The Fairfax County Park Authority Board has approved a $20,000 Mastenbrook Volunteer Matching Fund Grant request from the Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park to help fund a forest-restoration project at the park.
Frying Pan’s friends group will use the money to help restore four acres that have been heavily degraded by human activity, invasive species and an overabundance of white-tailed deer. The project is designed to put the forest on a trajectory toward growing into a high-quality oak-hickory forest, which will provide improved habitat for wildlife.
On-site and digital interpretive programs will be used to educate visitors on the park’s unique forest communities, native biodiversity and the importance of restoring degraded ecosystems.
The Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park plan to donate an initial $24,540.67 to the project, to be followed by an additional $11,158 in the second and third years. With the grant money, a total of $55,698.67 will be available for the restoration work.
Since 2002, the Mastenbrook Grant Program has awarded approximately $1.9 million in grants for some 200 projects valued at more than $14.4 million. Grants ranging from a few hundred dollars to the maximum of $20,000 have funded such projects as trail improvements, construction of gazebos and shelters, and athletic-field improvements.
Following this latest grant, $50,449.23 remains in the grant account.