FT #1 - Environmental Concern’s Wetland Learning Center and Native Wetland Plant Nursery
     Leader: Bronwyn Mitchell [dir.educate@wetland.org]

Trip departs at 12:15 PM from the circular drive at the rear entrance to the Wardman Park Hotel
Anticipated return at 8:00 PM
Limited to 25 participants

Maryland’s unique shape is not the result of a deranged cartographer, but is due to the presence of the nation’s largest estuary. Named after the Algonquian word Chesepioc meaning “Great Shellfish Bay,” the Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state creating two distinct regions, the western and the eastern shores. The construction of two bridges over the Bay has opened the Eastern Shore to a population eager to sample its charm, eat its seafood, and count ducks, geese, and herons. As part of the coastal plain, the Eastern Shore is a flat landscape dominated by the convergence of water and land. While tourism may be the area’s fastest growing segment of the economy, traditionally agriculture (Eastern Shore is the nation’s poultry production hub) and seafood supported generation after generation.

Environmental Concern is all about wetlands. Since 1972, it has taught wetlands, grown wetland plants, and built wetlands.  Take a guided tour of the nation’s first wholesale native wetland plant nursery, which grows over 115 species of native plants; learn how Environmental Concern is helping to grow the next generation of wetland stewards and scientists through innovative wetland education programs including the Wetlands on Wheels Mobile Classroom and the construction of Schoolyard Wetland Habitats, explore four unique constructed wetlands located on Environmental Concern’s 13-acre learning campus: Living wetland shoreline, Forested wetland, Freshwater marsh, and Nutrient management system, and visit a series of Living Shorelines on private and public property throughout the region.
 

Photos from Environmental Concern and used with permission