Questions, comments or suggestions may be directed to: Ellen Varley, ev1@umail.umd.edu phone: (301) 405-4581

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From the Director's Desk

Maryland is a diverse state characterized by a wealth of natural resources, including the nationâs largest and most productive estuary, the Chesapeake Bay.

The Maryland Cooperative Extension Service sponsors or participates in a wide array of programs designed to increase state residentsâ understanding and appreciation of these natural resources. From summer camps for youth and workshops for future teachers and wildlife professionals to a videotape and volunteer network for landowners, these programs reach thousands of Marylanders every year. Extension faculty are contributing their expertise as educators on 10 ãtributary teamsä that are developing strategies designed to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the bay and its tributaries 40 percent by the year 2000.

Join us in one of Marylandâs Cooperative Extension Service programs as either a participant or volunteer to help others gain a better appreciation for Marylandâs unique environment and natural resources as we work to preserve them for future generations.

Thomas A. Fretz
Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Director, Cooperative Extension Service

Teams Take Aim at Nutrients in Ten Tributaries

Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are substances that help plants grow. They are found in commercial fertilizers, human and animal waste, and even deposition from car exhaust and factories. If not treated or taken up by plants, these nutrients find their way into creeks, rivers, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay, where they damage the aquatic ecosystem by causing excessive algae growth, blocking light needed by underwater plants, and reducing dissoved oxygen in the water.

The governors of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, the mayor of the District of Columbia, and representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Chesapeake Bay Commission signed an agreement in 1987 to work together to achieve a 40 percent reduction in the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus reaching the bay by the year 2000 (using 1985 as a base year). In 1991, Chesapeake Bay Program researchers determined that although significant progress had been made, more needed to be done to control nutrient pollution. Bay agreement partners were directed to develop ãtributary strategiesä÷watershed-based plans÷to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus entering the bayâs rivers (see Fall/Winter 1995 issue of Focus).

Maryland divided the state into 10 tributary basins and worked with local governments and citizens to develop strategies for achieving the 40 percent reduction goal in each tributary.

Teams made up of representatives of state and local agencies, agricultural and other businesses, environmental organizations, and federal facilities, along with other interested citizens, were appointed by Governor Glendening and county government officials for each tributary in August 1995. The teams were charged with ensuring that implementation of the tributary strategies proceeds on schedule in a fair and flexible manner; coordinating participation among citizens, government agencies, and other interested parties; and promoting an understanding of tributary strategy goals and the actions needed to achieve them.

Laying the Foundation

For the past year, the tributary teams have been laying the foundation neces-sary to achieve their mandate. They have adopted bylaws, elected chairs and co-chairs, developed mission statements, and started educating themselves and others about nutrients in the bay.

ãThe teams are made up of large groups of people with diverse backgrounds,ä says Dr. Tom Simpson, coordinator of Marylandâs Chesapeake Agricultural Bay Programs through a split appointment with the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service. ãBefore they could contribute effectively to the tributary strategy process, they had to increase their knowledge of nutrient loading and the reduction options discussed in the tributary strategies.ä

Team members attended briefings on subjects ranging from land development and forestry practices to stream buffers and wastewater treatment. They also examined existing environmental education programs, identified financial aid/cost share programs available to farmers, and identified other federal, state, and local programs associated with the implementation of nutrient reduction options.

The tributary teams then broke into smaller workgroups or subcommittees to discuss specific nutrient reduction strategies in more detail. Over the past year, tlture and Natural Resources
Director, Cooperative Extension Service

Teams Take Aim at Nutrients in Ten Tributaries

Nutrients, suchacilities. The team also wrote to the managers of two point source facilities within the watershed, encouraging them to upgrade to biological nutrient removal (BNR) technologies.

When the Upper Western Shore Tributary Team discovered that Aberdeen Proving Ground did not consider the upgrade of their wastewater treatment plant a priority, team members arranged a meeting with representatives from the federally operated facility and the Maryland Department of Environment (the permitting agency) to discuss the topic.

Several members of the Lower Potomac Tributary Team participated in the Wicomico River Commissionâs Countryside Stewardship Exchange, working with land development, rural development, and planning professionals on an economic development and stewardship plan for the Wicomico watershed.

The Upper Eastern Shore Tributary Team hosted officials from local jurisdictions during an educational boat trip on the Chester River. In this relaxed environment, team members shared their vision for the region and explored how they and elected officials could work together to improve the bay.

Targeting a larger and broader audience, the chairs of the three Eastern Shore tributary teams helped organize a Cover Crop Workshop that was held during the 1996 Wye Research and Education Center Field Day. The workshop, which attracted 100 participants, examined the environmental effectiveness of cover crops and the barriers to their use. It featured presentations by an economist, a scientist, farm-ers, and three state government representatives. Following the workshop, the Eastern Shore tributary teams formed a taskforce to develop recommendations to enhance the use of cover crops.

Moving on

In 1997 the tributary teams hope to make informed decisions and detailed recommendations regarding nutrient reduction programs presently in place, including those that are being cut, and to develop a list of new programs that may be more efficient and/or cost effective.

Some teams have received EPA grants distributed through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to facilitate their efforts. The Upper Potomac, Middle Potomac, and Patapsco/Back River teams, for example, have received a $34,945 grant to expand the Maryland HomeWork environmental education program developed by Tom Miller, regional Extension specialist (see next article). The Upper Potomac Team also was awarded $15,125 to conduct a study at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center to demonstrate how intensive grazing management can help protect water quality through better forage management on less acreage.

The Patuxent River Team has received a $10,000 grant to identify and develop a database of existing outreach efforts regarding water quality and nutrient reduction in the watershed by both public and private agencies and organizations. Such information will help team members determine what educational holes exist and how such holes can best be filled.

Detailed information about activities, plans, and priorities are described in each tributary teamâs 1995-1996 annual report. For a copy of one or more reports, contact the appropriate Extension representative/s listed here.

Extension Tributary Team Contacts

Return to the Focus Spring 1997 Table of Contents.

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Extension Faculty Offer Maryland 'Homework' Assistance

The Maryland Cooperative Extension Service sponsored a series of environmental workshops this spring in Carroll and Frederick counties. The paired two-hour workshops feature an environmental program called ãMaryland HomeWorkä developed by Tom Miller, Extension regional water quality/agronomy specialist.

ãThe name comes from the question ÎBefore you do any finger pointing about the environment, have you done your own HomeWork?âä he explains.

The program is a compilation of materials designed to educate citizens about their role in protecting water quality, their health, and the environment in general. The first session focused on ãWater Quality Around the Home,ä the second on ãLawn and Garden Care.ä Landscaping, composting, water conservation, recycling, well and septic system management, and hazardous household products are just some of the topics that were covered by Miller, Wanda MacLachlan, area Extension agent for environmental management, and Tess Wynn, Monococy Project Extension coordinator.

The Upper Potomac Tributary Team, on which Miller serves as Extension representative, has received a $34,945 grant to conduct additional Maryland HomeWork training sessions this year in the watershed (see previous article).

Resources on Riparian Buffers to Protect the Bay

Conservationists have been concerned about the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for many years. In 1983, the Chesapeake Bay program was established to organize and direct bay restoration efforts.

Researchers have determined that the creation and maintenance of riparian forest buffers can facilitate the restoration process. These buffers are areas of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation located adjacent to a lake, stream, or other body of water. They maintain stream system integrity, protect water quality, and improve the habitat of plants and animals on land and in the water by absorbing excess nutrients; providing food, shade, and organic matter; moderating stream temperatures; and controlling sediment, erosion, and stream bank stability. In 1996, the Chesapeake Bay Program issued a directive that called for 2,010 miles of riparian forest buffers to be planted along the bayâs tributaries by the year 2010.

Videotape for Landowners

The Maryland Cooperative Extension Service has developed some educational tools and programs designed to increase public awareness of riparian forest buffers and encourage support for their creation. One of these tools is a 21-minute videotape called Riparian Forest Buffers: The Link Between Land and Water.

ãThe video is designed to help landowners understand riparian forest buffers and their functions and values in agricultural, urban, and forested settings,ä says Bob Tjaden, an Extension regional natural resources specialist who directed production of the video. ãIt describes the buffers, explains how landowners can create one for themselves, and suggests contacts for additional help and information.ä

Interested individuals in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware can view Riparian Forest Buffers: The Link Between Land and Water at local Cooperative Extension Service, forestry, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and wildlife offices.

Training for Professionals

Targeting a different audience, the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service offered a pilot training program about riparian forest buffers. The two-day workshop was held twice in May. It was designed for Extension agents, forest and wildlife professionals, and members of conservation organizations.

The goal of the training, according to Tjaden, was to focus resource professionals on entire water systems instead of just individual areas. ãThe tendency is often to fix local problems instead of looking at the entire system,ä he explains. ãBut if you donât look at the system, you usually treat the symp-toms rather than the larger problem.ä

Participants spent one day in the classroom and one day in the field, where they engaged in site assessments and case studies. Taught by multi-disciplinary teams of foresters, wildlife biologists, soil and land conservationists, and Extension agents, they learned how to study a water system, evaluate the specific needs of landowners, and determine how those needs will affect the entire system.

Tjaden hopes to interest other universities in offering similar workshops for professionals in nearby states. Here in Maryland, he plans to expand such training opportunities to include work-shops and field trips for landowners.

Camp on Wheels: A Natural Resources Road Show

For the past 7 years, youngsters in Charles County have had an opportunity to take a walk (and several rides) on the wild side thanks to a Natural Resources Camp on Wheels. This unique camping experience÷with its week of daily field trips÷was developed by Charles County program assistant Donna Bailey and a 4-H agent Faith Connors to introduce county youth ages 8 to 18 to a variety of natural resources issues and subjects. Participating teenagers serve as leaders for the younger children.

Most of the campers are youngsters who have been to day camp but are not quite ready for overnight camp. ãThis camp experience lets them have an adventure,ä Connors says, ãbut it also gets them home in time for dinner.ä

A PEPCO environmental employee conducts a hands-on learning session with Charles County campers at the power company's Faulkner ash site.
photo by Gary Smith, the Maryland Independent

On the Road to Learning

Each morning, campers meet at the Charles County Extension office for an orientation that prepares them for the dayâs field trip. Then they board a bus and head out to a natural resource site in Charles, Calvert, Prince Georgeâs, or St. Maryâs County, where they spend the day engaging in hands-on learning. Activities have included ãmarsh muckingä and building bat or bird houses at Gilbert Run Watershed Park, exploring the wildlife management site PEPCOâs Morgantown power plant and testing the water quality of a nearby stream, using seine nets to discover what creatures live in the Chesapeake Bay, collecting and identifying fossils at Purse Park in Charles County, and observing an environment created at the Merkle Wildlife Center in Prince Georgeâs County.

This traveling approach to natural resources education makes sense, says Connor. ãMaryland is an interesting place, ecologically speaking,ä she explains. ãItâs amazing what we have right at our own back door.ä

Building on Success

Ruth Miller, county Extension director in Calvert County, agrees. Impressed by the success of Charles Countyâs unique program, Miller and her staff introduced their own environmental Camp on Wheels in 1994. The response from youngsters and parents was so positive that a second roving camp experience was introduced. For the past two years, the county Extension office has offered two one-week camps on wheels. One focuses on Marylandâs history, the other on its valuable natural resources.ä

Called ãConserving Our Future,ä the environmental camp session is designed for youngsters between the ages of 8 and 13, with 14- and 15-year-old teens serving as counselors. Participants enjoy a variety of natural resources-related experiences. Last August, for example, they learned about nuclear energy, including health and safety issues, at a BG&E power plant; explored the woods and observed wildlife at Calvert Cliffs State Park and Flag Ponds Nature Park; and cruised the Chesapeake Bay aboard a skipjack for a first-hand look at marine life.

On-site experiences were complemented by games, puzzles, and other related activities developed by Calvert County 4-H camp director Michele Miller (no relation to Ruth).

ãIt was an excellent program,ä says Ruth Miller, ãthanks, in large part, to the efforts of Michele. Sheâs a very creative person, and did a lot to enhance the campersâ experience.ä

A Calvert County camper collects plants and animals from a stream for closer examination.

Summertime Days of Discovery

Like the Camp on Wheels programs, the Natural Resources Day Camps offered on the Lower Eastern Shore give children a chance to explore the great outdoors. Introduced four years ago by Will Warren, Extension 4-H agent in Worcester and Somerset counties, and Worcester County 4-H program assistant Cindy Morris, these day-long camp sessions are offered at various Lower Eastern Shore locations.

Each camp features hands-on activities, basic safety instruction, and team-building games, while focusing on a different aspect of natural resources, such as water quality, archaeology, and wildlife.

In 1996, some 200 youth between the ages of 8 and 11 took advantage of this unique camping opportunity. They hiked along a nature trail and conducted a water quality study at Pocomoke River State Park, uncovered the past on an archaeological dig at Furnace Town, learned about the crabbing industry in Crisfield, and explored barrier island habitat on Assateague.

This summer's Natural Resources Day Camps begin in June.

Addressing Environmental Conflicts

Environmental issues, such as those involving land and water use, tend to arouse strong feelings in people and can lead to conflicts,ä says Sharon Diehl, 4-H Extension agent in Allegany County. ãIf you are going to increase peopleâs understanding of environmental issues and encourage them to take action, it makes sense to give them the conflict resolution skills theyâll need to be effective.ä

Diehl and several other Extension faculty did just that during a weekend workshop on conflict management and environmental education in February. Held at the Fairview Outdoor Education Center in Washington County, the program attracted 20 young people, age 12 to 18, from Allegany, Washington, and Baltimore counties.

At the heart of the program was an environmental curriculum called ãProject Wet.ä The goal of this curriculum, according to Garrett County 4-H agent Alice Hevner, is to promote awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and stewardship of water resources through such hands-on activities as ãWho Polluted the Potomac?ä ãPoison Pump,ä and ãH₂0 Olympics.ä

Several workshop sessions focused on techniques for dealing with the conflicts that can arise in the process of addressing environmental issues.

ãConflict occurs when there is a clash between different ideas, interests, or beliefs,ä says Merry Lou Beal, an Extension agent in St. Maryâs County who planned the conflict management sessions. ãPeople who understand and are able to deal with conflict are more successful at building the consensus needed to solve problems and bring about positive change.ä

Participants enjoyed the conflict resolution part of the program a lot, according to Mary Ellen Waltemire, state 4-H camp coordinator. ãThey learned skills they can use right now in their own lives when dealing with their parents, teachers, and peers,ä she said.

Workshop participants put their environmental knowledge and conflict management skills to work during a two-hour interactive exercise called ãHometown USA.ä Presented with a hypothetical scenario involving the future of a 2,000-acre tract of forestland, they assumed group roles as loggers, farmers, builders, Board of Education members, and youth environmental activists and individual parts as an elderly woman, a fisherwoman, and a Native American. They discussed the issues and presented their points of view to teens and adult leaders portraying county commissioners. The ãcommissionersä eventually made a decision designed to address the concerns of the different groups and please as many people as possible.

ãThe activity went well,ä says Waltemire. ãThe teens really got into their parts and seemed to learn a lot from the experience.ä

Denise Frebertshauser, faculty Extension assistant in Carroll County, agrees. ãBased on the enthusiasm they demonstrated during Hometown USA and the entire workshop,ä she says, ãweâre confident that theyâll share the information they learned and teach other groups how to use it.ä

4-H Center a Focus for Fun and Education

Imagine a place in Maryland that attracts 19,900 visitors, mostly kids, every year. No, itâs not ãAdventure World,ä a local theme park. Itâs the Patuxent River 4-H Center, an educational facility in Upper Marlboro that offers environmental and natural resources learning experiences through a variety of programs.

Established 30 years ago, the center introduced environmental education programs in 1987, and their popularity has grown steadily since then. Over the last two or three years attendance at such programs has increased by at least 1,000 every year.

ãThe effect of the center is far-reaching and impressive when you consider how many kids were taught last year,ä says Bonnie Dunn, coordinator for natural resources programs at the center. ãWe conducted programs for some 300 campers, 4,000 scouts or members of other youth groups, and 14,000 younsters involved in 4-H activities.ä More day camps have been added this year to keep up with the increased interest.

Environmental Education

Environmental education programs at the center feature different topics and themes, including nature, agriculture in Maryland, native American history and crafts, and water quality.

ãOur basic goal is to encourage young people to care about the environment,ä says Dunn. ãI believe if they are educated right, then they will care more about the world around them when they become decision-making adults.ä

All programs are designed to meet the outcomes of the Maryland State Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) and are correlated to the Prince Georgeâs County public schoolsâ curriculum requirements for science, math, environmental education, language arts and technology education. School groups come in and spend the night with their teachers as chaperones and the center provides all of the programming.

One of the most popular programs, according to Dunn, involves team building and a conflict resolution lesson. A joint effort of public school teachers and center staff, this program features role-playing activities that pertain to community or environmental issues. Students choose an issue, such as landfills, zoning laws, or community planning. They then play different roles, such as council members or concerned citizens, in a mock city council meeting.

ãIt helps students see issues from different sides and teaches them how important it is to be a part of the solution to natural resources problems,ä says Dunn.

During the summer, the center conducts three weeks of day camp for children ages 6-11. An American Camping Association accredited facility, the center also is used as a camping site by 4-H clubs, scout troops, and other groups. Pilot programs of the National 4-H Center have been established there, and center staff are working with the Maryland 4-H camping task force to develop new camping opportunities.

From Supplies to Salaries--A Cooperative Effort

The establishment and maintenance of the Patuxent River 4-H Center is truly a cooperative effort. A non-profit board of directors incorporated at the center maintains the grounds and handles the centerâs finances. The 4-H unit of the Extension office in Prince Georgeâs County supplies some of the office materials and also pays for a 50 percent program assistant position. The Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission contributed the land and maintains Bonnie Dunnâs salary as a county-wide facility manager.

The Patuxent River 4-H Foundation petitioned to build buildings and now maintains the facilities. These facilities include a large activity building, a dining hall that holds 120 people, two 0-person cabins, a nature barn and trail, a low ropes course, and a small educational displat farm with sheep, chickens and goats. A new 60-person cabin and a high ropes course are being built.

The staff at the center consists of a full-time executive secretary, a managerial assistant, and kitchen managers. During the summer, 15 to 20 teen leaders are hired to help with seasonal camps. And a dedicated corps of volunteers, who logged 20,000 hours of service last year alone, help do whatever is necessary to keep the center and its programs operating smoothly.

Future Educators Participate in Project Learning Tree

Are the words heartwood, cambium, and phloem in your vocabulary? Probably not, unless you are a forester. Or an elementary education major at Frostburg State University.

Each semester, students enrolled in the universityâs elementary education program attend an all-day workshop designed to familiarize them with an environmental curriculum called ãProject Learning Tree.ä The program is coordinated by Bernie Zlomek, project forester with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in Allegany County, and Barbara Ornstein, coordinator of Elementary Block program. Classroom presentations are conducted by Sharon Diehl and Alice Hevner, Extension 4-H agents in Allegany and Garrett counties, respectively.

The Project Learning Tree curriculum is designed for youth in grades K through 8. It can be used by youth development agencies and organizations, as well as schools. The curriculum emphasizes critical thinking skills and cooperative learning techniques and can be incorporated into lessons on any subject, from art and English to history and math.

ãThe goal of Project Learning Tree,ä says Diehl, ãis to increase studentsâ understanding of our complex environment, stimulate their critical and creative thinking abilities, develop their ability to make informed decisions on environmental issues, and instill in them the confidence and commitment to take responsible action on behalf of the environment.ä

This goal is accomplished by engaging young people in more than 170 hands-on activities that can be performed in the classroom and out in the field. Among these activities is ãName that Tree,ä during which students learn the characteristics of trees, identify leaves, and compete in a leaf relay. In ãTree Factory,ä students act out the parts of the tree and discover how these parts function in a coordinated fashion like in a factory. In ãEvery Tree for Itself,ä they learn about the environmental conditions that trees need to live and grow.

Diehl and Hevner have been conducting a Project Learning Tree workshop for elementary education majors at Frostburg for the past six years. ãWe think this is an excellent curriculum,ä says Hevner. ãItâs something that these students will be able to use successfully throughout their teaching careers.ä

Coverts Cooperators Continue Their Education

Continuing its service to Marylandâs woodland owners and wildlife dwellers, the Cooperative Extension Service's Coverts Project offered a three-day refresher course in April at the Horn Point Environmental Laboratory on the Choptank River.

The Coverts Program was established in 1989 to help woodland owners and managers improve wildlife habitat, timber production, and aesthetics through good forest management practices. Each fall since then, some 30 individuals have received a week of free training. In return, these ãcoverts cooperatorsä make a one-year commitment to develop and implement sound forest and wildlife management plans for their own properties and to educate other woodland owners. More than 30 cooperators took advantage of the special spring training this year to continue their education and improve their understanding of specific issues.

The Coverts spring refresher course focused on ãForest and Wildlife Management on Marylandâs Eastern Shore.ä The objective of the three-day seminar was for cooperators to learn about forest and wildlife management practices and issues on Marylandâs Eastern Shore from the perspective of private, federal, and industrial managers.

The first day featured tours of industrial facilities, including a stop at the Chesapeake Corporation chipping mill, where participants observed how the company uses computers in site preparation prior to harvesting, and a visit to the Rivermere development, where forest stewardship considerations were made an integral part of the award-winning development plan.

On the second day participants toured federal and private facilities, including Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and the farm of coverts cooperator Mimi Wright, where the group observed and discussed riparian buffer functions and practices.

The third day of the seminar featured workshops that gave participants the opportunity to work in groups and share their knowledge. An Extension videotape on riparian forest buffers (see fourth article) was shown to familiarize participants with current legislation and to provide them with better insight into the impact of management activities.