MNPS Monthly Program: Let’s Do Lunch-The Uneasy Relationship Between Ungulates and the Landscapes They Inhabit

Title: Let’s Do Lunch-The Uneasy Relationship Between Ungulates and the Landscapes They Inhabit

Speaker: Steve Parks

Description: Hoofed animals have helped create some of the great and beloved landscapes of our planet, habitats that may be viewed as substrates where the co-evolution of plants and animals takes place. The Serengeti of Africa, the Downs of Scotland, and the central prairie of the USA would look very different without the ungulates.Together with man and fire they have shaped their anatomies and their mutual landscapes. Our ungulate, the white tailed deer, survived the Pleistocene extinctions and hunting by early humans, and now does very well as a native in South America, Mexico, Canada, and suburban DC.

Steve Parks’ day job is physics, but he is also a lifelong naturalist. Seeing the effects of grazing and overgrazing on his travels in the US and abroad aroused his interest in the long-term effects of the predator/prey/habitat relationship.

Doors open by 7 PM. Open to the public. Registration not required. Those who do register will receive updates on any changes to the program.

Location: Silver Spring Civic Building, Spring Room, One Veterans Place, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (use 8525 Fenton St if mapping software does not find One Veterans Place). The facility is in downtown Silver Spring, at the intersection of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street. Building telephone: 240-777-5350

Directions: Since this is a new venue, we present very detailed directions.

Metro: Take the red line to Silver Spring. Exit to Colesville Road. Go up the hill (north on Colesville). Cross Georgia Ave. The next street is Fenton. Go right on Fenton to Ellsworth, one block down. Go left onto Ellsworth. The building is on your right. Total walk is about ½ mile

Driving Directions:

From the Capital Beltway:

• Exit south on to Route 29, Colesville Road (Exit 30).
• Pass the traffic light for Sligo Creek Parkway.
• Pass the traffic light for Dale Drive.
• Turn left at the next traffic light, Spring Street (approx. 1 mile from Beltway).
• Turn right at the first traffic light on to Ellsworth Drive.

From East-West Highway:

• Go north on Colesville Road. (left if coming from Chevy Chase/Bethesda)
• Turn right at Spring St. (4 blocks)
• Turn right at the first traffic light on to Ellsworth Drive.

Parking:

• On Ellsworth drive, you’ll come to the parking garage in a few hundred feet.
• GO SLOW the entrance comes up fast.
• Pass the first pedestrian crossing symbol.
• Just after it, turn right into the parking garage (a street tree blocks the view to the entrance).
• The parking garage has a vertical sign that says “PARK” in big letters with “Town Square Garage” beneath. Note that the civic building is up ahead on your left.

 Parking is free if you leave after 8pm but you will still need to take a ticket from the machine when you first arrive. After the MNPS program, when you leave the garage, the gates will be open and you can exit without having to either present a ticket or make a payment.

How to Get From the Garage to the Meeting Room (It’s not as complicated as it sounds):

• Exit the garage to Ellsworth Dr. (Remember where you are parked!)
• Go uphill. Cross Ellsworth at the brick cross walk (the civic building is straight ahead).
• Continue uphill, past the building and then take the concrete steps up to the plaza.
• Use the leftmost door to enter.
• Go straight down the hall and turn left where the bathroom signs are.
• Go down the hall and the room will be on the right.
• If you get confused, ask the staff person at the front desk where the “Spring Room” is.