For the last 8 years, the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) has been working on propagating unionid freshwater mussels in the Anacostia River. These river mussels are the most imperiled group of animals in the US, and as filter feeders they are phenomenal natural filters to help improve water quality in an urban waterway like the Anacostia River. This presentation will be a tale of a great mussel conservation effort focusing on the 8 native mussel species that are known to occur in the Anacostia River and AWS’s effort to augment the populations of 5 of those mussels species. While the Anacostia River was once a neglected urban waterway in the nation’s capital, nowadays the river is the subject of a major restoration overhaul that will be a model for other cities in America and the world.
Jorge Bogantes Montero is a Natural Resources Specialist at the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) in Bladensburg, MD, since 2009. He leads ecological restoration efforts on public parklands in the Anacostia River watershed (in both DC and MD), including wetland restoration, tree plantings, meadow creation, SAV propagation, mussel propagation, wildlife monitoring, and invasive plant management. Mr. Bogantes Montero has a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Management and Protection from the Universidad Estatal a Distancia in San Jose, Costa Rica, his native country. Before working at AWS, Jorge worked in tropical biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica.