Former State Senator Bernie Fowler To Participate In The 10th Annual Upper Western Shore Wade-In On June 9

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ABINGDON – Roll up your pants and lace up your sneakers with members from Upper Western Shore Tributary Team on June 9 from 2 to 5 p.m. as they host the Upper Western Shore Trib Team & Anita C. Leight Center (Wade-In) on Otter Point Creek. This year’s event will feature lots of family activities including live music, fish printing, turtle time, pontoon boat rides, fish seining, canoeing and face painting, and retired State Senator C. Bernie Fowler is scheduled to participate. There is no fee for this event and it will take place rain or shine.

In what has become an annual event for each of Maryland’s 10 Tributary Teams, the Wade-Ins were inspired by former Senator Fowler, who began wading into the Patuxent River 17 years ago with family and friends to highlight concerns about declining water quality in Maryland’s tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay. Senator Fowler remembered that as a child, he could wade into the Patuxent and easily see his shoes. The event became known as a “wade-in” and is characterized by participants wading into a stream, river or the Bay, and measuring the point at which they can no longer see their shoes (known as the Sneaker Index). Fowler has since challenged the other nine Tributary Teams to host Wade-Ins or similar water quality awareness events of their own.

“Wade-Ins are a great opportunity to bring your family out to see what is happening with the local water quality concerns and learn how you and your family can help,” said Bill Kilby, Chair of the Upper Western Shore Tributary Team.

The Upper Western Shore, along with all tributary basins in the Chesapeake, contributes to and is impacted by nutrient pollution. Nutrient pollution can be divided into two major categories – point sources (pollution that comes from a single, definable location such as a wastewater treatment plant or industrial discharge) and non-point sources (pollution that cannot be attributed to a clearly identifiable, specific physical location such as runoff from land and atmospheric deposition). Runoff from different land uses, point sources and atmospheric deposition are the major sources of nutrients within the Bay watershed.

Directions to the Wade-In: Take Exit 77A off of Route I-95 and follow MD Route 24 South to Edgewood. Turn left onto the Route 40 access road; make a left at the T onto Route 40 East. Proceed east 1.5 miles, and then turn right at the stop light onto Otter Point Road. Proceed one-half mile and then turn right into the driveway at the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center entrance sign (700 Otter Point Road).

On the day of the event, please call the Anita C. Leight Center at 410-612-1688 or 410-879-2000, extension 1688 for directions or if you have questions.

Since 1995, Maryland’s Tributary Teams have assisted with the implementation of the State’s watershed-based plans to reduce nutrient pollution to Maryland’s rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Support for the Tributary Teams is provided by staff at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR); however the members are volunteers whose tireless energy results in invaluable contributions to restoration efforts. The Wade-Ins are just one of the ways the Teams highlight local water quality and get their communities involved.

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June 4, 2007

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 446,000 acres of public lands and 18,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 11 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at t www.dnr.maryland.gov