On March 23, 2011, 442 acres of the Holly Grove region of Worcester County, Maryland were preserved for public open space through a partnership between CCP, the County, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, DNR's Program Open Space, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) and the Trust for Public Land. The property is a large, forested wetland complex along a half-mile stretch of Ayers Creek. It has a unique mix of coastal forest and highly functional estuarine and palustrine forested wetland complexes. Passive recreation opportunities will be available for hiking and bird watching and the public will be able to kayak near the property. Adjacent to this property is the Golden Quarters Farm, another CELCP property protected through a conservation easement.

In 2009, this project ranked as the 3rd of 57 projects in the Nation in 2009 receiving $1,375,000 from the NOAA's CELCP. The property will preserve important natural landscape, help maintain the water quality of the Coastal Bays and provide public access in perpetuity. Through NOAA's CELCP, Maryland's Chesapeake and Coastal Program works to identify and protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical or aesthetic values, or that are threatened by conversion from their natural or recreational state to other uses.  Learn more about this property and what the Chesapeake & Coastal Program does to protect coastal lands through CELCP.

STRENGTHENING THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE PROGRAM

Maryland Updates its Coastal Policies  

Maryland's Watershed Assistance Collaborative

Over the past three years, the Watershed Assistance Collaborative (Collaborative) has been assisting local communities to accelerate the implementation of Bay and coastal restoration projects.  As the name implies, the Collaborative is a partnership among the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Chesapeake Bay Trust, Center for Smart Growth and Environmental Finance Center, University of Maryland SeaGrant Extension, Maryland Department of the Environment, NOAA and EPA.  The Collaborative, with its dedicated staff of Regional Watershed Restoration Specialists, has leveraged more than $860,000 dollars in direct technical assistance and has assisted over 31 communities in the identification, design and engineering of shovel ready restoration projects; has identified more than 75 acres of forested buffer plantings on both the Eastern and Western shores and in southern Maryland; and has assisted several communities with the development of innovative financing strategies and new stormwater utilities.

With the levels of implementation required under the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, the Collaborative is experienced and well-positioned to help locals implement their restoration strategies. To learn more about the Watershed Assistance Collaborative and their successes over the past three years,

click here to visit CCP's Collaborative webpage or contact Brent McCloskey with Maryland's Chesapeake & Coastal Program or call 410.260.8722.   

At the request of a number of sponsoring federal agencies, the National Academies are conducting a study on Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters. The goal of the study is to provide actionable recommendations and guidance on the best approaches to reduce adverse impacts from hazards and disasters.

As part of the study, the National Academies committee is visiting a number of communities around the nation to assess how they have responded to disasters in the past and how they view and assess their resilience to future disasters. Because the committee is unable to visit all communities, they are asking for your help to find out more about your community through this short questionnaire: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/463575/How-resilient-is-your-community-to-disasters.  

The committee welcomes input until July 1, 2011. Click here for more information on the study and the committee.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) has released their document, Highlights: Moving in the Right Direction, that tracks the progress MARCO has made since 2008

MARCO's new Mapping and Planning Portal is an online tool that allows state, federal, and local decision-makers and the public to visualize, query, map, and analyze ocean and coastal data in the Mid-Atlantic region. Click here to visit the MARCO Map Portal.

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