A 20-minute drive south of Washington, D.C. lives Dyke Marsh,
one of the few tidal wetlands left in the region. In 1947,
author Louis Halle described it as "the nearest thing to
primeval wilderness in the immediate vicinity of the city." But
during the 1950s and 60s, sand and gravel mining at the marsh
destabilized its currents and geology, and set in motion its
gradual destruction. The marsh, which took hundreds of years to
develop, is home to hundreds of species of birds, as well as
turtles and beavers, and has shrunk by 55 percent in a matter of
decades. One of the main reasons for its devastation is the
city's emergence. The Beltway is nearby, and cars on the Wilson
Bridge rumble in the distance. "We have a real trash problem
here, especially after storms because all the trash comes from
the north, ends up settling," says Glenda Booth, president of
Friends of Dyke Marsh. "You can see bottles... and we used to
have a refrigerator there. These things float in... there are
two high tides every day, and in co