News and Events

We are very concerned about the extent of the development of the 200-acre historic COMSAT property, as well as proposals to build new roads, including the Clarksburg By-pass, the extension of Observation Drive, the extension of Little Seneca Parkway, and plans to construct a new I-270 interchange.

All are welcome to come to our annual meeting. It will be held on Oct 14 (rain date, the 15th) at the Cinque Farm (22300 Slidell Rd, Boyds) at 1:00pm.

Both Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir are located within Seneca Creek watershed, Montgomery County’s largest watershed and a designated drinking water supply. The major threat to these waterbodies is urbanization (a.k.a. sprawl) from proposed development projects. During urbanization, developers take down forests and farms, then they grade, compact and pave-over the land; the resulting runoff over time erodes streams, and silts-in lakes and the Chesapeake Bay with sediment.

When a conceptual development plan was submitted to the County Planning Board in June 2021 it did not abide with the recommendations of the 2014 Plan.When the Planning Board did not heed our advice, FoTMC wrote to the County Executive expressing the same concerns. As a result, Executive Elrich directed the Department of Transportation to adhere to the 2014 road plan. We thank the Executive Elrich for acting in a timely manner.

Water, the elixir of life, is an essential component of our existence. It is a fundamental resource that sustains all forms of life on Earth.  Indeed, we can live without a house or clothing for months, we can live without food for weeks, but to live without water is measured in terms of days and hours. 

Ten Mile Creek is teeming with life. As you peer into its waters, you might see fish, perhaps some small darters or sculpin. In the spring, larger fish swim up from Little Seneca Lake to spawn in its quiet pools.

FoTMC testified on behalf of the Ten Mile Creek watershed at Montgomery County Planning Board hearings in December 2020 and again in September 2021. Nevertheless, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the Pulte plan, in violation of the language, intent, and spirit of the Ten Mile Creek Area Limited Amendment adopted in 2014.

On Sunday, April 16th thirty-four eager adventurers attended our first Ten Mile Creek wildflower walk. We began the hike from the Cinque Farm on Slidell Road walking downhill through Ten Mile Creek Conservation Park to a tributary - one of seven main tributaries of Ten Mile Creek - of Ten Mile Creek. RG Steinman and John Parrish pointed out wildflowers and other plants along the way.

The Friends of Ten Mile Creek will be leading a wildflower walk on Sunday, April 16th at noon. We hope to see such early spring wildflowers as Trout Lilies, Bloodroot, Hepatica, Dwarf Ginseng, Wood Anemone, Rue Anemone, Toothworts, Spring Beauty, Early Saxifrage, and Violets! Another highlight of our walk includes uncommon County trees – the Eastern Hemlock and Shagbark Hickory. In the event of heavy rain, our rain date is Sunday, April 23rd.

Update 1/26/2023: On January 24, 2023, the County Council voted unanimously to withdraw ZTA 22-12.

On January 17, 2023, the Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing on a Zoning Text Amendment,  ZTA 22-12, that would exempt the impervious surfaces of master-planned bikeways from being counted toward the impervious limits that protect the Ten Mile Creek watershed. Please email members of the Montgomery County Council and ask them to reject this ZTA, which vio/

lates the Ten Mile Creek Limited Master Plan Amendment and its main enforcement regulation – the limits to imperviousness established in the Clarksburg Environmental Overlay Zones.

It has been another busy year. As we await a day in court which will determine whether the Pulte Plan for development in the Ten Mile Creek watershed will need to adhere to the 2014 Ten Mile Creek Amended Master Plan, we take this opportunity to provide you with a recap of what has been made possible with a little help from many of you, the Creek’s Friends.

The Miles Coppola development plan was revised to comply with the Ten Mile Creek Master Plan recommendation for an alternate alignment of the MD 355 Bypass in order to avoid impacts on a large wetland in the headwaters of Ten Mile Creek, reduce forest loss, grading of steep slopes, and direct impacts of new infrastructure.

This chronology provides a more detailed history of events affecting Ten Mile Creek and the Little Seneca Reservoir beginning with water supply studies and the record drought of the 1960s. However, as told by FoTMC Board member Norman Mease, the ford at Old Baltimore Road was known at least as far back as agricultural settlement as a place where there was always water, even in times of serious drought. Friends of Ten Mile Creek, formed in 2014, are proud to carry on a long tradition of citizen efforts to protect this watershed, which is part of our critical natural infrastructure and a lifeline of the lifeline water infrastructure that serves the entire Washington Metropolitan Area.

• Judge upholds the Montgomery Planning Commission's approval of the Pulte development plan in Ten Mile Creek's two most sensitive sub-areas.

• Friends of Ten Mile Creek sought to strike down Pulte's site plan; they will appeal.

Ten Mile Creek received its name from the many travelers that used the Old Baltimore Road in the very early days that the American colonies were being settled…

…The stream crossing approximately 10 miles east of the Mouth-of-Monocacy landing became a serious waypoint on the road and was then known, as it is today, as the Ten Mile Creek. This creek had, and still has, one very important characteristic for the early travelers: there is always water in the ford at the creek, even in times of very serious drought.

Please join Friends of Ten Mile Creek and 7 other environmental organizations at the 2022 Green Forum for Montgomery County Executive Candidates, which will be moderated by Kathleen Matthews. Wednesday April 6th at 7:00 PM at the Silver Spring Civic Center and on Zoom.

While forests in the Ten Mile Creek watershed are designated for protection under the 2014 Ten Mile Creek Amended Master Plan, neighboring watersheds, which also drain to the Little Seneca Reservoir, are hotspots of deforestation in the County and are a source of high sediment pollution to the Little Seneca Reservoir. As a partner in the Montgomery County Forest Coalition, Friends of Ten Mile Creek is also working to strengthen the County Forest Conservation Law. This post has links to an Action Alert you can use to show your support and send a letter to the Montgomery County Council asking them to introduce and support a bill consistent with the Coalition’s principles.

With sadness, we share the news that our friend and founding board member Scott Fosler passed away, along with this a ppreciation of the critical role he played in the protection of Ten Mile Creek, and historically, in the creation of the Little Seneca Reservoir.

BOYDS, MARYLAND - Friends of Ten Mile Creek & Little Seneca Reservoir (FoTMC) has filed a petition seeking legal review of a recent Montgomery County Planning Board decision approving the site plan for a residential development in the Ten Mile Creek watershed in Clarksburg.

Conservation Montgomery will honor Claire Iseli at their annual meeting with the Joe Howard Environmental Award and will feature Montgomery Countryside Alliance Executive Director Caroline Taylor as the guest speaker. Claire Iseli is a special assistant and environmental adviser to County Executive Marc Elrich, who has supported his long time efforts to protect Ten Mile Creek. Below is more information from the Conservation Montgomery announcement. You can register to attend here.

Please save the date of October 24th and let us know if you would be willing and interested in attending our normally "annual" outdoor/in person potluck, and fundraiser, at the Cinque Farm - on this google form, no later than October 3rd, so we can plan accordingly. In light of the still circulating Covid-19 variants, and depending on your responses, it could instead be a webinar. But either way, you won't want to miss it!

We advise that we act guided by careful planning that integrates the role advancing technology with the stewardship of our invaluable natural systems, our productive lands. We trust that the health, the resilience of our local food/fiber system will feature in this plan now being developed and nearing completion by a range of knowledgeable stakeholders and paid contractor.