Great Blue Heron Kenilworth Park

Picture of a Great Blue Heron taken at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Had Rachel Carson not taught our society to question the uses of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and other chemicals on nature, our flâneuse, along with others, might not have had the chance to see those majestic creatures. Carson, an Anacostia watershed resident, avid birder, and environmental activist, spent years studying the devastating impacts that DDT had on just about every living thing. The release of her book Silent Spring sparked the creation of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the passage of the Clean Water Act, and the banning of DDT in 1972.