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January 27, 2022

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

Ecosystem Eco Notes

NRCS in Maryland Accepting Applications from Producers, Landowners for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting applications from agricultural producers and forest landowners in STATE for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which helps producers enroll wetlands, grasslands and farmlands into conservation easements.

While USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) accepts ACEP applications year-round, Maryland producers and landowners should apply by Feb. 18, 2022, to be considered for funding in the current cycle. Applications received after the ranking date will automatically be considered during the next funding cycle. Funding is provided through a competitive process.

State Technical Committees, composed of conservation and agricultural-related agency and organization representatives, work with NRCS to identify resource priorities and how best to address them. NRCS then sets state-specific ranking dates to evaluate applications for funding that account for producer needs, staff workload and ensure potential participants have ample opportunities to apply.

ACEP enrollment options include:

ACEP-Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE): Helps restore, protect and enhance wetlands on eligible land. Wetland reserve easements are either perpetual, 30-years, or maximum duration under state law, or 30-year contracts (for Indian Tribes).

ACEP-Agricultural Land Easements (ALE):  Protects farmlands and grasslands by limiting non-agricultural uses of the land. Agricultural Land Easements are either perpetual or the maximum duration allowed under State law.

“Conservation easements help farmers protect valuable agricultural lands from development or protect and restore previously drained wetlands to their natural conditions,” NRCS Maryland easement program manager M. Tiffany Davis said. “These easements are improving wildlife habitat and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.”

To learn more or apply, please visit your local NRCS Maryland field office, or contact Davis at tiffany.davis@usda.gov or 443-482-2950.

For more information about conservation planning and programs, or to find your local USDA service center, visit www.md.nrcs.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

Middle and High School Students Invited to Youth Environmental Summit

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Registration is now open for the 2022 Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit. The event is co-hosted by ShoreRivers and the Washington College Center for Environment and Society, and will take place at Washington College’s Gibson Center for the Arts in Chestertown on Saturday, March 19, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Summit, open to middle and high school students, is a conference-style day to celebrate and empower youth environmental action on the Eastern Shore. Spaces are available for 100 students and are expected to fill up quickly. Visit uppershoresummit.weebly.com/mentors to register and explore Summit activities.

The Summit agenda includes a networking breakfast, where students will learn about local environmental volunteer and internship opportunities and resources to support their action ideas. Student keynote speakers will kickoff speaker sessions that include professionals such as Imani Black, founder and CEO of Minorities in Aquaculture, and ShoreRivers Chester Riverkeeper, Annie Richards. Other highlights include an environmental art challenge and complimentary breakfast and lunch. Summit student leaders have helped to plan engaging, relevant, and exciting activities throughout the event.

Students at Queen Anne’s County High School take action by building oyster reef balls on their campus.

Summit hosts are accepting registration submissions from adult community members who wish to serve as Summit mentors. Mentors are responsible for groups of 1-10 youth participants during the event, and could be a parent, teacher, scout leader, 4-H leader, etc. Students who do not yet have a mentor but still wish to participate in the Summit can register separately through the website’s student page and be matched with a group that has a registered mentor. Participants must register no later than March 4, 2022.

The Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit is seeking event sponsors who want to empower local youth in environmental action. Please contact ShoreRivers Director of Education Suzanne Sullivan at ssullivan@shorerivers.org to learn more about sponsorship. The Summit will be in person and will follow COVID protocols, including reduced attendee capacity and mandatory masks. Summit hosts are monitoring the situation and will switch to virtual if necessary.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge: Prescribed Burn Season Starts Again   

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Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) announces that their prescribed fire program will begin in January. Prescribed fires are used as a management tool to reduce wildfire risks and improve wildlife habitats. The Blackwater fire crew, assisted by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, will be burning designated areas of marshlands, woodlands, and agricultural fields during the next five months on Blackwater NWR, Fishing Bay WMA, and small areas of nearby private land. The objectives are public safety, habitat improvement, reduction of hazardous fuels, and control of exotic and invasive species. Priority areas to be burned are near private residences and property adjacent to eagle nests, Delmarva fox squirrel habitat, and safety zones along public highways. Agricultural field burns are done to facilitate the farming and moist soil impoundment management program. Several small grassland areas will also be burned to control woody plants and maintain the fields in grassland habitat.

All prescribed fires will be coordinated through the Dorchester County Fire Control and the Maryland Forest Service. Local residents who see fires and smoke associated with the refuge’s prescribed burns can be assured that these burns are being conducted in a manner to minimize impacts to the environment and ensure public and firefighter safety.  If all prescriptive parameters within the fire plan are not met, such as wind, relative humidity, temperature, weather, and fuel conditions, the fire will not be started.

Local residents should continue to use caution when conducting prescribed fire activities.  Maryland DNR should be contacted for burning permits and the Dorchester County 911 Center notified prior to implementing any prescribed fires. Protecting life and property and maintaining firefighter safety are the number one objectives during any wildland fire event. To assist the refuge in preventing arson fires and prevent any unwanted damages from wildfires please report any suspicious activities or individuals seen starting fire on or around the refuge.

To report a fire on or around the refuge please contact the local 911 center and the refuge at 410-228-2692.

ShoreRivers Shares 2022 Legislative Priorities

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ShoreRivers’ Director of Riverkeeper Programs Matt Pluta speaks at a past environmental legislative summit in Annapolis.

Now that the Maryland General Assembly has reconvened for the 444th Legislative Session, ShoreRivers’ advocacy efforts are in full swing. The organization’s advocacy work is fundamental to creating system-wide change to protect local rivers against the major issues that impact water quality.

ShoreRivers, in partnership with the broader environmental community, will prioritize three bills this session: 1) a comprehensive climate package that will improve Maryland’s resilience and adaptation to climate change; 2) the PFAS Protection Act to protect Maryland residents from harmful chemicals in our waters; and 3) the Maryland Environmental Human Rights Amendment, which will provide another mechanism for environmental protections under the state’s constitution.

As we face greater challenges on the Eastern Shore resulting from climate change, we must accelerate the implementation of climate-resilient nutrient reduction practices by increasing funding and technical support for our state and local agencies. ShoreRivers will advocate for much of the federal funding allocated to the Chesapeake Bay Program in the recent infrastructure package to go toward implementation of conservation practices, particularly on agricultural lands throughout our local watersheds.

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) must dedicate adequate personnel and resources in order to issue protective permits and take adequate enforcement action against pollution. As is laid out in a key piece of legislation being supported this session, MDE needs to conduct monthly inspections of facilities with administratively continued permits as well as facilities in significant noncompliance with their permits, and enforce meaningful penalties that disincentivize violating water pollution controls. This bill aims to fully address the backlog of administratively continued discharge permits (often referred to as “zombie” permits) over the next three years. Since the state has invested funds in upgrading the technology at many of these permitted facilities to reduce pollution loads, we should invest in our state agencies to ensure that terms of the permits are being met and that the technology is functioning as intended so we can meet our 2025 pollution reduction goals established by the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).

Just as ShoreRivers implements restoration projects throughout our communities, engages volunteers in tree plantings and oyster growing, and reaches thousands of students each year through environmental education programs in local schools, the organization’s advocacy at the local, state, and federal level ensures that all of those endeavors can continue in order to achieve its water quality goals. Maryland’s laws and regulations should protect and support these local investments, and ShoreRivers looks forward to a productive legislative session with members of the General Assembly and fellow environmental advocates.

Anyone interested in getting involved and learning more about these priority bills, can tune in for the Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit on Tuesday, January 25 at 6 pm. Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/3GpzwkI

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

New Study Tracks Microplastics in Maryland’s Choptank Watershed

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Scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science are embarking on a research project that will lay the foundation for plastic research in the Chesapeake Bay. The two-year project, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, begins in January and will track how microplastics move through the Choptank River watershed on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The project studies the fate and transport of microplastics, providing a baseline of understanding of what kind of plastics exist in the waterway and how they move through coastal systems, particularly how marsh wetlands and underwater grasses impact their flow and where they end up during different seasons throughout the year.

“A lot of attention is paid to the giant garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, but those plastics came from somewhere.  We have to understand where they are coming from and what happens to them before they get to the ocean,” said Associate Professor Jamie Pierson. “How microplastics transit through a system like the Choptank and its features—marshes, underwater grasses, wetlands—might affect transport from source to open water.”

Studies have estimated that up to 95% of the waste that accumulates on shorelines, the sea surface, and the seafloor is plastic. To date, most published studies on plastic debris have focused on marine ecosystems and not estuaries, rivers, or freshwater systems.  Even fewer studies have focused on the interaction of coastal wetlands, such as underwater grasses or marshlands, and the accumulation of microplastics.

Plastic debris occurs in different sizes and washes up on beaches, floats on the water surface, and sinks to the water’s floor. Large pieces of debris are most obvious, but increasing attention has been paid to microplastics, which are less than 5 millimeters in size, or smaller than a pencil eraser. These smaller particles have specific and important human and ecological health implications because they can enter the food chain when they are ingested by the creatures at the base of the food chain.

The project will develop and model scenarios to determine which factors and mitigation strategies could have the greatest impact on reducing marine debris in riverine environments. All of the data gathered will be made available to stakeholders and policymakers from agencies such as NOAA and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, as well as local agencies and NGOs to be applied to coastal wetland systems, locally and globally.

“The goal is to develop a budget that illustrates plastic debris input and retention in marsh and open water habitats of the Choptank river system,” said Assistant Professor William Nardin. “Ultimately, this information will allow stakeholders to examine how plastic debris deposition differs across habitats, different flow regimes, and different plastic loads, and to assess potential management strategies to mitigate plastic pollution.”

Plastic samples of all sizes, from plastic bags to microplastics barely invisible to the naked eye, will be collected and examined. Experiments will look at six different types of plastic, which degrade differently and have different densities, and how they may be trapped or move differently in different places in the river at different times of year.

A special microscope that uses a short-wave infrared radiation camera will identify the different types of plastics, which emit different wavelengths and patterns of light. A drone outfitted with a special camera will also be used to scope out larger plastic debris in the watershed from above. It can identify different types of plastics, from plastic bags and beach balls to water bottles.

“Potentially, we’ll be able to make the connection between bigger pieces of plastic in a marsh that break down, and the pieces feeding into the river system leading to microplastics in the water. We’re hoping to figure out if different types of debris get moved in different ways,” said Pierson.

The project will also create a group made up of experts and stakeholders that will advise the research in specific ways to ensure that the outcomes of the project are relevant to policy makers and directly inform management actions regarding plastic marine debris.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science leads the way toward better management of Maryland’s natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. From a network of laboratories located across the state, UMCES scientists provide sound evidence and advice to help state and national leaders manage the environment, and prepare future scientists to meet the global challenges of the 21st century.

ShoreRivers Welcomes and Thanks Board Leadership

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ShoreRivers is pleased to announce three new members of its Governing Board: Katherine Wiacek, Rosemary Ramsey Granillo, and Nancy Cordes. As a grassroots nonprofit organization, the hard work and support of board members is imperative to the organization’s efforts for healthier rivers on the Eastern Shore. These welcome additions will fill openings as ShoreRivers founding board members Peter Welling, Anna Wolgast, and Trey Hill conclude their terms at the end of this year. ShoreRivers extends deep gratitude for the wise counsel, encouragement, and vision of these exceptional community members.

L-R: Katherine Wiacek and Rosemary Ramsey Granillo

Wiacek is a managing director at Hines real estate company in Washington, DC, and is a second-generation board member. She enjoys spending time at her family home on Harris Creek in the Choptank River watershed.

Granillo is the director of the Kent County Local Management Board and a Chestertown resident. Like Wiacek, she too is a second-generation board member, succeeding her mother Marcy Dunn Ramsey, former chair of the Chester River Association.

Nancy Cordes (photo credit: CBS News)

Cordes is the chief White House correspondent for CBS News, and has a home on the Wye River. A long-time Eastern Shore enthusiast, Cordes hosted the 2021 State of the Rivers event online for ShoreRivers this past May.

These three voices will bring new expertise and connections to ShoreRivers, strengthening the organization’s robust science-based advocacy, restoration, and education efforts.

At the turn of the year, ShoreRivers will welcome the new executive board leadership of Dan Hayes (Chair), William Anderson (Vice Chair), Scott Budden (Treasurer), Meta Boyd (Secretary), and Brennan Starkey(at-large member). Starkey, president of Starkey Farms Company in Galena, has ably led the organization as its Chair for the past four years. In November, at his final board meeting as chair, Starkey reflected on his service with the comment, “ShoreRivers is strong and I leave it in good hands. What more could I want?”

In addition to the Governing Board, ShoreRivers appreciates open dialogue with dedicated community member volunteers through its four Watershed Advisory Boards. Find out more about ShoreRivers’ leaders at shorerivers.org/leadership.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

Cornell Grant Partners Two Conservation-Based Non-Profits on MD Eastern Shore

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Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) will be collaborating with Lower Shore Land Trust (LSLT) on an initiative through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Cornell Lab)’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative Small Grant Program. The $5,000 award will be utilized to develop a six part bird conservation series to be held from January to August of 2022 that will highlight various bird conservation and restoration practices across the Delmarva Peninsula; the series will also promote opportunities for engaging new and existing volunteers in meaningful stewardship of conservation lands through the lens of bird conservation.

The Delmarva Peninsula hosts a variety of critical ecosystem habitat and supports a plethora of habitats from forest interior, grasslands, wetlands, and saltmarsh habitat. However, the peninsula is a vulnerable area, with the Chesapeake Bay to the west and Coastal Bays and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; habitat loss from sea level rise and development, along with large-scale changes in farming practices have contributed to the declines in a variety of bird species once plentiful on the coastal landscape, such as saltmarsh sparrow, seaside sparrow, black rail, and bobwhite quail.

This upcoming conservation series will highlight regional restoration efforts being implemented by conservation partners through discussions of restoration practices and trainings geared toward land trust members and volunteers, as well as interested members of our community. Through these focused programs, which include bird banding demonstrations and birding walks, partners aim to increase awareness of the challenges to bird populations and of the actions being implemented to counter these declines.

Existing conservation easement landowners will gain insight and knowledge as to how their land plays a role in the larger picture of restoration efforts, and whether their property might have potential to be enrolled in the highlighted restoration projects. Individuals of our communities can become more involved with local land trusts and will have the opportunity to learn how to become more involved with our conserved lands.

ESLC and LSLT sincerely appreciate Cornell Lab for this opportunity to work with local conservation groups and for the ability to increase our community support of bird conservation. For questions about this upcoming series, please contact ESLC’s Restoration Specialist, Larisa Prezioso, at lprezioso@eslc.org or LSLT’s Executive director, Kate Patton, kpatton@lowershorelandtrust.org

About the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) is a private, nonprofit land conservation organization committed to preserving and sustaining the vibrant communities of the Eastern Shore and the lands and waters that connect them. For more information please visit www.eslc.org.

ShoreRivers Hosts Agriculture Field Day

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ShoreRivers recently partnered with Alleghany Farm Services, Agri Drain, Advanced Drainage Systems, Natural Resource Conservation Service Delaware, and Kent County Soil and Conservation District to host a drainage field day in Greenwood, Delaware, for members of the farming community, the local agencies who support them, and related industries. The field day took place on Wednesday, December 1, and showcased drainage tile installed for the purposes of drainage water management.

Attendees view a demonstration of conservation drainage practices during a field day sponsored by ShoreRivers and partner organizations in Greenwood, Delaware. Photo credit: ShoreRivers

Over 80 attendees joined ShoreRivers and partners for the field day event, which included a live drainage tile installation demonstration. The morning included two sessions that covered the history, necessity, and future of conservation drainage, drainage water management, and soils. Drainage water management allows for the drainage necessary for production while reducing the amount of nutrients transported out of the field, helping build a more resilient farming community. The first session, hosted by Agri Drain President Charlie Schafer and ShoreRivers Director of Agriculture & Restoration Tim Rosen, focused on conservation drainage and automated drainage water management. The second session focused on soils, and was led by Phil King, Annie Rossi-Gill, and Jim Brewer, soil scientists with the Natural Resource Conservation Service who discussed the impact of drainage on soil and the implications for crops.

Throughout the day, Alleghany Farm Services had large equipment onsite installing drainage tile as part of a new drainage water management system. This is the first drainage water management project of this type in Delaware. It is funded by Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control through a Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant. To learn more about financial options for conservation drainage, please contact your local soil conservation district or ShoreRivers.

This field day is part of ShoreRivers’ ongoing efforts to address nutrients and sediment in agricultural runoff, as this dominant land use is the leading contributor of pollution to Eastern Shore waterways. ShoreRivers works collaboratively with farmers to reduce these pollution loads using innovative practices, such as the drainage management techniques demonstrated during this field day. To learn more about ShoreRivers’ dedicated agriculture and restoration staff as well as project and funding opportunities that benefit farmers and local water quality, visit shorerivers.org/agriculture.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

Pickering Creek Audubon Center January Public Programs

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WEBINAR: A Guide to Delmarva Weather

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

7:00 – 8:00 pm

Free

Ever wonder why it’s 40 ⁰F and rainy in Easton while its 25⁰F & snowing in Baltimore? Why does Delmarva have fog delays but Washington doesn’t? Join Pickering Creek naturalists to learn all about why our unique geography makes our weather so weird on the Delmarva peninsula. To register in advance, please visit https://pickeringcreek.org/programs/upcoming-programs/

Animal Tracks & Traces

Saturday, January 22nd, 2022

10:00 – 11:00 am

$5 per person

Can you tell the difference between a raccoon footprint and a beaver footprint? What about a deer bone or a fox bone? And whose scat is that? Bundle up and come join Pickering Creek naturalists to learn all about the signs that animals leave behind to help us identify who’s who even when we can’t see them. To register in advance, please visit https://pickeringcreek.org/programs/upcoming-programs/

TNC Hires Two New Positions to Work with Communities and Farmers On the Shore

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The Maryland and DC chapter of The Nature Conservancy announced today that it has recently hired two new positions that will work directly with local communities and farmers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.   Environmental anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth Van Dolah will support the chapter’s coastal program, while applied social scientist Dr. Matthew Houser will support the chapter’s sustainable agriculture program in a joint position with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

“We’re thrilled that Liz and Matt have joined our Easton office and will be working directly with local communities on conservation strategies,” said Tim Purinton, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Maryland and DC.  “They will make sure the voices and experience of local community members and farmers play a major role in developing conservation strategies that benefit both people and nature on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.”

In her new role, Liz Van Dolah will work closely with local community members to document and integrate community needs and goals into The Nature Conservancy’s conservation projects focused on marsh health, flooding, and coastal resilience.  Said Van Dolah, “When we think about conservation work, it’s easy to overlook important local perspectives and human connections to the lands and waters that we want to protect. Too often though, the people we end up overlooking are the ones who find themselves on the losing end of the coastal environmental challenges that we want to address on the Eastern Shore. As an anthropologist, I want to make sure that their voices are included in shaping how we do conservation so that we can effectively leverage nature and people in building a more resilient future.”

Van Dolah is originally from coastal South Carolina, and first began working with Eastern Shore communities while working on her MAA and PHD at the University of Maryland. Much of her research has been carried out as part of the Deal Island Peninsula Partnership, an initiative to improve adaptation support for rural coastal communities on the Lower Shore.

As the new Regenerative Agriculture Fellow, Matthew Houser will work with local farmers and agribusiness partners to document their views and the challenges they face in relation to climate change and sustaining a thriving agricultural community.   Said Houser, “The perspectives of farmers often aren’t heard these days, and my goal is to make sure they are. As a social scientist who focuses on farmers’ management decision-making, I want to ensure their voices and experiences play a major role in creating a more sustainable, profitable, and resilient agricultural system.”

Houser grew up on his family’s beef cattle farm in Central Pennsylvania and began his research with farmers while working on his MA and PhD at Michigan State University.  Most recently, he was a Faculty Fellow at Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute.

The Nature Conservancy’s Regenerative Agriculture program works to support a thriving agricultural community where farms provide healthy food, clean water and resiliency to climate change, and support a healthy Chesapeake Bay for people and nature. The Resilient Coasts program seeks to help Maryland’s critical coastal habitats and historic communities adapt to the effects of climate change through collaboration with private and public partners, strategic land protection and management, and conservation science.

Liz Van Dolah can be contacted at e.r.vandolah@tnc.org and Matthew Houser can be reached at matthew.houser@tnc.org.