Hikers enjoy the beautiful Good Hope watershed near the ICC Master Plan Alignment.

Over the past few months, Eyes of Paint Branch members have been busy holding community forums on the ICC and leading educational walks through the ICC right-of-way in the Paint Branch watershed. The forums included a slide show describing the unique natural resources of the Paint Branch and the impacts of the proposed highway. Among the hikers at the ICC walk on Saturday, June 7, were Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan's Special Assistant for Community Outreach on the ICC, Sam Raker, and a top aide to U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen.

Another well-attended walk of the ICC route, organized by the Sierra Club and led by Eyes of Paint Branch members, was held on September 13. On a rainy Saturday, hikers stopped at the edge of the trout nursery area on the Good Hope tributary, where the master plan alignment of the ICC would cross the sensitive stream in a 500-foot swath. As crystal clear water poured into the stream out of the lush and extensive wetlands below the neighborhoods to the east, hikers saw firsthand how valuable these irreplaceable natural filtering systems are to the quality of our water.

If you would like an Eyes of Paint Branch speaker to present a slide show on the ICC to your community group, call Bob Ferraro at 301-890-1998.