Note: This event is weather dependent. If you are sick or exhibiting symptoms associated with COVID-19 (such as fever, chills, cough, sore throat, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell, etc.), please do not come to the event and consider joining us another time.

Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Meeting Location: Langston Driving Range Parking Lot: 2556 Benning Rd NE, Washington, DC 20002 (Map)

• Parking is available at this location 
• The Minnesota Avenue Metro Station is about 1.2 miles away from this location (about a 23 minute walk)
• The Stadium Armory Metro Station is about 1.3 miles away from this location (about a 26 minute walk)

Project: Volunteers will help the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) to bag wild rice (Zizania aquatica) seed and prepare it for collection. For over 15 years, AWS has been collecting wild rice seed as part of our wetland restoration efforts in the tidal Anacostia River. The seed collected will be used for propagation in the Anacostia River in the spring of 2026 through mudballing (seeding) and the production of seedlings that will be transplanted in the river once they reach a suitable size.

On this workday we will bag the wild rice seedheads containing viable seeds. We will be using bags made with tyvek sheets to enclose the seedheads and then close the bags with zipties. After a couple of weeks we will return to collect the bags by clipping the seedhead stalks. This timing allows the seed to ripen inside the bags and prevent seed predation by birds. 

Physical Level of Difficulty: Difficult - Very muddy!

• This event requires wading in very mucky mud and water in warm weather conditions, paddling, lifting, and bending. If you think any of the physical requirements will be problematic, please let us know.

Registration is required. Please register to receive additional information about the event.

For more information before the event, please contact Emily Castelli at ecastelli2@anacostiaws.org or call 301-699-6204 x103.