Rachel Carson Conservation Park
Rachel Carson Conservation Park is a 650-acre park dedicated to environmental preservation that provides opportunities for enjoyment of the natural environment. This park contains more than six miles of natural surface trails for hiking and equestrian use and is one of the county’s premier conservation areas.
History: Montgomery’s Natural Areas Inspired Silent Spring
Renown environmentalist and biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) spent most of her adult life in Montgomery County. Already a New York Times best-selling author for Under the Sea-Wind (1941; reprinted 1951) and The Sea Around Us (1951),Carson lived near the Northwest Branch Stream Valley while she wrote her most famous book—Silent Spring (1962).
The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Carson’s readable account of the devastating impacts of the pesticide DDT is widely credited with changing the way Americans think about the natural world. Her warnings helped launch the modern environmental movement, leading to the banning of DDT, and the start of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Her message about the need for everyone to be good stewards of the environment is just as compelling today as it was when she wrote the book.
This park honors Carson by conserving 650 acres in the Brookeville area. Most of the park was acquired just after Ms. Carson’s death in 1964, although there were periodic acquisitions through 1990.
Learn more about Rachel Carson and her time in the area on “Rachel Carson Lived Here,” from Friends of Sligo Creek.