MENU

Sections

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Editors and Writers
    • Join our Mailing List
    • Letters to Editor Policy
    • Advertising & Underwriting
    • Code of Ethics
    • Privacy
    • Talbot Spy Terms of Use
  • Art and Design
  • Culture and Local Life
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
    • Senior Life
  • Community Opinion
  • Sign up for Free Subscription
  • Donate to the Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy

More

  • Support the Spy
  • About Spy Community Media
  • Advertising with the Spy
  • Subscribe
June 21, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Editors and Writers
    • Join our Mailing List
    • Letters to Editor Policy
    • Advertising & Underwriting
    • Code of Ethics
    • Privacy
    • Talbot Spy Terms of Use
  • Art and Design
  • Culture and Local Life
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
    • Senior Life
  • Community Opinion
  • Sign up for Free Subscription
  • Donate to the Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy
Ecosystem Eco Lead Ecosystem Eco Portal Lead

National Park Service Awards $250,000 for Sultana’s Lawrence Wetlands Preserve & Center 

November 22, 2021 by Spy Desk

Share

The Sultana Education Foundation (SEF)  announced that the National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways program has provided $200,000  in funding in support of the Lawrence Wetlands Preserve – a new urban nature center the  Foundation is developing in Chestertown, Maryland. This award brings the National Park Service’s  investment in the project to $250,000, as well as the contribution of considerable technical and  planning support. When open to the public in 2023, the Lawrence Preserve will function, in  association with the Holt Education Center, as a National Park Service partner visitor contact  station on Maryland’s Upper Eastern Shore for information, education, and to get official  Chesapeake passports stamped.  

Photo by Sam Shoge

Established with the help of a $1 million lead gift from philanthropist Michael Lawrence, the 8.5- acre Lawrence Wetlands Preserve is centrally located in walking distance to Chestertown’s historic  downtown and Sultana’s LEED Platinum Holt Education Center. While diminutive in size, the  Lawrence Preserve boasts diverse habitats, including woodlands, non-tidal marsh, shrublands,  warm grass meadows, swampland, and a freshwater pond draining into the Chester River. The  Preserve’s “watershed in miniature” will provide an ideal setting for students to learn how land use  impacts the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The Preserve will also be accessible to the public,  providing a new natural space in Chestertown’s growing downtown. 

“We are honored by the NPS Chesapeake Gateways’ support and commitment and are proud to  have the Park Service as a partner for the Lawrence Wetlands Preserve,” said Sultana Education  Foundation President, Drew McMullen. ‘Our relationship with the National Park Service spans two  decades, and they have provided initial support for many of our core public and educational  programs.”

Photo by Tyler Campbell

“NPS Chesapeake Gateways applauds Sultana Education Foundation’s vision to create a new  outdoor Chesapeake watershed classroom for students that also serves as an oasis of green space for the Chestertown and surrounding community,” said Wendy O’Sullivan, Superintendent of the  NPS Chesapeake Office. “The Lawrence Preserve is the latest example of how the Sultana team is a  leader and model for place-based environmental education and Chesapeake storytelling on  upper Eastern Shore.” 

“We are fortunate to have the Sultana Education Foundation in our community and we eagerly  await the completion of the Lawrence Wetlands Preserve. We see this new facility as a tremendous asset for young people in our area and for our community as a whole,” commented  Chestertown Mayor, David Foster.  

Photo by Tyler Campbell

The Park Service is one of several major organizational partners supporting the Lawrence Preserve,  including the Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area, the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, the  John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, the Indian Point Foundation, the Shared Earth Foundation, the  Gosnell Foundation, and the Schumann Charitable Trust. 

Work on Sultana’s Lawrence Preserve began in June with the installation of a site-wide trail  network and extensive landscape engineering. This fall, the Foundation planted 400+ trees to  create a woodland buffer around the property’s border, as well as two warm grass pollinator  meadows. Development of the property will continue in 2022 with the construction of a 1,200  square foot nature center building allowing the Preserve to operate on a year-round basis, as well  as a system of wetland pedestrian boardwalks. 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Lead, Eco Portal Lead

Adkins Mystery Monday: What did We Find in Nancy’s Meadow? Pete Mathews Contemplates the Future of Mathews Brothers by Jeff McGuiness

Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article

We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.

Copyright © 2025

Affiliated News

  • The Chestertown Spy
  • The Talbot Spy

Sections

  • Arts
  • Culture
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Mid-Shore Health
  • Culture and Local Life
  • Shore Recovery
  • Spy Senior Nation

Spy Community Media

  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising & Underwriting

Copyright © 2025 · Spy Community Media Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in