Hello MPEA Friends & Volunteers!

Welcome to another year of informal updates regarding the various activities taking place within the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area! Not that last year was a bad one. We’re kind of just over it. 2014 could best be remembered as the “Year of the Trail” for us for as much effort as we focused on improving the trail system. There are still problem spots to be resolved and we’ll always have upkeep to do but hopefully not as an intense workload as the past twelve months. So what’s 2015 going to be remembered for? Well, it’s too early to say but we will keep you informed along the way! A lot will be happening.

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E M I D D L E P A T U X E N T E N V I R O N M E N T A L A R E A

JANUARY 2015

VOLUME 11, ISSUE 1

Meander ings . . .Meander ings . . .Meander ings . . .

Inside this issue:

Greetings and

Introduction

1

Paperwork 1

On The Horizon... 1

Tidbits 2

Interesting Link 2

Think before you print!

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Volunteerism in the environmental area is off to a slow start this January but that is the winter trend we follow. Several holidays and snow-closings in January cut down on the opportunities people had to share time with us. That’s fine. There will be plenty more opportunities in the future. Although it has been written here many times before, we still mean it when we say, “If you haven’t been out to volunteer yet, stop by and give it a try.” In other volunteer news, there has been a slight change in how we register volunteers at the MPEA. All volunteers, both current and brand-new ones, will need to fill out the updated version of the volunteer application and agreement this year. No fuss, No muss. It is nothing you haven’t done before. We’ll have the paperwork ready at each event and will make it as quick and easy as possible.

Paperwork

On The Horizon...

Davey Rogner, our Invasive Species Management Project Coordinator, has been busy planning out volunteer opportunities for the upcoming field season. Information will be forthcoming soon about dates and times when you can come and help remove non-native, invasive plants from the MPEA. Lest we not forget to mention that Davey will also be offering “Weed Warrior” training for individuals who would like to be able to volunteer independently. If removing invasive plants isn’t your cup of tea, sit tight. A tree planting or two should take place this spring as well. The Howard County Master Gardeners have stepped up to the plate again and will assist us in delivering the Conservation Stewardship Project series of events. Three Master Gardeners (MG’s) have been working diligently to plan, market, and offer these volunteer events to the public. When the full schedule of events is worked out it will be shared here and also via email. Nevertheless, the preliminary plans outshine previous offerings. Many thanks go out to the MG’s and the assortment of guest speakers for donating their time and talents.

I hope to see you out in the MPEA,

Jeff

Meanderings... Page 2

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Tidbits

Just a couple of other notable items are left to mention. Two managed hunts occurred in January and just two more are scheduled for this hunting season: February 5th and February 19th. Please mark your calendar. January also marked the return of Intern Maddie. This semester Maddie will be focusing her work on finding, surveying, and mapping vernal pools. As this is a big project, requiring a good deal of field time, you may encounter her out and about. Do say Hello. With regards to trails, incremental progress is still being made on a long list of issues. The main slow down is not a lack of enthusiasm by Trail System Improvement Project Coordinators Amy & Sarah, but rather from sloppy trail conditions. Repetitive freezing and thawing of the first inch or so of trail tread makes for a slippery mess. When this occurs it is best to just stay off the trail. When not working directly on trails, the Coordinators have been assisting quite adeptly on other items on the To-do List.

NEXT MANAGED HUNT

DATE IS ON THURSDAY

FEBRUARY 5TH, 2015.

Interesting Link

After seeing a piebald deer and looking for more info on the web, this great site popped up:

http://wildmaryland101.blogspot.com/2014/01/maryland-weird-and-wonderful-piebald.html

There is a lot of great information about Maryland wildlife on the site. Give it a look.

Click on the Chickadee

Picture

—>

For more information

about the Great Backyard

Bird Count

Howard County

Department of Recreation And Parks

7120 Oakland Mills Road

Columbia, MD 21046-1677

Jeff Claffy, Asst. Natural Resources Manager

Phone: 410.313.6209

E-mail: jclaffy@howardcountymd.gov

Cheryl Farfaras, Natural Resources Manager

Phone: 410.313.4726

E-mail: cfarfaras@howardcountymd.gov

Fax: 410.313.0409

The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA), established in 1996, is 1021 acres in size and contains a diversity of habitat types. There are upland and bottomland hardwood forest, fields, wetlands, ponds, and riparian (riverine) habitats. The primary components of the MPEA's mission are natural resource management, education, research and

recreation. Successfully delivering our mission depends on the efforts of volunteers such as you!

T h e N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e M i d d l e

P a t u x e n t E n v i r o n m e n t a l A r e a

MIDDLE PATUXENT ENVIRONMENTAL AREA

We’re on the Web!

http://www.howardcountymd.gov/mpea.htm

AND

www.middlepatuxent.org