Conservation Stewardship Project Middle Patuxent Environmental Area

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

Barberry Blitz

Despite the dogged efforts of volunteers, we haven’t seen the last of the Berberis thunbergii, aka Japanese barberry. We’ll need multiple events for successive years to get this recurring nemesis of the environmental area under control. On this morning, we’ll dig, yank, and wrench these spiny shrubs from the ground. The goal is to kill the plants before their seeds develop. We will progress along trail corridors in heavily infested areas. Spine-proof gloves are a must!

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 Gardener Aylene Gard at (410) 992-9889 or Jeff Claffy, Assistant Natural Resources Manager, MPEA at (410) 313-6209 or jclaffy@howardcountymd.gov.

Driving Directions to Trotter Road entrance to MPEAt:

• From U.S. 29 at 32: Take 32 west to the Great Star Drive exit. Turn right onto Great Star Drive. Then make a right onto Summer Sunrise. Continue to Trotter Road and make a left. Proceed about 1 mile to the parking area on the right just beyond the small traffic circle.
• From U.S. 29 at 108: Take 108 west and continue past Centennial Lane. Proceed past Harpers Farm Road to Trotter Road and make a left. Continue to the parking area on the left. If you reach the small traffic circle, you've gone too far.