recover if it were lost.
The Fort Stevens Forest Patch Stewards
The Fort Stevens Forest Patch Stewards are a group of neighbors devoted to caring for this forest. Through regular trash cleanups, removal of invasive plant species, and the promotion of assisted natural regeneration — helping native trees reseed and grow on their own terms — we work to keep this forest healthy and thriving for everyone who lives near it, walks through it, or simply benefits from its presence.
We are not experts. We are neighbors who pay attention and show up.
Get Involved
The forest needs people who care about it — and caring can look like a lot of things. You can join us for a cleanup. You can learn to identify and remove invasive plants. You can help spread the word to neighbors who don't know what's here.
No experience is necessary. Just a willingness to spend a little time among the trees.