Protect one of the healthiest tributaries in the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Save the Mattawoman Creek
(Article from the MD Chapter website)
 If
we
can't
save
the
Mattawoman
and
its
watershed,
we
cannot
save
the
Chesapeake
Bay.
Only 20 miles south of Washington DC, Mattawoman Creek is the last best
remnant of what the Chesapeake Bay tributaries were like when the bay
was healthy and productive. This river teems with life including
eagles, herons, beaver, otters, bass and migratory fish, American
lotus, and a wonderful diversity of plants and animals. It is the
fourth most endangered rivers on American River's most endangered
waterways list for 2009.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has recognized it as the
highest quality fish spawning nursery of the Chesapeake Bay. The
Mattawoman has survived thus far because forests in Southern Prince
George's and Charles counties filter storm and rainwater keeping the
river cool, clean, and alive.
Now, new proposed highways would spread a path of destruction across
the creek and its watershed. Sprawling suburban housing developments
threaten to pave over forests and farmlands with rooftops, cement, and
polluted runoff, degrading this biodiverse area and the wildlife it
supports.
Other proposals to increase growth (Waldorf Bypass, Tech Center) in the
environmentally sensitive Mattawoman Watershed should be redesigned and
directed to areas that need redevelopment.
The Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club continues to work to save
Mattawoman Creek. For more information on the campaign and
current activities visit the Maryland Chapter's website
http://maryland.sierraclub.org.
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