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Volume
4, Issue 4 |
April 2012 | |
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IN THE
ZONE is a service from
the
Maryland Department
of Natural Resources'
Chesapeake & Coastal Service
(CCS)
that delivers timely
information, tools, and resources to those who live,
work, and play in Maryland's coastal
zone. |
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CCS
SPOTLIGHT: MARYLAND'S
COASTAL
ATLAS
Informing
Coastal Planning and
Decision-Making
 Maryland's Chesapeake & Coastal
Service (CCS) is improving the State's ability to access
coastal data and tools that will help inform coastal
management. This online mapping and planning tool,
developed to allow users to visually analyze and explore
data for coastal and ocean planning activities, has
recently undergone a number of exciting updates and
enhancements.
Since its launch in 2008,
the Coastal Atlas has been used to inform
a variety of coastal management
decisions: from identifying areas vulnerable to
coastal hazards to determining the conservation
potential of a parcel of land to helping the State
conduct ocean planning through inventory and analysis of
marine resources and uses to help identify
suitable areas for offshore wind
development. Developed using ArcGIS Server
and Adobe Flex technology, the Coastal Atlas allows
State and local officials to access map data they want
to display for free. The data is made available in
the form of web services that can be viewed
and overlayed in the Coastal Atlas without needing
access to desktop GIS software.
 With funding from NOAA
and the help of developers/programmers at Towson
University's Center for GIS and the Maryland
Environmental Service, CCS staff recently completed the
following updates: a
new interface with better organized tools and icons
that will improve the Atlas' ease of use; creation
of an Add Mapservice widget allowing users to
import external data (or map
services) including any layer from the other Atlas
applications; creation of a new CBNERR Sites widget to
display location and links to basic information on
Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Sites; creation of a new CELCP widget to display
location and basic information about sites acquired
through the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation
Program (property name, year established, acreage,
project type); development of an Offshore Wind widget
which displays wind speed and wind power at
various heights (30, 50, 80, 100 meters above
the water's surface) for selected points
in the form of a bar graphs; and the adaptation of an
"Elevation Profiles" widget (developed by Mark Deaton)
that was modified to show bathymetric profiles along
user selected paths of either a straight line, polyline,
or freehand line.
In addition to the Atlas
face-lift, CCS has created a comprehensive Coastal
Atlas Training Manual that reflects the recent
updates and enhancements and includes detailed
instructions on how to use the mapping tools as well as
some practice exercises and common applications. To
supplement the training manual, a Coastal
Atlas Training Video has also been produced for
those who prefer click-by-click instruction from a narrated video.
With these updates to the Coastal
Atlas, CCS has attempted to make the sites more
accessible and are encouraging users without a GIS
background to access and explore the State's coastal
data. For more information on Maryland's Coastal Atlas
visit http://dnr.maryland.gov/ccp/coastalatlas or contact Chris Cortina with Maryland's Chesapeake
& Coastal Service. Those interested in
learning more about Maryland iMap and other mapping
tools developed by the State should visit: http://www.imap.maryland.gov/portal/.
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MARYLAND TEACHERS ARE IN THE
ZONE
Helping
Teachers Bring Data into the Classroom and
Practice
 Paddling the Patuxent River
to remove invasive plants, cruising the waters of
Dorchester and Somerset counties on a research vessel,
plotting plant communities at Jug Bay Wetland Sanctuary,
testing the water quality of the Bush River, and putting
all of it into the context of using data in the
classroom: this is how teachers who are "In the Zone"
train for the upcoming school year. Each
summer, middle and high school teachers from all over
Maryland participate in several multi-day professional
development seminars, "Data & the Estuary," offered
by the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve-Maryland (CBNERR-MD).
The
workshops, a collaboration of efforts by Chesapeake
& Coastal Service (CCS), CBNERR-MD components (Jug
Bay Wetland Sanctuary, Patuxent River Park, and the
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center), NOAA, and the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), strive to provide
teachers with the resources, knowledge and experience
necessary to facilitate the integration of estuaries and
their related issues into the classroom. Carried out in
the diverse environments of the Chesapeake Bay, the
program uses hands-on field-based investigations to
train teachers to gather authentic data on land use,
water quality, biotic communities and other factors,
analyze that data, and ultimately use this information
to develop action projects that will have a positive
impact on the natural systems of the Chesapeake Bay.
During
the course of this program the teachers receive training
in the NERRS Estuaries 101 curriculum, CBF's Chesapeake
Exploration, National Geographic Chesapeake Bay
Fieldscope online mapping resource, DNR's Eyes on the
Bay continuous monitoring water quality data source, and
other resources. Teachers can choose to spend 3 days or
5 days in workshops, and may opt for training in 3
regions: Northern Maryland, Central Maryland, and the
Eastern Shore (held overnight at CBF's Karen Noonan
Center). MSDE credits are awarded to teachers who
complete lessons based on the training.
For
more information about the 2012 Data & the Estuary
courses, please contact Coreen Weilminster, CBNERR - MD
Education Coordinator, at 410-260-8744, or cweilminster@dnr.state.md.us. |
| COASTAL
TRAINING PROGRAM UPDATE
Upcoming
Trainings Include a Second Offering of "Stormwater
Retrofitting Demystified"
 After a very popular and successful
intial offering of this training course earlier
this month, the Maryland Coastal Training Program and
the Chesapeake Stormwater Network are sponsoring a
second training. The first training was completely full
with 75 attendees and many more on a waiting list. Thiis
additional offering is an attempt to meet the growing
demand.
For many communities, stormwater
retrofits are a complex, mysterious and challenging
topic. Local officials have a lot of questions and
concerns about how they will impact their community and
their limited budgets. At "Retrofitting Demystified!" we
will present a practical, cost-effective approach to
solve the local retrofit challenge. Find how to quickly
calculate pollutant reduction credits for your MS4
permit and Bay TMDL, as well as learning new strategies
for getting the greatest reductions at the lowest cost,
while maximizing local benefits. (6 CM Credits)
Stormwater Retrofitting Demystified is
a one-day training for local governments to
cost effectively implement stormwater retrofits to meet
MS-4 Permit and Bay TMDL Requirements. The training will
be Wednesday, June 13, 2012, from 9:00 AM - 4:00
PM at the Patuxent National
Wildlife Refuge Visitors
Center.
The
course is free, but registration by June 12, 2012 is
required. Click
here to register.
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U.S.
/ GERMANY WORKSHOP: "OBSTACLES TO ADAPTING TO CLIMATE
CHANGE"
DNR and UMCES
Co-Sponsor a Discussion with
Practitioners
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Dr. Grit Martinez leads a
discussion on Coastal Adaptation in the Baltic
Sea
Region. |
On
Wednesday, March 7th, twenty-one participants
representing universities and local, state and federal
governments from Maryland and Germany attended a
workshop hosted by the Maryland Department of Natural
Resources and University of Maryland Center for
Environmental Science at the National
Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in
Annapolis, MD.
Maryland
and Germany have a common feature in that both have two
coasts, one on the open sea and one on an enclosed sea,
making the comparison and cooperation between the two
states particularly promising.The purpose
of the workshop was to serve as a
venue to share ideas and lessons learned and to
discuss best practices that might be applicable to - or
replicable in - other coastal communities.
Throughout
the day, the participants engaged each
other on the research and planning being
conducted around the State and in the German Regions of
the Baltic and North Sea and how it could be utilized at
the local level to better inform the decision
making process. Read more about the event
and some of the workshops procedings on the Ecologic
Institute's website at http://ecologic.eu/4642.
Photographs from the workshop as well as
the presentations can be found on the project webpage:
http://www.ecologic-events.eu/climate-science-in-dialogue/.
As
always, for more information on
technical assistance, planning, resources and
services offered in Maryland, please visit the
CoastSmart Communities Online Resource Center
at http://dnr.maryland.gov/CoastSmart.
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TEAM/DNR
- TEACHING ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN MARYLAND
Programs
on Horseshoe Crabs, Oysters, Watermen, and Streams
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How healthy is the stream? TEAM
volunteers and student looking for
macroinvertebrates in the Streams program.
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Spring is here and elementary and
middle schools across the state are booking TEAM/DNR's
free programs on the Watershed, Horseshoe Crabs,
Oysters, and Watermen. Trained volunteers bring these
programs into any school in Maryland and students and
teachers alike enjoy the interactive and engaging
elements in each of these carefully formulated modules
from Tic-Tac-Toe games on Horseshoe Crabs to dressing up
as Watermen. Streams is another program with two
components-classroom introduction to macroinvertebrates
and an in-the-stream collection of the critters and
discussion of the stream's
health.
Here's what teachers are
saying:
- "Activities were well planned,
interactive, and enjoyable."
- "Reinforces everything I have
discussed."
- "This is a wonderful education
tool that is an asset to the community."
- "The variety of activities kept
the students attention."
Click
here for
more information on TEAM or to sign up.
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MID-ATLANTIC
REGIONAL COUNCIL ON THE OCEAN (MARCO) BRINGS
A PROGRAM MANAGER ON BOARD
CCS
Welcomes Michelle Lennox
has hired a program
manager and CCS is proud to welcome Michelle
Lennox who will be stationed at DNR in the Tawes
State Building.
Serving as MARCO's first program
manager, Michelle will help coordinate the
activities of the five-state MARCO Management Board
including: organizing and facilitating MARCO projects;
representing MARCO at regional and national forums;
developing and implementing outreach and communications
strategies; and coordinating with MARCO's Federal
partners. Michelle will be well-served in this
capacity by her wealth of knowledge and experience in
ocean and coastal funding, environmental consulting and
restoration activities.
Michelle comes to us from The
Nature Conservancy where she conducted research on
federal-level funding mechanisms and revenue sources for
ocean and coastal conservation, restoration, and
planning. Prior to her work at TNC, Michelle worked as
an Ecologist and GIS Analyst with an
environmental consulting firm in
Oregon; she has also conducted
on-the-ground activities and researched financing
opportunities for Chesapeake Bay
restoration. Michelle earned a B.S. in
Marine Biology from the University
of Maryland, an
M.S. in Biology from Towson
University, and a Graduate
Certificate in GIS from
Portland State
University.
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MARCO
SUBMITS PROPOSALS FOR COMPETITVE GRANT
FUNDING
Funding Requested to Host a
Symposium on the State of Scientific Understanding of
Ocean Habitats in the
Mid-Atlantic
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Screen capture of MARCO's Mapping and
Planning Portal displaying some available ocean
biological data for the Mid-Atlantic
region. |
The State of Maryland
worked with the four Mid-Atlantic States (NY, NJ, DE,
and VA) through the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the
Ocean (MARCO) to submit proposals for competitive
grant funding to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's Regional Ocean Partnerships (ROPs) Funding
Program. MARCO requested funding
to hold a major symposium on ocean habitats in the
Mid-Atlantic region, as well as improve operations of
the regional ocean partnership.
MARCO requested funding to host a
symposium on the state of scientific understanding of
the Mid-Atlantic ocean, continental shelf, and submarine
canyons, with an emphasis on canyons, corals, and
corridors (the three "C"s) to tell the story of
ecosystem productivity and diversity, and the
opportunities and challenges of regional ocean planning.
The proposed project would raise public awareness,
interest in, and visibility of MARCO and ocean planning,
by showcasing the significance of these little known
continental shelf habitats. The symposium would
highlight the latest work and ongoing studies on
submarine canyons, corals, and migration corridors. The
project would present state-of-the-art scientific
information, build partnerships, and generate broad
stakeholder engagement through knowledge and data
sharing.
MARCO also requested
funding to improve regional ocean governance efforts in
the Mid-Atlantic by enhancing the administrative and
operational capacities of MARCO and advancing
MARCO's priority issue areas.
Funding will be used to: sustain and secure dedicated
MARCO staff, increase collaboration and
planning across MARCO, manage and implement regional
activities to address MARCO's
priorities, and develop and execute outreach and
communication strategies.
MARCO looks to build and improve
collaboration and planning across the region, while
increasing staff capacity and technical expertise. Links
to the proposals can be found here:
For more information, please
contact Michelle
Lennox,
MARCO Program Manager or visit www.midatlanticocean.org. |
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MARYLAND
COASTAL AND WATERSHED RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Next
Meeting: Friday, April 27,
2012
 Maryland's next CWRAC
meeting will be Friday, April 27, 2012 (10 to 12:30
pm at the Maryland Department of Natural
Resources, Tawes State Building, Conference Room C-1 in
Annapolis, MD.
CWRAC, established
in 1976, is an advisory committee comprised of
representatives of local government, concerned local
citizens, special interest groups, state and federal
agencies and academic institutions. Located
administratively under the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources, CWRAC acts as an independent advisory
body to the Secretary of Natural Resources and to
Maryland's Coastal Program on policy issues affecting
the coastal areas of Maryland. Funding is provided by
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
under the Coastal Zone Management grant.
If you are interested
in attending the upcoming meeting or in need of more
information on CWRAC, e-mail Chris Aadland with
the Chesapeake & Coastal Sevrice or call
410.260.8736.
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Feel
free to contact us with any comments, questions or ideas for
future
IN
THE ZONE
e-mails. 
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A
publication of the Maryland Coastal Zone Management Program
pursuant to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Award No. NA11NOS4190151. This publication is funded (in part)
by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The views expressed herein
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
views of NOAA or any of its
sub-agencies. | | |
