Conservation Stewardship Project Middle Patuxent Environmental Area

Sponsoring Organizations: Howard County Recreation & Parks and Howard County Master Gardeners

Watershed Restoration Grant Project

Last year the Middle Patuxent Environmental Foundation received a Watershed Enhancement Grant from Howard County. One goal of the grant is to implement a restoration project. As volunteers of the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area, it is fitting that we lend a hand with a project that the Environmental Foundation has undertaken. The site is an ephemeral stream channel, including a storm drain outfall, which parallels the Columbia Association pathway at the end of Wood Elves Way. Work may include invasive plant removal and brush clean up. A short tour of the site and a talk about the grant project will also take place.

The Conservation Stewardship Project, a joint program of the Howard County Recreation & Parks and the Howard County Master Gardeners, targets the problem of controlling invasive, exotic species in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area. Volunteer work dates occur monthly from March through November, skipping July & August. Each date includes an educational component concerning the target invasive species or target work area for the day.

The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA), established in 1996, encompasses 1,021 acres and contains a diversity of habitat types. There are upland and bottomland hardwood forest, fields, wetlands, ponds, and riparian habitats. The primary components of the MPEA's mission are natural resources management, education, research, and recreation.

For more information, contact Master Gardeners: Aylene Gard at (410) 992-9889; Carol Filipczak at cfilipczak@comcast.net; or Jeff Claffy, Assistant Natural Resources Manager, MPEA at (410) 313-6209 or jclaffy@howardcountymd.gov.

Driving Directions to Wood Elves Way Pathway at the MPEA: Only on-street parking is available. Please carpool! From U.S. 29 at 108: Take 108 west and continue past Centennial Lane. Proceed to Harpers Farm Road and make a left. Just after passing Hobbit’s Glen Golf Course turn right (at the light) on Willow Bottom Drive. Turn left on Wood Elves Way and proceed ½ mile to pathway entrance at the cul-de-sac. Parking is on-street only. Do not block private driveways.