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District of Columbia National Guard members are pruning more than 3,000 cherry trees and spreading 1,000 cubic yards of mulch at the National Mall in support of the National Park Service's maintenance efforts.
The Joint Task Force-District of Columbia (JTF-DC) operation, designated "Task Force Beautification," has deployed approximately 30 Guard personnel over the past 20 days to conduct specialized arboricultural procedures.
"We've been here multiple times within the past 20 days," said Master Sgt. David Bowden, 113th Operations Support Squadron. "We are now pruning over 3,000 cherry trees with multiple different tools."
Matthew Morrison, an urban forester at the National Mall Memorial Parks, said the assistance helps address critical public safety concerns by removing dead limbs and other hazards from the historic trees.
"I consider public safety to be paramount," Morrison said. "We've got dead limbs, which are a natural occurrence in the trees, and they're safety issues. To be able to address those imperfections and make the tree safe and the area beneath them safe is fantastic."
The Guard's work extends beyond pruning to include soil rehabilitation, which counteracts the impact of heavy foot traffic from visitors.
"We've been putting down over about 1,000 cubic yards of mulch," Bowden said. "They get somewhere around 1.5 to 2 million people coming through these parks every year, and that's a lot of feet that trample on all the soil."
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Spencer Strachan with the 113th Civil Engineering Squadron, District of Columbia National Guard, noted the operation integrates the Guard's security mission with community service.
"You've got a good portion of us keeping D.C. safe, and the rest of us are here keeping it beautiful," Strachan said. "Not only by picking up trash for an immediate beautification response, but by keeping these trees healthy. It's long-term as well."
For participating Guard members, the mission creates a personal connection to their community service role.
"We all live here, we are all D.C. Guardsmen, and we all want this place to be as nice and beautiful as possible," Bowden said. "When I see people coming into these parks and looking out at this beautiful location, I know that I played a small part in that."
| Date Taken: | 09.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2025 21:42 |
| Story ID: | 548238 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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