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Staff from Frederick County’s Watershed Management Section of the Division of Public Works have been working with staff from the Division of Planning to put together a Green Infrastructure (GI) effort in Frederick County.  The purpose of GI is to identify high-quality natural resources and the systems needed to support them.  GI is a priority for the Environmental Protection Agency and is tied to funding opportunities and regulatory programs. GI analyses produce detailed maps of the resources that include prime agricultural soils, wetlands, forests, and streams. 

The results of a GI process will allow programs that have an impact on natural resources to better prioritize where to spend their resources.  For example, the Maryland Department of the Environment has a mitigation fund for wetland restoration and is willing to dedicate more resources to Frederick County, if the County can tell them where the wetlands are that need restoration, or where areas used to be wetlands that could once again be wetlands.  The Watershed Management Section is required by the Federal Clean Water Act to restore 10% of the County’s “untreated urban impervious area” (area where water can’t percolate) approximately every five years, and the results of the GI assessment will help to identify areas to target voluntary reforestation programs.  The Forest Resource Ordinance program has funds for reforestation and would like to plant new forests in areas that will do the most good for natural resources, such as protecting streams or interior forest dwelling species.

The Planning Division has also added language about Green Infrastructure to the County’s draft Comprehensive plan.  Green Infrastructure is mentioned in both the Board of County Commissioners’ “Frederick County Government Strategic Plan FY 2007- FY 2011” and “A Framework for Sustainability” prepared by the Office of Sustainability. Here are some efforts to date on Green Infrastructure:

• Three County staff each attended one of the following: a Green Infrastructure Conference, a weeklong GI Planning class and a weeklong GI mapping class;
• The Office of Sustainability formed a task force on Green Infrastructure to review County management issues related to the protection of Natural Resources;
• Staff met with representatives from county-sponsored land preservation programs on April 27, 2009 to discuss ways to improve services offered and to align them with Green Infrastructure;
• Staff attended a workshop sponsored by the Potomac Conservancy on June 3, 2009 to discuss how land conservation organizations in the region can better work with each other and address conservation priorities for Green Infrastructure;
• Staff planned a meeting for State and Federal Agencies at Pinecliff Park on October 1, 2009 to discuss how to improve delivery of services to local governments and align priorities with Green Infrastructure and the new Chesapeake Bay Executive Order;
• Staff sponsored a Green Infrastructure Workshop on October 7, 2009 at County offices.  The first half of the day featured presentations by subject matter experts and the second half of the day was a workshop and brainstorming exercise.  Both sessions were very well attended and had representation from the Board of County Commissioners, the Sustainability Commission, and the internal Sustainability Task Force for Green Infrastructure;
• Staff applied for and was awarded technical assistance from the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance group to facilitate coordination with land conservation organizations;
• Staff applied for funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 319(h) program to develop a Green Infrastructure analysis and conduct restoration of areas affected by nonpoint source pollution;
• Staff is coordinating with EPA Region III staff to put together the first analysis in the GI process for wetlands.  EPA will be helping Frederick County with technical resources to complete the assessment and is looking to restore a wetland site to be identified by the assessment.  The assessment will look at both water quality and habitat.