Community Forestry
Engagement and Facilitation
East Pines Community Forest Restoration
A year-long initiative to restore, reimagine, and activate the East Pines forest.
East Pines, located in East Riverdale outside of municipal boundaries, is a community with a unique one-acre wooded parcel owned by its homeowners association. Historically, the space contained a playground and served as an informal gathering area, but over time it became overrun with invasive species and underutilized. The East Pines Citizens Association envisioned reclaiming the land as a community resource for recreation, education, and ecological health.
The community approached the Neighborhood Design Center (NDC), building on a prior collaboration on the East Pines Community Center landscape improvement project, to help guide this transformation.
Initial Survey of the Forest
This short video shows NDC Project Manager of Urban and Community Forestry Colin Breidenbach’s first time in the Eastpines Forest, where he notices lots of invasive ground cover, ivy, bamboo, and down trees, remarking that this is going to be a great forest to restore and get back to a state where people can use it.
WATCH THE CLIP ➔
Pop-up Event
This short video shows NDC Project Manager of Landscape Design Jenny Smeltzer at an East Pines pop-up event, walking us through the community engagement aspect, displaying easel boards of the forest site, visual inspiration, and questions gathering resident feedback via sticky notes.
WATCH THE CLIP ➔
Project Scope & Goals
With support from a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant and a major investment from the Klingenstein Foundation, NDC is leading a year-long initiative (beginning July 2024) to restore, reimagine, and activate the East Pines forest. This is one of the few projects where NDC is not only providing design and engagement support but also taking on direct implementation—an exciting opportunity to demonstrate a full cycle of community-led transformation.
Key goals include:
Project activities:
Significance — this project stands out as:
Restoration Work — GOATS! Sometimes the most effective solutions are also the most joyful.
As part of our restoration work at the Eastpines Community Forest, we brought in a hardworking herd of goats to tackle invasive species that have overtaken trees and native plants.
Using goats is an herbicide-free way to manage invasives, reduce soil disturbance, and add nutrients back to the soil. By waiting until native plants had dropped their leaves, we ensured the goats focused only on invasive foliage.
With those invasives gone, our team can now more easily remove vines choking mature trees and give native plants a stronger chance to thrive come spring. This is just one step in our strategy to restore and maintain this community asset using ecologically sensitive methods.
Thank you to Browsing Green Goats and for funding by Prince George’s County Department of the Environment (CBT SS) & Esther A & Joseph Klingenstein Fund.
Stay tuned throughout the year to see our progress!
Last Updated October 2025
