By Jesse Adams, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR
Stafford County is home to 1,337 acres of regulated tidal wetlands along its coastal waterways, marshes, and riverbanks. Additionally, there are between 8,000 and 12,000 acres of non-tidal palustrine wetlands countywide. If I had to pick one thing that attracted me to Northern Virginia, and specifically Stafford County, it’s all of the gorgeous wetlands and waterways. While I’m not sure why, I’ve always been attracted to water, and when I’m on or near it, I feel at peace.
I also have an innate drive to protect it, and I’m not the only one. Thanks to the heroic efforts of residents in the past, the Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve now protects more than 900 acres of pristine freshwater tidal marshes and contiguous forested wetlands, which includes 23 miles of streams.
In December 2025, I started periodically hiking out to Boykin’s Landing in Crow’s Nest to do quick trash cleanups of all of the stuff that inevitably washes up there. But after getting down to the shoreline area and turning around on one recent trip, I was presented with an unsettling scene: The peninsula that makes up Crow’s Nest Point and Boykin’s Landing has been heavily eroding out over time, and if left unchecked, the hiking trail will eventually fully collapse into Potomac Creek.
A few weeks later, at the beginning of 2026, I noticed similar issues (while at a significantly lesser height) at Widewater State Park on the Aquia Creek side. Repurposed bricks had been scattered around the shorelines as a means to slow down erosion, but they haven’t been sufficient to prevent the inevitable. These hiking trails are also at risk of eventually being lost to the daily tidal changes, stormwater runoff, and wakes left by motor boats navigating through the area.
A third example is from last week’s waterway cleanup event where a group of volunteers cleaned up 15 bags out of and away from Potomac Creek and the surrounding marshlands along Potomac Run Road. This is where a number of local residents continuously release significant amounts of litter due to unsecured loads of trash as they transport it to the R-Board Regional Landfill. We chased what seemed to be thousands of styrofoam packing peanuts that eventually got washed down into the creek banks and creek. While cleaning up under the overpass I noticed that there are extreme amounts of erosion happening on all four slopes leading down to the shoreline of the creek.
Typically when you have a bridge or overpass at a creek or stream there is a sign that informs the passersby what the name of the stream is and what watershed it is a part of. The point of watershed signs at creek overpasses is to educate the public and raise awareness that the surrounding land and roadways connect directly to local water bodies. The hope is that it will have a psychological effect on the brain to trigger the innate human motivators to avoid causing negative impacts in the area. Unfortunately, the erosion I found there during the cleanup is so bad here that it appears that the sign eroded out and was washed underneath—neglected and forgotten. This was one of two signs that we recovered. The other was a yellow-and-black-striped warning sign to not hit the edge of the overpass. Of course that one had been replaced.
There are a number of ways to stabilize shorelines and help restore our riparian buffers. Just to name a few:
Soil Stabilization: Installing stabilization webbing, mats, or logs out of fully biodegradable materials such as coconut husk fibers, or coir, staked into the ground along the base of an eroding slope. This stabilizes the soil enough for seeding or planting to occur without it getting completely washed out.
Riparian Buffer Planting: Planting a thick zone of deep-rooting native perennial plants, trees, shrubs, and grasses. The thick, interlocking root systems act as a strong structure that binds soil together. You can also do live staking from dormant cuttings of several native species, such as black willow, red twig dogwood, elderberry, and buttonbush.
Living Shorelines: Stacking mesh bags of repurposed oyster shells and/or rock sills just offshore near the low water mark. This structure breaks up the energy of incoming waves and enables native wetlands vegetation, such as marsh grass, to naturally to grow and establish in the calm water behind it.
My main question from all of this: Does anyone care anymore? I’ve reached out on this matter to Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the Stafford County Wetlands/Chesapeake Bay/Sand Dunes boards, members on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, Rangers at Widewater State Park, the Stafford County Agricultural and Land Conservation (ALC) Committee, etc.
No response so far.
Jesse Adams is an environmental steward and conservationist who lives in Stafford County, Virginia with his wife and two young kids. He is the Founder and President of Waterway Cleanups, a 501c3 non-profit organization in Stafford County with a mission to protect our local waterways, and he serves as the chairman of the Agricultural and Land Conservation Committee for Stafford County. He recently launched an online publication platform for Northern Virginia residents called Cultivate NoVA where this essay first appeared.
I would suggest engaging with VDOT’s environmental and/or structure and bridge sections in the Fredericksburg District Office. The wetlands team headed by Mark Haus may be an excellent liaison for exploring mediation, repair, and restoration programs.
Another important article. Those of us who care about the future of our county's waterways, wetlands, &aquifers, indeed our very future itself, need to keep sounding the alarm. Loudly. Putting pressure on our officials to act at the local level is paramount. We are at a tipping point.