MONTGOMERY COUNTY SIERRA CLUB DONATES

AWARD WINNING FILM TO MONTGOMERY LIBRARIES

The Montgomery County Group of the Sierra Club has donated 20 copies of the award winning documentary “Preserving the Future” to the Montgomery County Public Libraries as part of its Parks! Not Pavement! campaign. The 20 minute film, made by county resident Roswitha Augusta takes the viewer on a stroll through the section of Rock Creek Park that would be destroyed by the Western Parkway. The film’s lovely images and poignant testimonials highlight the damage that would be done to both the environment and to residents’ quality of life should this parkway be built.

Augusta, who had never made a film, wanted to find a way to show Montgomery County residents how much beauty surrounds them and what would be lost should certain road projects be built. “When I drove up county it would break my heart to see the impact of urban sprawl on our forests -- to see clearcuts and tree stumps rotting on a pile and to see wetlands drained or streams diverted. It made me realize what trauma and hardship all this would have on the creatures of the forest and upon the earth. So I had to do something that would make people realize that habitat preservation is not only needed in the western states – but right here at home.”

For the last 6 years Augusta has attended the Tom Brown Tracking, Nature and Wilderness Survival School in Asbury, NJ. The school teaches nature awareness and a philosophy of living with the earth. “We are part of the interconnected web of life. People can honor that philosophy by preserving the natural areas we have left for themselves, for future generations and for the future of every living thing on the planet.”

Those who wish to purchase copies of the video can do so by mailing $20 to:

Roswitha Augusta

4641 Montgomery Ave. Suite 100

Bethesda, MD 20814

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