Walker Nature House has a different, vaguely creepy concept of 'recycling'

So construction on the new, $1.5 million Nature House at the Walker Nature Education Center is now officially underway.

More than 40 years after it was initially planned and eight years after fundraising began, the Nature House at the Walker Nature Education Center is finally under construction. The groundbreaking for the Nature House was held on Wednesday and a crowd of more than 100, including employees of Reston Association, members of the Friends of Reston and community leaders, braved the cold to take part in the ceremony.

Awesome! As required by Reston Association bylaws and the loyalty oath included in the HOA rider, we love nature. But the project's eco-friendly LEED certification has a weird twist.

The current structure at the Walker Nature Education Center will be torn down in the next few days and more than 90 percent of the materials will be recycled.

Pieces of the original Walker Nature Education Center were removed from the building, cut into the shape of RA mascot Earl the Squirrel, and given to attendees as mementos.

That's one way to recycle a building. But Earl the Squirrel? Really? Is he like Joe the Plumber, only a plain-speakin' rodent who holds dear the heartland values of paintin' earth tones, followin' design review board directives, and speakin' gerunds without gs?

Who knows, but given the fact that he has an RA-sanctioned e-mail address (earlthesquirrel@reston.org), he's apparently on the payroll. Here's the only known photo of Mr. The Squirrel, presumably before he was carved up into keepsake-sized pieces of mauve-coated wood:



Have you seen this rodent?