Volunteers Needed to Help Restore
Stream Health and Clean Up Woodville Branch

_________________________________________________

Click here for a printer friendly version (Size: 12 KB)

Mt. Airy, MD, 9 am – 1 pm, March 31, 2007 – Frederick County Government‘s Watershed Management Section is partnering with the Mt. Airy Parks and Recreation Board and Beautification Commission to plant 625 native trees and shrubs on 6 acres in Village Gate and East West Parks just off Prospect Street on the north side of Mt. Airy along Woodville Branch.   Almost 60% of the Woodville Branch stream corridor is eroded and 36% has inadequate vegetation along the stream banks.  Mt. Airy wants to protect water quality and increase the recharge of ground water since its citizens rely on ground water for their drinking water supply.  Woodville Branch flows into Linganore Creek and Lake Linganore, a key drinking water source for the City of Frederick and Frederick County.  The lake is regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment with pollution “cap” for sediment and phosphorus.

Project partners include the Audubon Society of Central Maryland, the Maryland Forest Service, Western Maryland RC&D, and the Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance. “We are delighted with this exciting partnership in Mt. Airy.  Local citizens are doing their part to help improve water quality.  The involvement of our Alliance partners has been key.  We’d love to do similar projects including rain gardens and streamside plantings with citizens elsewhere in the Linganore watershed,” said Kay Schultz, the County’s Community Restoration Coordinator.
 
The project was developed during the Lower Monocacy Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS), completed in June 2004.  The Lower Monocacy WRAS was a planning initiative organized by Frederick County with technical assistance from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  The WRAS planning process was guided by a broad community-based Steering Committee that included representatives from local non-profits, government agencies, conservation organizations, farmers, and other landowners.  The Steering Committee analyzed data from DNR, hosted community meetings to solicit public input, and identified Mt. Airy as a high priority area for targeted restoration. 

The County is purchasing the trees and stakes for the project with grants from the Maryland Department of the Environment under the federal Clean Water Act, the Maryland Urban and Community Forestry Committee, and the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Mini Grant program.  The Chesapeake Bay Trust is a private non-profit dedicated to “promoting public awareness and participation in the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its Maryland tributaries.”  The Trust receives support through donations via the tax check off on the Maryland State Income Tax form, sales of the “Treasure the Chesapeake” commemorative Bay license plate, private donations, memorial gifts and support from the business community. 

For further details, contact Kay Schultz at 301.600.1741 or kschultz@fredco-md.net