In Woodbridge, Va., one of the few stretches of tidal wetland left in one of the country's fastest-growing suburban counties is about to become a little more accessible. Prince William County is moving to build a new boardwalk through the Julie J. Metz Neabsco Creek Wetlands Preserve, a protected natural area along Neabsco Creek where it drains toward the Potomac River and, eventually, the Chesapeake Bay.
The preserve sits in the middle of a county that has more than doubled in population since 1990, from roughly 215,000 residents to more than 490,000 today. That growth has consumed forests, farms and wetlands at a pace that has left conservation advocates fighting a rear-guard action against data centers, subdivisions and road expansions. The Route 234 interchange rebuild underway nearby is one symbol of that pressure. The Julie Metz preserve is another kind of symbol: it was originally created as a mitigation site, land set aside under federal Clean Water Act rules to offset wetland losses caused by development elsewhere in the region.
The preserve is named for Julie J. Metz, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental scientist who worked on wetland mitigation policy and died in 1991. The site has drawn birders and hikers for years and already has an existing boardwalk, built around 2010. Wood boardwalks in tidal wetlands typically last 15 to 20 years, and rising visitation at the preserve has made the case for expanded infrastructure. Boardwalks are the standard way to give people access to sensitive wetland habitat without trampling the soil and root systems that make the ecosystem work.
The county posted a request for construction bids on June 3. The total project cost and construction timeline were not specified in the posting.
For a county grappling with relentless development pressure, the boardwalk is a modest but visible investment in the green space that residents have repeatedly pushed officials to protect. Once a contractor is selected and construction is complete, the preserve will offer a longer window into the tidal wetlands that Prince William County's growth has otherwise been steadily erasing.
