Friends of Dyke Marsh, www.fodm.org <http://www.fodm.org> For
Immediate Release
P. O. Box 7183,
Alexandria, Virginia 22307-7183
Contact Information:
Ed Eder, President
Telephone: 703-360-7994
Email: nutmegz@xxxxxxx <mailto:nutmegz@xxxxxxx>
New Film, On the Edge, Explores Beauty and Value of Dyke Marsh on the
Potomac
The premiere of a new documentary film, On the Edge: the Potomac
Rivers Dyke Marsh, will be held on March 21 at the John F. Kennedy
Center as part of the D. C. Environmental Film Festival, Washington,
D. C., at 7:00 p. m.
A second showing will be held on March 28, at 7:30 p.m., Old Town
Theater, 815 King Street, Alexandria.
The two events are sponsored by Friends of Dyke Marsh, a local
conservation organization.
On the Edge explores the history and value of Dyke Marsh, a U. S.
National Park Service nature preserve just south of Alexandria on the
Virginia side of the Potomac River. It includes comments by U. S.
Virginia Senator John Warner, Virginia Congressman Jim Moran,
scientists, local conservationists and other local supporters.
The 40-minute film examines the wetlands birds, fish, plants and
other natural resources, and its role in the ecological system. It
highlights the threats to the marsh like invasive species and air and
water pollution from development in Northern Virginia and challenges
viewers to capitalize on opportunities for conservation and
restoration. Half the marsh has been destroyed or impaired. Evidence
of dumping in the marsh is still evident today.
On the Edge was produced by Virginia Village Productions, Dave Eckert,
producer and director, and includes didgeridoo music.
The Kennedy Center premiere, to be preceded by a presentation at 7
p.m., is free. The Old Town Theater screening costs $5.00. Both
events are open to the public.
"On the Edge is a wake-up call to a nation that has lost almost half
its wetlands," said Friends of Dyke Marsh President Ed Eder. "This
film challenges us to act now to restore the nations wetlands and do
more to protect natures precious biodiversity."
Dyke Marsh is one of the largest naturally-occurring freshwater tidal
marshes in the national park system. A 380-acre wetland, Dyke Marsh
is a remnant of the extensive marshes that once lined the river but
have been lost to human activity. Congress preserved it in 1959,
saying that here, wildlife values should be "paramount." Naturalist
Louis Halle wrote in the 1940s that Dyke Marsh was the nearest thing
to primeval wilderness in the immediate vicinity of the city
[Washington].
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