In the 1970s, as a result of agency commitment and citizen advisory panel
encouragement, the M-NCPP began reclamation efforts on a number of these
sites.
To date, we have completed about fifteen projects with varying degrees of
success.
Projects have ranged from simple stabilization, complete re-contouring and
replanting, and pond construction to freshwater non-tidal wetland creation
and
restoration.
Sites varied considerably in location, elevation and condition, but there
were several
features common to all. Most sites were obtained at little or no cost. Most
sites
were relatively small in size, namely one to ten hectares. Most sites were
mined to
or below the water table. This mining practice resulted in excellent potential
for
wetland creation and restoration. Even the most scarred sites often had remnant
native plant populations and seed banks including those of wetland species.
Looking back over the twenty years that our agency has been reclaiming
environmentally damaged sites, we note that our methods have changed
substantially. In the 1970s, we were pioneers in wetland restoration projects
in our
area. Often there were no guidelines or accepted practices, and few permits
were
required. Many of the early projects were simply trial-and-error that sometimes
worked and sometimes did not.
STUDY SITES
Three representative examples of sites that the M-NCPPC has restored on the
Patuxent River, approximately equidistant from Annapolis, MD, Baltimore,
MD, and
Washington, D.C., illustrate the challenges of attempting to restore environmentally
damaged lands for public use and conservation. These sites are the:
*    Phelps property (now known as the Patuxent River
Izaak Walton League Center),
*    Fleming property (now known as a portion of the
Patuxent River Natural Resource Management Area of
the State of Maryland), and
*    Myrtle Henry property (now known as the Fran Uhler
Natural Area* of the Patuxent River Park).


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