Catoctin Group

The Catoctin Group encompasses Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland. The geography of the region and the area these counties cover offers a plethora of opportunities to explore nature.  But it presents a challenge to organizing our over 1,000 members, as it can take up to an hour to travel from Carroll and Washington counties to Frederick City, our historically central meeting place.

Carroll County

Carroll County lies in the Piedmont region of north-central Maryland between Baltimore and Frederick counties. Just under 456 square miles, it is about 27 miles in length and width at its greatest dimensions. Its elevations range from 300 feet above sea level in the southeast to 1,080 feet in the northeast. Home to forests, farms and wetlands, Carroll County sits in two major drainage basins: The Monocacy River to the west, which flows into the Potomac River, and the Patapsco or Gunpowder rivers to the east and south, all of which lead to the Cheasapeake Bay. Bear Branch and Piney Run nature centers and Morgan Run, a designated wild lands area, offer many recreational opportunities to the counties 168,541 of residents.

Frederick County

Bordered by the Potomac River and Pennsylvania, Frederick County is a transition county from the Piedmont in the east to the first ridges of the Appalachians and continuing west. Rolling hills of mostly farmland and small communities dominate the east. The county boasts a population of 220,000 residents. At the center is Frederick city, Maryland’s second largest city with about 59,000 inhabitants. To the west and north are the Catoctin Mountains, which are protected by Gambrill State Park, the Frederick Watershed, Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain National park. These parks offer numerous hiking trails, including the 28-mile Catoctin Trail, the longest in the region. Fifty-eight miles of the Monocacy River, nearly its entire length, is in Frederick County and is navigable when water levels are sufficient. The C&O Canal National Park parallels the Potomac River through the county, and the old C&O towpath has been preserved as a hiking and biking trail.

Washington County

The South Mountain ridgeline forms the border between Frederick and Washington counties. The Appalachian Trail winds its 40 miles through Maryland along this ridgeline.

Environmental Challenges

The greatest environmental challenges these counties face are population growth and suburban sprawl due to the spread east and north of the greater Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas. As predominately agricultural counties, none have been designed for commuting: there is very little mass transit and planning processes have lacked vision. While there are many excellent recreational walking and biking trails, none were designed to be practical alternatives to driving. The water supply is also strained, and in some areas polluted, and the air pollution across the counties has been getting worse.

Catoctin Group Action and Activity

The Catoctin Group has been very active in working with and supporting other grass roots groups to help address these issues in an intelligent and environmentally sound way.

We organize a variety of informational gatherings throughout the year and recently launched Cool Cities campaigns in Carroll and Frederick counties. We are currently working to do more programs in Washington County.

Turn your interest into action

Currently, we are a five-member executive committee (excom) elected to two-year terms. However, we have lots of room to grow and would welcome more help.  If you live in Carroll, Frederick or Washington counties, please consider volunteering for a seat on the excom. We especially need people interested in chairing our conservation and political committees and putting out a newsletter. If this level of engagement is out of the question, but you’d like to get more involved, consider helping us organize a program, join the Cool Cities initiatives, lead a a hike or just join a hike or attend a film or social and get to know us.

For more information or to get involved, contact us!  We hope to hear from you soon.

Carroll County

Dan Andrews
Cool Cities Westminster
Energy issues/Chairman of Catoctin group
dooze@qis.net
410-857-4129

Frederick County

Ken Eidel
Treasurer
Cool Cities Frederick
kceidel@comcast.net 

301-696-5933

Lew Sherman

Conservation Chair

lewsherm@comcast.net

301-898-7910

Secretary
Amy Andrews
beatlejohngeorgefan@outlook.com
410-857-4129

Outings Chair 

TBA 

contact Dan Andrews at dooze@qis.net if you have questions.

Invasive Plant Removal Stewardship Outings

Carolyn Puckett
cpuck@comcast.net 

CATOCTIN GROUP ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

 2013 Calendar:

NEXT GROUP MEETING:

All members of the Catoctin Group are invited to join our monthly group meetings! The meetings are held the first Saturday of every month at the C. Burr Artz Library or the Urbana Library. Contact Dan Andrews (dooze@qis.net) if you have any questions.

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Upcoming Events and Hikes

Next Hike: 4-27-13 10:00 a.m.

Follow this link: http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/AnnapolisRock_8872.asp              

Weed Warrior/Master Gardner Events

For more information, please contact Carolyn Puckett at cpuck@comcast.net

For more information about Carroll County Master Gardeners, or the University of Maryland Extension, Carroll County:

Call Steve Allgeier 410-386-2760 or  HYPERLINK "mailto:hortman@umd.edu" hortman@umd.edu

.

Carroll County

Master Gardeners

Water-Wise 

Landscaping

in 

Carroll

County

Water in Your Landscape

Tuesday

May 28    7 p.m.

Instructor: Terry Heinard

Carroll County Master Gardener

Water! What you need to know about water conservation & water quality to 

improve your landscape. Learn simple techniques to effectively manage water. 

A brief overview of the hydrologic (water) cycle will give insight into how water pollution in our yards occurs, how it affects our streams & rivers flowing into the Chesapeake Bay, and some measures we can all take to reduce the negative consequences.

Open House: Water-Wise is Bay-Wise! 

Demo and Outdoor Activities

Saturday

June 8     9 a.m. -  Noon

 9:00  - 11:00  

Instructor: Sarah Hiderbrand

Director with Environmental Concerns

A presentation and demonstration on water

conservation.  Sarah’s three dimensional

demonstration model visually illustrates water conservation techniques.  See the advantages of rain gardens and permeable pavement vs. hard surfaces.

9:00 - Noon:   Outdoor activities for the general public include:

Tours of the Master Gardener Shirley Garden & Gillette Garden 

Rain Barrel demonstration, 

“Green Cleaners” demonstration by Virginia Brown

“Garden” Yard Sale

Plant Sale!

Garden handouts!

 E-mail Newsletter

We're looking to launch a quarterly E-newsletter about our activities and local/state environmental issues! If you would like to submit a short piece (100-500 words) please send it to Amy Andrews

~~To publish events on the Sierra Club activities calendar, please contact Amy Andrews at beatlejohngeorgefan@outlook.com ~~

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