It's a Dirty Job, but Someone's Gotta Scoop

Broom in hand, trash can in tow, Mark Burnett arrived at Constitution Gardens on Thursday with a mission: Rid the Mall of poop.

Others might volunteer to sweep up trash, paint benches or pull weeds, but Burnett and the 14 others who joined him for the "Scoop Up" are experts in poop.

All are employees at DoodyCalls, a professional pet-waste removal company. After reading about the mess that geese, ducks and fur-covered friends were leaving on the Mall, the group was inspired to deploy their scoopers.

Their overtures were welcomed enthusiastically by the National Park Service, the Mall's official keepers.

"We think greatly of all volunteer efforts," said Ed Petru, volunteer program manager for the Park Service. "But this is the first time we've had someone volunteer to do the droppings.''

The employees of DoodyCalls are among many groups that have stepped forward with efforts to improve the look and feel of the vast green space between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial that some refer to as "America's Front Yard."

In the past few years, tourists, along with environmental and preservation groups, have voiced alarm that the Mall is becoming an eyesore pocked with bald patches and weeds. Despite an infusion of cash slated for renovating the Lincoln Memorial, the Reflecting Pool and the sea wall in front of the Jefferson Memorial, the Mall has an almost $400 million maintenance backlog.

Petru said a group from Tourism Cares will be painting benches on the Mall. Volunteers with DC Cares, a local nonprofit group, often pitch in with lawn care. This week, officials with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund said they will spend about $96,000 to help with lawn care and sprinkler repair in a 13.5-acre area around the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

After a brief pep talk, the 15 scoopers split into two teams and began to circle the lake. No geese were in sight, but ducks floated lazily in the Constitution Gardens lake, near 17th Street and Constitution Avenue.

"They're laughing because they don't have to do this," David Jensen, director of sales at DoodyCalls in Fairfax County, said, jokingly referring to the ducks as he flicked his broom along the edge of the lake.