Baltimore County's Wetlands of Special State Concern Need your help!
Sierra Club volunteers. partnered with the University of Maryland, are working to save selected Baltimore County wetlands supporting rare, threatened or endangered species.
You can help!!
Come join us for 2-3 hours on one of the dates below and assist a team University of Maryland students conducting a landscape analysis of these selected wetlands, also known as Wetlands of Special State Concern (WSSC).
November field trips are planned for the following four days and approximate times:
Saturday November 7: 9 AM-4 PM
Sunday November 8: 9 AM-4 PM
Wednesday November 11: 1 PM-5 PM
Saturday November 14: 9 AM- 4PM
Specific sites will be determined approximately one week prior to the site visits. Contact Janet Schollenberger by emailing her at jscholle4@yahoo.com for exact locations and directions.
No special skills are needed to assist in these wetland evaluations. You will work under the direction of the University of Maryland students. In addition to helping protect our environment, volunteers will improve their knowledge of these critical wetlands and their surroundings. Specific information to be gathered includes:
Physical Site Characteristics:
Basic characteristics of the flora and fauna of each site
Disturbances in the wetland
Evidence of litter or human disruption (dumping sites, fire rings, encampments, drug use, evidence of tree harvesting, hunting (shot gun shells)etc.)
Trails or signs of off road vehicle use
Adjacent site characteristics:
Analysis of adjacent threats(for example, adjacent landfills, waste disposal sites, piers/docks, golf courses, mowed areas etc.)
Analysis of adjacent roads and potential runoff into the wetland
Hydrological Characteristics:
Evidence of erosion, stream incision, sedimentation
Soil subsidence and root exposure
Biological Site Characteristics:
Prevalence of invasive species
Increased nutrients
Presence of species of special state or federal concern
