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When Mike and Laura Jackson wanted to restore wildlife habitat on their slice of a forested Pennsylvania mountainside, they did something you might not expect. The husband and wife, who live on 114 acres in Bedford County, started cutting down trees.
The Jacksons were motivated to drastic action in part by a small gray bird with flashes of yellow on its head and wings.
"We've always been birders, so we keep track of what we see," Laura said, while she and Mike followed the trails that wind through their land. "And we've had golden-winged warblers on our property—but the last one we saw or heard was in 2009."
The golden-winged warbler is a migratory bird that breeds in the Upper Midwest and Appalachian Mountains and winters in Central America. Its population has declined by roughly two-thirds in the past 50 years, in pace with the decline of the early successional habitat it needs—a young forest.
After becoming Pennsylvania Forest Stewards through a program at Penn State University in 2000, Mike and Laura began to recognize why the forest on their own land wasn't healthy.
"That really opened our eyes to forest management—things that we could do to help the property because we saw that we were getting invasive species," Laura said.
The Jacksons worked with a service forester from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) in 2002 to develop a ten-year forest stewardship plan for their property. Their goals were to improve forest health, control invasive species, increase native plant diversity and manage for wildlife.
Meanwhile, the golden-winged warbler was listed as "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2004.
Though Laura was still teaching, Mike took advantage of his retirement to implement what they were learning at the many classes and workshops they were attending. He built trails and wildlife amenities such as brush piles, bird houses, squirrel boxes and owl boxes. He removed invasive species like multiflora rose and Japanese barberry, and he planted native shrubs, trees and wildflowers. He applied a technique called crown release, which thins out vegetation to give valuable wildlife trees like wild cherry, oak and hickory more sunlight and room to grow.
"Then, in 2010 we donated an easement to Western Pennsylvania Conservancy so the land can't be developed," Laura said. "They don't accept just any property but they liked our property because of its good wildlife value—we have a lot of box turtles on it, a lot of birds."
Laura said it also helped that the land is part of a roughly 9,000-acre stretch of forest that includes Pennsylvania state game lands and Tussey Mountain.
"Even though [golden-winged warblers] nest in very young forest, they take their young after they've fledged, and they spend time in mature forest feeding and trying to teach them what to do as survival techniques." Laura said.
In late 2011, the Jacksons attended a workshop for land managers to learn about best management practices for the golden-winged warbler. They were the only private landowners at the meeting.
"And we thought, 'Wow, if we can work with people who know what they're doing and who will try to help us with our invasive species control, we could get a healthy forest again,'" Laura said.
"Which meant cutting some trees," Mike added.
A few months later, the Jacksons invited experts from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, DCNR and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Research Institute to look at their land. They determined it was a good fit for a golden-winged warbler habitat restoration project.
With support from the Game Commission, a forester returned to mark which trees to keep inside a 27-acre area, then invasive plants were treated with herbicide on all 108 acres of the Jacksons' forest.
Mike and Laura interviewed a number of loggers before settling on a company that uses low-impact methods to remove trees.
The cut unveiled at least one surprise on the Jacksons' property.
"We discovered that once we got rid of some of the trees, there are a couple spring seeps," Laura said. "So we have a nice little wetland to walk through that we could never see before."
Funding for the logging came from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Working Lands for Wildlife program. NRCS also paid for a fence around the restoration to keep out deer, allowing new plants to flourish.
"I was just surprised it came so fast," Mike said.
Where the Jacksons had battled invasives for years, Mike said they are mostly gone.
"So as we walk through the area we're looking for invasive species that still need to be maintained," Laura said. "And we're looking at this thick underbrush—and that's what golden-winged warblers need."
Monitoring for the project began the year following the cut, looking for regeneration as well as the golden-winged warbler.
"We've done [the monitoring] now two times after the logging, and we still have not seen or heard any golden-winged warblers," Laura said. "But that's not unexpected because there's still a lot of regeneration yet to go and they need really thick, really heavy vegetation on the ground, and we just don't have that yet."
The Jacksons are prepared to wait, and said it might be another three years before the golden-winged warbler returns to their property. Through surveys they do for the Game Commission, they know that there is an active golden-winged warbler breeding site eight miles away, which puts them in the vicinity, even if it is still pretty far away.
"But what was neat was the very first spring when we were monitoring, we heard cerulean warblers," Laura said. "And cerulean warblers are also a species of concern."
Other at-risk birds in the project area include hooded warblers, Kentucky warblers and wood thrush. Monitoring overseen by IUP Research Institute has also identified six bird species present in the project area that benefit from young forest, including ovenbirds, chestnut-sided warblers, common yellowthroats, red-eyed vireos, indigo buntings and eastern towhees.
For their years of effort to restore wildlife habitat in their forest, Mike and Laura were honored as Exemplary Forest Stewards by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay at the 2016 Chesapeake Watershed Forum in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, last fall. Nowadays, Mike and Laura also host several tours a year and enjoy answering visitors' questions about their property.
The Jacksons' land shows that dealing with nature can be counter-intuitive, that intervening can sometimes help it rebound.
"It's nice to see people who might think that logging is bad and really a detriment to the woods." Laura said. "[We can] turn their thinking around a little bit and help them realize that we did something that...even if we don't get golden-winged warblers, we've done something to create a healthy forest. And that's really the important thing."
Photos and Video by Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson
Text by Will Parson
To view more photos, visit the Chesapeake Bay Program Flickr page
Looking at Bob Ingersoll's farm, you'd never know that he had been growing hay for over 15 years. The fields that had produced hay—and corn before that—are now covered in native grasses and wildflowers. Last year, Ingersoll enrolled his almost 60-acre farm in Chestertown, Maryland, into the Washington College Center for Environment and Society's (CES) Natural Lands Project.
This September morning, Ingersoll and Natural Lands Project Coordinator Dan Small walk around Ingersoll's fields, observing the growth and pointing out the different species of wildflowers and grasses they planted only five months earlier.
Ingersoll got involved with the Natural Lands Project through the Chester River Association, one of the project's sponsors. While he chose to enroll his entire farm, CES typically works with farmers and landowners to plant 100-foot grassland buffers on their land. That way, they can still get money from agricultural production and rented-out land for hunting—as well as a small income from the Natural Lands Project—but also sow the benefits of grassland buffers.
These buffers are known as a best management practice, or BMP, because they can absorb nutrients that run off of farm fields and prevent sediment from entering waterways. But alongside their water quality benefits, buffers can also provide ideal habitat for many species of animals.
Quail and habitat restoration
A large component of the Natural Lands Project is creating suitable grassland habitat for northern bobwhite quail. Quail used to be prevalent on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and many people in the area grew up hunting quail, but their populations have declined drastically since the mid-1900s—due in part to habitat loss.
When it comes to installing grassland buffers, Small says, "we found that there's no real tangible benefit to the landowners or farmers if we just talk about water quality on the land." However, if they grew up hunting quail, they have an emotional connection to the bird.
Quail require three types of habitat to be successful: open areas, grassy cover and woody cover. "We're specifically looking to create warm season grass habitat," says Small. Cool season grasses, like those typically found on lawns, grow thick—meaning small grassland birds like quail that require open ground can't move through them. "Think of your lawn," he says. "If that grew up, there's no way a quail could walk through that." Warm season grasses, on the other hand, grow in clumps, leaving plenty of space for quail.
One of the factors associated with the decline in quail populations is the lack of woody cover. The disappearance of hedgerows—a row of shrubs or low growing trees that typically form boundaries between farm fields—has had a huge impact on quail, according to Small. As farms got larger, those hedgerows were taken out, and quail lost an important place to go during the winter when the rest of the landscape is covered in snow.
For that reason, dispersed throughout the grasses and wildflowers, are colored markers labeling where they planted hedgerows. "Not only are we adding nesting habitat in all the grass, but we need to add winter habitat as well."
Creating habitat suited for quail doesn't just benefit them, but many other species as well. "We have a lot more small birds here than we did any year that I can ever remember, because there's something there for them to eat," says Ingersoll. "And butterflies! I've never ever seen so many butterflies." He points out bees and finds a fuzzy caterpillar on one of the wildflowers. Small points out the call of a bobolink, a bird that requires grasslands on its migration. Even deer take advantage of the tall grass cover, as evidenced by the imprint from where a deer had been lying not too long before.
A long-term commitment
It takes about three years for the grasses to get established, but once that happens, they still need to be managed. "You can't just put it in and walk away," says Small. After they're established, they will be managed in part through controlled burns. As the grasses grow, they begin to lay down on top of each other, making it difficult for the quail to move on the ground. "Controlled fire is a really good method to wipe the slate clean," says Small. "You don't really hurt the native [plants] because they can respond to that and pop back up."
Landowners who enroll in the Natural Lands Project sign a 10-year contact with CES. This long-term commitment is a promise both to CES that there is sufficient time committed to establish habitat on the land, but also to the landowner that CES won't plant the new habitat and then leave. They work with landowners over that time to make sure that the land is in good condition.
"The landowner, somebody like myself, is relying on the best information I can get from Dan to make this as successful as I possibly can," says Ingersoll. "If we didn't have the backup, it'd be like learning it all over again. And I probably wouldn't have done it."
Text by Joan Smedinghoff
Photos and captions by Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson
Video by Will Parson
At sunrise on an unseasonably cold, drizzly May morning, you might expect most people to still be curled up in bed, huddled under the blankets and dreaming of warmer weather. But on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore, the birds are up and active, which means so are the bird banders at Foreman's Branch Bird Observatory.
"We start an hour before sunrise, so right now that's about 5:15 [a.m.]," says Amanda Spears, one of the banders at Foreman's Branch. "It's really busy the first couple of rounds, but it dies down later as the birds settle in after migrating all night."
Part of Washington College's Center for Environment & Society and named for the branch of the Chester River that flows nearby, Foreman's Branch Bird Observatory is the only major migratory bird banding station on Maryland's Eastern Shore. From March 1st through the end of May, Spears and her colleagues spend up to eight hours each day catching and banding birds as they migrate through the area.
Between spring and fall migrations, the team bands close to 15,000 birds each year. Spring migration in particular flies by. "Once the birds leave the tropics, they're where they want to be in about two weeks," explains Jim Gruber, director of Foreman's Branch Bird Observatory. A retired Natural Resources officer, Gruber has been banding since he was 15 years old and now volunteers his time and expertise at Foreman's Branch.
Foreman's Branch and other bird observatories use mist nets—fine-mesh, polyester nets that hang loosely between two poles—to catch and monitor migrating birds. Each bird is carefully carried back to the banding station, where information is recorded on its age, sex, weight, body fat and more. New avian visitors are fitted with a small, stamped aluminum band on one leg; others, like return visitors, may already have a band. Researchers can use this band number to track how long ago a bird was banded and the places it may have stopped along its travels. Some species may travel thousands of miles from their wintering grounds to spring and summer habitat.
Data that the banders collect—along with banding data from across the country—is sent to Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland: home of the Bird Banding Laboratory, which partners with the Canadian Wildlife Service's Bird Banding Office to form the North American Bird Banding Program. As of 2012, the Bird Banding Laboratory received more than 1.2 million banding records each year. The information helps scientists understand migration patterns, population dynamics, the effects of management actions and the status of threatened or endangered species.
For the birds themselves, though, the banding station is nothing more than a quick stopover. As banders finish with each bird, it's released out a window and sent on its way. Some pause on a nearby shrub or tree limb, but most fly quickly out of sight, off to fill up on food and prepare for the next leg of their journey.
To protect the safety and health of migrating birds, bird banding is a strictly controlled activity in the United States. Banding permits are only given to trained professionals whose projects aid in bird conservation and management. If you find a banded bird, report the band number at www.reportband.gov or 1-800-327-BAND along with where, when and how you recovered the bird.
To view more photos, visit the Chesapeake Bay Program's Flickr page.
Images and captions by Will Parson
Text by Stephanie Smith
The need for land and resources has led to fragmented and degraded habitats across the Chesapeake region, impacting the health of many species. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Bay Program's Vital Habitats Goal Implementation Team are leading an effort to exemplify scalable, strategic habitat conservation in action across the Chesapeake landscape.
For the first time, our partners now have the regional context and scientific horsepower—through tools and information developed by the North Atlantic and Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs); the Atlantic Coast, Appalachian Mountain and Black Duck Joint Ventures; and the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA)—to identify and agree upon priority "surrogate" species. Surrogate species are animals and plants that can be used to represent the habitat needs of many other species using similar habitats throughout the watershed, and include the black bear, woodcock, black duck, saltmarsh sparrow and brook trout.
Together, we are determining the habitat needs of these surrogate species—what kind of habitat, how much, and where—to understand and plan for habitat changes due to climate change and development. Our aim will be to conserve enough of the right kinds of habitat throughout the Chesapeake landscape, in the right configurations, to sustain these surrogate species, and by extension all the other species whose needs they represent, at desired population levels.
FWS is helping to coordinate the contributions of established, successful conservation partnerships that impact the Chesapeake region, supporting the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and Chesapeake Bay Executive Order. By aligning the ground-breaking science of LCCs, the organizing power of Joint Ventures and Fish Habitat Partnerships, and the capacity of NEAFWA and other non-governmental organizations to address our mutual priorities, we are bringing new leadership and resources to bear on the goals of the Executive Order and Watershed Agreement.
Conserving healthy habitats is essential to the long-term health of the ecosystem and the region's quality of life. All of our work adds up to measurable gains for fish, wildlife and plants and the natural benefits they provide to people living in the Chesapeake watershed.
Written by Mike Slattery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
New techniques for modeling water temperatures have allowed U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists to better predict how climate change will affect the habitat of fish species like brook trout, according to a recent study.
Climate change is expected to bring warmer air temperatures to the Chesapeake region over the next several decades. And as air temperatures rise, water temperatures will also increase, threatening fish species like brook trout that are particularly sensitive to warming waters. Previous modeling has assumed water temperatures in rivers and streams would rise in a uniform manner, failing to account for the effect that cool groundwater has on warmer surface water.
"One thing that has been missing from other models is the recognition that groundwater moderates the temperature of headwater streams," said Nathaniel Hitt, coauthor of the study. "Our paper helps to bring the effects of groundwater into climate change forecasts for fish habitat." Accounting for the effects of groundwater will allow for better predictions of brook trout habitat loss, as well as more targeted approaches for habitat protection.
Species like brook trout are an essential part of headwater stream ecosystems, an important part of the watershed's heritage and a valuable recreation resource. Chesapeake Bay Program partners committed to restoring and sustaining brook trout populations as part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
The article, "Accounting for groundwater in stream fish thermal habitat responses to climate change," is available online.
As the clear, cold waters of the Little Juniata River rush through the forests and farmland of central Pennsylvania, hidden spring holes and rocky boulders provide hideaways for the cautious brown trout. Above water, Bill Anderson is teaching longtime friend John Norton the basics of fly fishing, in the hopes of catching one of these popular sport fish. "Fly fishing provides a means to get to be in nature as a participant instead of a spectator," Anderson describes. "You're there actively seeking a target, in this case the trout. And there's something very primal and addictive about the infrequent benefit that comes from standing in cold water and tossing a fly at a spot on the water where you think a fish is going to take it."
The Little Juniata—or "Little J"—is a sanctuary for fly fishermen on the East Coast. Little-known to outsiders, it attracts fishermen from across the region who hope to catch brown trout in its cool waters. But just a few decades ago, fishing in the Little Juniata River seemed unthinkable. "Well, the Little Juniata River is not well-known nationally, primarily because it's only been a trout stream since around 1975," Anderson says. "The reason being that prior to that it was literally an open sewer."
A long history of pollution from municipal sources, nearby tanneries and a paper mill had degraded the river into what Anderson calls a "dead stream." And after a mysterious pollution event in 1997 destroyed much of the waterway's aquatic insect and invertebrate population—essentially starving the brown trout—the community had had enough. "We never determined the cause. But several local people got together who loved the river and decided that wasn't going to happen again," says Anderson, current president of the nonprofit organization that emerged: the Little Juniata River Association (LJRA).
For a handful years after its foundation, the LJRA sat dormant: most of the few dozen members had drifted away and meetings were infrequent. But in the decade since Anderson became its president, the group has transformed nearly as much as the river itself. The purely-volunteer organization now boasts more than 200 members, and its mission includes not just monitoring of the river, but the improvement of the whole watershed. Activities range from restoring stream banks to protecting fish habitat. More than 1,400 feet of stream bank has been repaired to prevent excess sediment from entering the river, where it can block sunlight from reaching underwater plants and smother bottom-dwelling species. The nonprofit also hosts an annual trash pick-up, clearing 20 miles of riverbank of litter and debris.
These days, the LJRA is focused on the future. With changing climate conditions come rising water temperatures, which can be devastating for the health of cold-water fish like brown trout. In association with Juniata College, the LJRA tagged 24 mature trout to determine where the fish go when water temperatures warm. "The idea is let the trout lead us to the places that need to be improved, and then we'll set about improving those pieces and parts of the river, whether for spawning or for refuge from heat," Anderson explains.
Just as important to Anderson as the health of the trout is the opportunity for others—like his friend Norton—to fish for them. In recent years, private fishing clubs have purchased and leased land along the river, requiring expensive memberships for fishermen to access the stream. But with help from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the LJRA has worked with landowners to establish more than five miles of permanent public fishing easements. "We're not done," says Anderson. "We won't be done until all 32 miles of river are permanently publicly accessible. We want to make sure this resource stays open for our children and grandchildren."
To view more photos, visit the Chesapeake Bay Program's Flickr page.
Images and captions by Will Parson
Text by Stephanie Smith
On a blue bird day in Church Creek, Maryland, a white pickup truck bounces down a dirt driveway, splashing through fresh mud puddles and leaving ripples in its wake. The low whirring of female Northern pintail ducks in the middle of their courtship is exuberant, and there is excitement in the air – it is almost time for the birds to make their long migration north.
The truck rounds a bend and hundreds of waterfowl take flight, seeking solace in the nearby Honga River. Landowner Jerry Harris steps out of the truck, his two hunting dogs, Bo and Maddie, in tow. Jerry has owned Mallard Haven River Farm for nearly 20 years and has transformed it from an open pasture to an ideal stopover site for thousands of waterfowl migrating along the Atlantic Flyway.
Harris recounts purchasing the farm as an open pasture with a ditch down the center in the late '90s. Initially, he battled saltwater intrusion and high-tide floods of the Chesapeake Bay. His solution involved closing off the connection between the ditch and the Bay and creating a freshwater storage area that can now hold up to 6.5 million gallons of water. With financial assistance from the state of Maryland, Ducks Unlimited and North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grants (NAWCA), he built berms to create a series of separate water impoundments for use by waterfowl across 80 acres of the 230-acre farm.
Harris has hired two full-time employees to help maintain the property. "We've tried to do everything to improve the efficiency of our work," Harris said. "We have pipes in all the impoundments that lead to a main water storage ditch, so we can connect our portable pumps right to the pipes and drive the water wherever we would like. If we're irrigating this field during a dry period we don't have to hook hoses up or anything."
Because his land is privately owned, Harris has the freedom to experiment with unconventional conservation practices. His latest endeavor? Moist soils management, or the slow draw down of water from the impoundments to foster the growth of wetland plants like smartweed, fall panicum and fox tail. "As the water gradually comes down, it will support different kinds of weeds, and if you are good enough at it you can have a whole platter of foods that fulfill the ducks' dietary needs," Harris said. Moist soils management is good for the wildlife and the farmer: it cuts fertilizer use, and mechanical tilling is only needed about once every five years.
In the past, Harris grew corn on his farm to provide high-energy food for visiting waterfowl. Harris admits that deer and their affinity for corn have presented a challenge to his habitat management practices. For this reason, he plans to grow rice instead. "It's literally the same kind of high-carbohydrate food that corn is," Harris said. "The big advantage is that the deer don't eat rice. In some fields, nearly half of the corn crop gets eaten by the deer."
Harris has been an avid hunter since he was a young boy; growing up hunting with his grandfather on the bays north of San Francisco cultivated his passion for conserving wildlife habitat. He now owns three farms in Maryland and one in Montana, all under conservation easements through Ducks Unlimited, the largest land conservation owner in the United States, of which he sits on the board.
"The farm is big enough that on a windy day you can be shooting on the farm and the upwind birds will still be there. With the wild ducks, the thing you want to do if you want to keep them is not disturb them too much, otherwise they find another place to go," Harris said. He has even calculated exactly how many ducks he and his guests can harvest in a year without negatively impacting waterfowl populations, setting the limit at 175 ducks from all four farms.
Harris designates 20 percent of his time to sitting on the board of Ducks Unlimited and of Waterfowl Chesapeake, a Maryland-based non-profit whose mission is to create, restore and conserve waterfowl habitat in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Together they help draw awareness to protecting area wetlands.
Judy Price, the executive director of Waterfowl Chesapeake, has helped the organization raise more than $5 million for habitat restoration and conservation education projects. Waterfowl Chesapeake, the umbrella organization of the annual Waterfowl Festival, held in November in Easton, Maryland, recently created an alliance for waterfowl conservation that consists of a panel of scientific experts that offer advice to current and prospective habitat restoration initiatives. They have also created a restoration project registry, expanding the visibility of high-value projects to the public and potential funders.
When asked why protecting waterfowl habitat is a priority, Price responded, "The annual migration of waterfowl truly enhances our lives throughout the Chesapeake region and, in particular, the Eastern Shore. Not only do we gain ecological benefits, but also significant economic value, from a healthy waterfowl community. By focusing on maintaining strong habitat, hopefully, we can avoid people, years from now, saying, 'I remember seeing ducks and geese in the skies. Whatever happened to them?'"
Images by Steve Droter. To view more photos, visit the Chesapeake Bay Program Flickr page.
Finally – school's out and warm weather is here! We know you're eager to get away to your nearest beach and bury yourself in the sand with a new book. But did you know there are dozens of beautiful parks and natural areas on the way to major beaches such as Rehoboth Beach, Virginia Beach and Ocean City? Here are eight places you can enjoy the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers along the way to your summer destination. After all, some of life's greatest joys are in the journey, not in the destination!
1. Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve (Portsmouth, Va.)
Just 20 minutes west of Virginia Beach, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve provides urban wildlife in the Norfolk/Portsmouth metro region with 142 acres of tidal and non-tidal habitat. Expect to encounter foxes, river otters, oysters and crabs along the preserve's trails. Before you go, check out Hoffler Creek's events listings for specialties like sunset kayak tours, night owl kayak paddles by moonlight, and early morning bird walks!
2. Dutch Gap Conservation Area (Chester Va.)
(Image courtesy John.Murden/Flickr)
Just south of Richmond, Dutch Gap Conservation Area surrounds Henricus, the second successful English settlement in Virginia. Bordered by the James River, the 810-acre area contains a blue heron rookery and has been described as a "birder's dream." A diversity of habitats attract a range of flying friends: in wetlands, look for pintails and kingfishers; in meadows, you'll find goldfinches, indigo buntings and kingbirds; and in forests, expect to see scarlet tanagers and red-eye vireo. Hike or bike the 4.5 mile Dutch Gap Trail, which circumnavigates a tidal lagoon. Kayak or canoe the Lagoon Water Trail (perfect for beginner paddlers), or schedule a night to camp under the stars at the area's primitive camp site.
3. Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge (Cape Charles, Va.)
(Image courtesy Xavier de Jauréguiberry/Flickr)
Drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Bay Tunnel near Virginia Beach to arrive at the southernmost tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. Here, nearly 1,300 acres of tidal wetlands and hiking trails sport colorful views of sunsets and sunrises; enjoy being surrounded by water on three sides! The area is one of the most important avian migration funnels in the country, meaning it provides vital stopover habitat for birds and butterflies migrating south for the winter and north for the summer. Return in the winter for a trip to Fisherman Island, a remote island home to sensitive bird species and untouched shoreline.
4. Nassawango Creek Preserve of the Nature Conservancy and Furnace Town (Snow Hill, Md.)
Just south of Salisbury, Maryland, one of the northernmost stands of bald cypress trees leak tannins into the Nassawango Creek, giving this pristine Chesapeake Bay tributary a deceptive tea-like color. Bald cypress trees grow completely in the water, and are most abundant in swamps in the deep southeast United States. Visitors to the 15,000-acre Nassawango Creek Preserve can paddle among these green giants or explore upland forest habitat on the preserve's many trails. Expect to see rare plants like indian pipe and pink lady slipper, and migratory birds such as scarlet tanagers and prothonotary warblers.
Along the edge of the preserve, hidden in the Pocomoke State Forest, a brick structure stands tall among the trees. It is the remnants of an iron furnace that at one time attracted hundreds of people – miners, firemen, bargemen and sawyers – to the area. From 1831 to 1850, village residents gathered iron ore from the bogs surrounding Nassawango Creek and loaded iron bars onto barges that were floated down the creek to the Pocomoke River and the Chesapeake Bay. Today, you can get a glimpse of what life was like in the 1830s mining village by visiting the Living Heritage Museum.
5. Pickering Creek Audubon Center (Easton, Md.)
(Image courtesy Pickering Creek Audubon Center)
If you're driving to Ocean City or Assateague Island, you'll likely pass hundreds of cornfields, strawberry fields and trucks full of chickens. Farming is a significant part of the heritage of Maryland's Eastern Shore, but the agricultural industry is often blamed for polluting the Chesapeake Bay.
At Pickering Creek Audubon Center in Easton, 270 acres are farmed according to "best management practices" that reduce the amount of animal bacteria, chemicals and pesticides that end up in the bay. Visitors can learn the past and future of farming in the region, or hike through hardwood forests, fresh and brackish marshes, meadows and wetlands. A Children's Imagination Garden will let your little ones connect to nature, and a display of live reptiles allows them to get up close and personal with our scaly friends!
6. Trap Pond State Park (Laurel, Del.)
Trap Pond was created in the late 1700s to power a sawmill during the harvesting of bald cypress trees from these southwestern Delaware freshwater wetlands. Fortunately, not all of the trees were harvested, and today, Trap Pond provides a home for the northernmost stand of bald cypress trees in the United States. The thick bald cypress marsh envelops visitors in a blanket of shade, making this park the perfect destination for a hot summer day.
Within the park, Trussum Pond is the best place to view the largest of these trees. Biking, camping, boating and disc golf are just some of the recreational opportunities available at the 2,700 acre park.
7. James Branch Nature Preserve and Water Trail (Laurel, Del.)
Unlike Trap Pond, which, as a state park, exists primarily for recreational purposes, James Branch Nature Preserve's first priority is protecting and enhancing a delicate ecosystem for future generations. As the largest of the state's nature preserves, James Branch's 685 acres are mostly composed of bald cypress trees – the oldest-growth in the state! Visitors can canoe and kayak the James Branch Water Trail. Since there is the chance of encountering downed trees, low-hanging branches, and floating and submerged logs, the trail is only recommended for intermediate to advanced paddlers.
8. Adkins Arboretum (Ridgely, Md.)
For some people, it's difficult to imagine your garden untouched by invasive, exotic weeds aggressively overtaking native vegetation. But at Adkins Arboretum, you can explore 400 acres of native plant gardens and wildflower meadows. Adkins is the only public garden or arboretum that focuses solely on plants native to the mid-Atlantic coastal plain. Located at the intersection of the piedmont and coastal plain, and the junction of the north and south, Adkins supports more than 600 species of native shrubs, trees, wildflowers and grasses. Visitors can understand nature through the lens of art and history; an ongoing art exhibit features natural themes by regional artists, and Adkins describes nature's relationship to the Underground Railroad throughout the region. Before you visit, be sure you check the arboretum's list of programs and guided walks.
"Everything you film today, everything on camera, everything you walk on, was created. None of it was here in 1998. We'd be in several feet of water right now a little more than a decade ago." – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist Chris Guy
It's warm for a January morning. But out of habit, the team from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office (FWS) is armed with coffee thermoses and dressed in construction-orange floatation gear. The hot coffee and "survival suits" gain importance as the winter wind stings our faces on the hour-long boat ride from Annapolis to Maryland's Eastern Shore. The team embarks on this trip most mornings throughout the year, even in the coldest months.
In fact, today's task must be completed in the first weeks of the new year. We're hauling discarded Christmas trees to build waterfowl habitat on Poplar Island, a place where, ten years ago, wildlife habitat had nearly disappeared – because the land had disappeared. In 1997, just 10 acres of the original island remained.
Today, Poplar Island has grown to 1,140 acres, thanks to a partnership between FWS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland Environmental Service and Maryland Port Administration that uses dredge material from the Port of Baltimore to rebuild the island. Many places (such as parts of Washington D.C. and Philadelphia International Airport) have been "built" using this technique, known as "fast-landing." But Poplar Island is distinctive: it's being constructed not for human use, but to provide the Chesapeake Bay's wildlife with island habitat, a rarity in an era of quick-sinking shorelines and rising sea levels.
"What's unique about this project is the habitat aspect," says FWS biologist Chris Guy, who's helped run the project since 2005. "It's a win-win, because you get a dredge disposal site, which is hard to come by in the Chesapeake Bay, and it's long term, and you're getting much-needed habitat restoration."
According to FWS biologist Peter McGowan, who began working on the project in the mid 1990s, wildlife are now flocking to Poplar Island. "Back in 1996, we had ten documented bird species using the island," he says. "Now we have over 170 species that have been documented, and over 26 nesting species."
Every January since 2005, residents of Easton, Maryland, have put their old Christmas trees on the curb for trash pickup, unaware of the fact that their discarded holiday greenery will soon become shelter and nesting habitat for black ducks, snowy egrets, red-winged blackbirds and diamondback terrapins.
Like so many Chesapeake Bay islands before it, Poplar Island fell victim to both rapid sea level rise and post-glacial rebound: the counteraction of glaciers during the last Ice Age that's making the Bay's islands sink. The combination of rising water and sinking land caused shorelines to quickly erode, and eventually vanish.
Here's a summary of Poplar Island's life, near death and revitalization:
How do scientists and engineers turn open water into land you can confidently step on? With dried and processed dredge material that's used to build up the land over time.
Dredging is a process of clearing sediment (dredge) out of the bottom of waterways. Dredging is necessary on many rivers leading into major ports because sediment naturally builds up over time. This sediment must be excavated so large ships can pass in and out of ports.
Maintenance dredging of the Port of Baltimore is critical to Maryland's economy: the port contributes $1.9 billion and 50,200 jobs to the state's economy. It's also the number one port in the U.S. for automobile exports.
It also contributes a lot of sediment. The port estimates that maintenance dredging in the next twenty years will generate 100 million cubic yards of sediment – enough material to fill the Louisiana Superdome 25 times. Finding a place to store this massive amount of dredge material has been a problem – that is, until the Poplar Island project came calling, requiring 68 million cubic yards of dredge.
When dredge material arrives at Poplar Island through large pipes, it spends a few years drying. Then bulldozers and heavy equipment move in to dig out channels for wetlands and streams. When the topography is set, the area is planted with grasses, trees and shrubs.
A first time visitor to Poplar Island may be surprised to see bulldozers and pipes gushing black dredge material at a site renowned as a world wonder of habitat restoration. Although it's necessary to use this heavy equipment to rebuild the island, the staff has found a way to balance these activities and still attract wildlife.
"Let's call it a 'dance,'" says Guy. "We have to work with the construction, obviously, but we have to be sensitive to the needs of the birds."
The Christmas trees that Guy and McGowan have been bringing to the island since 2005 give black ducks a place to lay their eggs. Black duck populations have fallen dramatically in the Chesapeake Bay region, causing the bird to be listed as a species of concern.
One reason for the species' decline is a lack of food, including bay grasses, aquatic plants and invertebrates that have dwindled as pollution increased. Development and other human activities have encroached on its wintering and breeding habitats.
"[When we began the project], we looked at what others around the country used to attract nesting birds," explains McGowan. "Christmas trees were a good resource. Instead of going into landfills, they could be reused."
Discarded Christmas trees imitate shrubs that black ducks typically seek out. They're warm, sheltered spots to raise young. Since the first tree plantings on Poplar Island took place just ten years ago, none are mature enough to provide adequate nesting habitat. So until the real trees grow tall enough, Christmas trees will have to do.
"Black ducks like to nest in thickets in the marshes," McGowan explains. "Christmas trees help provide the structure they need. It keeps them covered and safe from predators."
And the trees seem to be working. As we take apart last year's piles, we find a handful of eggs underneath the dead trees.
"Seeing that we have these leftover eggs demonstrates to us that ducks are using these nest piles successfully," says Guy. "Just about every one of them we find a few eggs, so we think they're having multiple clutches."
The eggs we find in the six or seven piles that we disrupt belong to mallards, but McGowan and Guy claim that black ducks are nesting on Poplar Island as well.
"We've had six or seven black ducks nesting on the island," says Guy. "You may say six or seven isn't a big deal, but when you're down to the last few hundred black ducks nesting in the Bay, going from 0 to 6, where they're used to be thousands, that's a big success story. That's not the only thing that these trees do, but it's one of the main drivers to get these trees out here."
Guy and McGowan have long envisioned Poplar Island as prime habitat for black ducks.
"Back [in 2005], we went around the curbs in Anne Arundel County and threw the trees in the back of my pickup," Guy tells me. It took the pair the entire month of January to collect the trees and transport them to Poplar Island.
Seven years later, the project is finished in just one day with help from Easton Public Works and volunteers and employees from FWS and Maryland Environmental Service.
Black ducks aren't the only critters on Poplar. The island is home to hundreds of birds, reptiles and other species that now rely on the restored landmass for food and shelter.
For more information about Poplar Island and other wildlife habitat restoration projects around the Chesapeake Bay region, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Chesapeake Bay Field Office website.
As the sun rises, bald eagles swoop from tree to ground; Canada geese honk happily in a nearby field; and a crew of scientists, boaters and trappers begin a day's work at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland. The mission? To keep the marshes that fringe the shoreline along this part of the Chesapeake Bay from disappearing.
Although wetland degradation can be attributed to a variety of factors, the field crew at Blackwater is focusing their efforts on one cause they believe can be easily controlled: an invasive rodent called nutria. Native to South America, nutria were introduced to the United States in the early 20th century for their fur, which was thought to be valuable at the time. These 20-pound animals with the build of a beaver and the tail of muskrat may seem harmless, but their effect on marshes across the United States has been devastating.
An overindulgent diet of wetland plants, a lack of natural predators and ridiculously high reproduction rates are characteristics that have led nutria to be labeled as an "invasive species." Simply put, this means they aren't originally from here, and they harm the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
Nutria eat 25 percent of their body weight in marsh plants per day. Let's put that into perspective: if you're a 120-pound woman, you'd have to eat 30 pounds of plants each day to eat like a nutria. And since marsh plants don't weigh all that much, you'd find yourself eating a lot of vegetation.
To make matters worse, nutria tear up the roots of marsh plants when they eat, making it impossible for new plants to grow. As a result, large areas of marshland erode away to open water.
"One property owner on Island Pond had a 300-acre marsh property. Now there's about 30 acres left," describes Stephen Kendrot, who works on the Nutria Eradication Project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS).
Aerial photographs of Blackwater depict a similar scenario. The refuge has lost 50 percent of its wetlands since nutria were introduced in the 1940s. The photos below depict Blackwater in 1939 (left) and 1989 (right.)
Certainly, this loss is a tragedy for Eastern Shore landowners. And while residents may be disappointed that they can't look out at a beautiful marsh view or help their children find frogs in their backyard wetland, loss of marshland also results in irreversible ecological consequences.
Marsh plants are incredibly beneficial to the environment because they:
In the early 1990s, U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff fenced off random quarter-acre plots in Blackwater's marsh, excluding nutria but allowing other animals to enter. After several growing seasons, the marsh plants inside the enclosure began to grow, while the vegetation outside the fencing declined. This finding proved that nutria was the direct cause of marsh loss.
Like most rodents, nutria are prolific breeders. This means that those areas with just one or two nutria won't stay that way for long. Female nutria are fertile as young as six months old, and they can become pregnant again just 24 hours after giving birth. (Essentially, a lifetime of being pregnant.)
"Sometimes we miss a couple animals and they might find each other and start a new population," explains Kendrot.
As the nutria problem grew serious, federal and state agencies, universities and private organizations partnered to form the Nutria Eradication Project. The project team is made up of academically trained biologists and Eastern Shore natives who have been trapping nutria since they were kids.
Although nutria have been eradicated from Blackwater since the project took off in 2002, there are still substantial populations in other, less densely populated areas. These are the spots the Nutria Eradication Project is now targeting.
Today, Kendrot and I tag along with the field team to survey for nutria on the Wicomico River, an area where residents have reported nutria.
Mario Eusi, who has been trapping nutria for years, drives our boat down the Wicomico River and turns into a narrow inlet. This area is privately owned, but the landowners have granted the team permission to access their property. This type of support is critical to the project's success.
"About half the nutria we find are on private property," Kendrot explains. "And almost all the property on the Wicomico is privately owned."
Consequently, the team dedicates lots of time to public outreach. Kendrot and other team members make phone calls and sit down at kitchen tables across Wicomico and Dorchester counties to explain the harmful effects of nutria. The team must assure landowners that if they grant access to their land, they are preventing their property from disappearing. From this perspective, the federally funded Nutria Eradication Project is actually a public service to waterfront landowners – the team does their best to prevent residents' marshland from sinking into the Chesapeake Bay.
Today we are tracking nutria, which means looking for signs such as scat, paw prints, chewed plants, flattened grass beds – anything to prove "a nutria was here." A good tracker must have both a keen knowledge of what nutria signs look like and the sharp senses to catch them, regardless of weather conditions or the speed of the boat cruising down the river. The team also tracks nutria through other methods, including dogs, radio collars and hidden video cameras.
Finding the "nute" is the bigger half of the battle. "Trapping is the easy part," the field team assures me. Team members must first find signs of nutria before they can decide where to set traps in the spring. I admit: I'm relieved I won't have to see any nutria in traps today.
The tide is rising, so we have to be quick; soon, the water will wash away paw prints and make it difficult to identify nesting areas. Eusi points out the difference between nutria and muskrat scat. His eye for detail and ingrained awareness of the great outdoors makes him an excellent tracker.
Suddenly, we find a nesting site: an area of flattened grasses that looks like someone has been sitting in the marsh. The signs multiply, and soon the team is out of the boat, bushwhacking through twelve-foot high cattails. I try to catch up, but my foot gets stuck in the mud, and soon I am up to my hips in wetland!
As we continue through the marsh, we find one of the most conclusive signs of an active nutria population: a 10-foot-wide "eat-out," or an open area where nutria have eaten all of the grasses and their roots. These bare, muddy areas, stripped of all vegetation, eventually erode away into open water.
When we spot a larger "eat-out" not a few steps away, it occurs to me that the two areas will likely merge into one giant mud flat. The cattails I just bushwhacked and the mud I sank into will soon disappear forever into the Wicomico River.
Since we have successfully tracked nutria on the Wicomico today, the team can now think about how to trap the animals.
When a nutria is trapped, it drowns quickly. Team members record the age and sex of each nutria to determine if it is newly born or if it was missed during the previous round of trapping. One way to estimate a nutria's age is to weigh its eyeballs, because the lenses grow at a fixed rate throughout its life.
Dead nutria have another benefit: carcasses left in the wild provide food for bald eagles, turtles and other wildlife.
While the term "eradication" may conjure up images of ruthless killers, the field team does not seek to conquer these rodents. Rather, the goal is to preserve the wetlands that support the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and define the culture and economy of Maryland's Eastern Shore.
The team's work also benefits the region's economy as a whole. It's estimated that nutria cost Maryland $4 million in lost revenue in 2004 alone. The Bay's crab and oyster fisheries are just two of countless industries that depend on coastal wetlands. The natural filtering capabilities of marsh plants cost millions of dollars to imitate with wastewater treatment plants. Nutria eradication doesn't just save our wetlands; it also saves our money.
Nutria are often confused with beavers and muskrats, two native and ecologically important mammals. The Fish and Wildlife Service offers a nutria identification page on its website to help you distinguish the difference between these three similar-looking species.
If you think you may have nutria on your property, you should contact the Nutria Eradication Team.
In Louisiana, the nutria infestation problem is even worse. The current generation is carrying on the traditions of fur-bearing trappers thanks to the state's Nutria Control Program, which pays trappers per nutria they collect. The state even promotes nutria trapping by providing recipes for dishes such as smoked nutria and nutria chili!
Real fur may no longer be a faux pas for the environmentally conscious fashionista. Coats and hats made from nutria fur are considered by many to be "green and guilt-free." George Costanza thought so, anyway: in an episode of Seinfeld, he replaces Elaine's lost sable hat with another made from the fur of this invasive rodent.
When most people talk about forests, they mention hunting, or the timber market, or environmental conservation. But when Susan Benedict discusses her forest – a 200,000 acre property in Centre County, Pennsylvania – she talks about family.
"We all work together. This is a family operation," she says as we drive to her property along a Pennsylvania State Game Lands road that winds through the Allegany Mountains from Black Moshannon to Pennsylvania-504.
(Image courtesy Susan Benedict)
A desire to keep the mountaintop property in the hands of her children and grandchildren motivated Benedict to implement sustainable forestry practices, participate in Pennsylvania's Forest Stewardship Program and certify the property under the American Tree Farm System. By managing her forest in an environmentally conscious way, Benedict ensures that stands of ash, red oak and beech will be around in a hundred years for her great-grandchildren to enjoy.
But Benedict's involvement in forest conservation doesn't mean that she's rejecting the land's economic and recreation potential. The property's plethora of hardwoods allows the family to participate in the timber market. As a large and secluded mountaintop property, it has attracted wind farms seeking to turn wind into energy. Its location along the Marcellus Shale makes it a desirable location for natural gas developers. This multitude of interested parties, each with its own vision, can be overwhelming for any property owner.
Since different stakeholders preach different benefits and drawbacks of extracting these natural resources, Benedict took charge and carefully investigated the issues herself, knowing her family's land was at stake. Her decisions balance the property's economic potential with her desire to keep her family forest as pristine as it was when she explored it as a child.
We talk so much about the environmental benefits of trees that it's easy to forget that they're also a business.
(Image courtesy Susan Benedict)
"My forester assures me that your woods are like your stock portfolio," Benedict explains. "You don't want to cut out more annual growth than what you're generating, and in fact, you want to shoot for (cutting) less than what you're generating. Right now, we are good; what we are taking out, we are generating."
Before any logging is done, a county forester walks the property and designates which trees can be removed. Then it's time to cut. Benedict has one logger, an ex-Vietnam veteran whose wife occasionally accompanies him. "He cuts whatever the mills are wanting," says Benedict.
The challenge occurs when mills want something that shouldn't be cut. "It's a little more problematic because we have to market what we want to get rid of, instead of the lumber mills telling us what they want," Benedict explains.
But Benedict won't let natural resource markets sway her forest management decisions. She's taking charge by telling lumber mills that she'll give them what she wants to give them – no more, no less. Of course, the economic incentives of sustainable forest management make saying "no" easier.
One of these economic rewards is the Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQUIP), which provides financial and technical assistance to landowners seeking to "promote agricultural production and environmental quality as compatible national goals."
Benedict's EQUIP project will enhance growth on mass-producing trees such as hickory, oak, cherry, hazelnut, beech nut and others that produce animal feed. "Basically, we want to get the trees to grow quicker, and re-generate better."
Family health problems put Bendict's EQUIP project on hold. Since it needed to be completed by the end of summer, Benedict's brothers and her three sons (age 15, 24 and 27) held mandatory family work days each weekend from the Fourth of July to the end of September.
"It's a 200,000-acre property, which translates to a lot of work. But I think that's good," Benedict assures me, even though she also sweat through the word during the height of summer's humidity. "When you have concentrated time like that, you actually talk to each other. If you meet for an hour meeting, no one ever gets around to saying what they want. You get down to what's real."
Using the forest as a mechanism to unite her family has been Benedict's goal since she and her brothers inherited the property after her father's death.
Benedict tells me that her three boys "have to help out, whether they want to or not." Their involvement – even if it is forced sometimes – allows the family to connect to the property. Benedict hopes the hard work will inspire them to adopt sustainable forestry management practices when they inherit the land.
We've all experienced times when nature takes over and there's nothing we can do about it – whether we're a farmer that's experienced a devastating drought or a commuter who's had to pull over in a heavy rainstorm because we couldn't see the road in front of us.
This happened to Benedict and her team six years ago, when a three-year gypsy moth infestation destroyed 80 percent of a red oak stand. The damage cost her more than one million dollars in timber profits on a 2,000-acre lot.
"Al (Benedict's logger) had worked so hard on the stand. And it's not a fun place to work – rocky and snake-infested. We were all so proud of how it came out. And then three years worth of caterpillars, and it was destroyed."
Biological sprays of fungi can sometimes prevent gypsy moth infestations. The caterpillars die after ingesting the fungi for a few days.
Benedict could have sprayed the fungi, but it may not have worked. It's a big risk to take when you're paying $25 per acre (that's $50,000 in total). Not only do you need the money, but you must have three consecutive rain-free days in May, the only time of year you can spray.
So when the emerald ash borer – the invasive green insect that has destroyed between 50 and 100 million ash trees in the United States – made its first appearance in Pennsylvania, Benedict began cutting down her ash trees. "We got them to market before they got killed."
By paying attention to both environmental and market pressures, Benedict's forest is both sustainable and profitable.
Benedict's property is isolated. For wind-power developers, that means fewer people will complain about the loud noise and shadows that make living near wind turbines burdensome. The land is also atop a mountain, which, of course, means it experiences high winds.
"It's very hard to decide to have that much development on your property, but honestly, it will provide a nice retirement for my brothers and me," Benedict says. "Everyone I talk to assures me that once the construction phase is over, it doesn't hurt the trees, it doesn't hurt the wildlife. The wildlife could care less, which has been my observation on most things that we do. After it gets back to normal, they don't care and they adjust."
Environmental surveys, which are required by law before construction, affirm Benedict's insights. A group hired to do a migratory bird study constructed a high tower atop the mountain. "They stayed up there every evening and morning in March," Benedict says with a shiver.
Another contractor is delineating wetlands on the property: identifying and marking wetland habitat and making sure construction does not affect these areas.
Benedict and her family even had the opportunity to learn what kinds of endangered and threatened animals live on their property. "They found seven timber rattlesnake dens, and had to relocate one of the turbines because it was too close to the den," Benedict explains. The teams also surveyed Allegany wood rats and northern bulrushes, a critical upland wetland plant.
"I decided to [lease property to the wind farm] because the only way we are ever going to know if wind is a viable technology is if we get some turbines up, see what works, see what doesn't work, and allow that process of invention to move. And we have to have someone to host it."
And according to the surveys, Benedict's property is the perfect host.
As Benedict drives her pickup around the property, she points out the site of her father's former saw mill, where she once worked, and shows me to the cabin that the family built after her grandfather died in 1976. Nearby, there's a section of forest that the family is converting to grouse habitat, which will support her brother's love of grouse hunting.
(Image courtesy Susan Benedict)
The uses of the property fluctuate as family members' interests change. Benedict affirms that managing the property sustainably will give her grandchildren the freedom to pursue their interests in the years to come.
"A lot of people go the route of having a conservation easement, but who knows what the best use of that property is going to be in 100 years. If my dad did that, we would have very little use of the property now, and certainly very little flexibility with these things, especially the wind and natural gas."
Benedict is a member of the Centre County Natural Gas Task Force. "You hear all sorts of things about natural gas development and water resources, and in order to make sure it wasn't going to be horrible, I joined the task force," she explains.
Benedict also allows 15 or so individuals to hunt and fish on her property for a small annual fee. Control of the deer population in particular is essential for her timber operations.
But no matter what happens, Benedict insists, the forest will stay in the family.
"We made a pact that everyone will have to sell all of their belongings before we sold this," she says. "There's some things, you know, you got to make work out."
Benedict's forest management practices and involvement in the sustainable forestry community has earned her recognition as a 2011 Forest Steward Champion by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has purchased 825 acres of land along the Nanticoke River on Maryland's Eastern Shore to expand Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
The purchase conserves two tracts of land: one along a section of the Nanticoke River near Vienna and another to the north on Marshyhope Creek near Brookview.
The land has been identified as prime habitat for migratory waterfowl such as black ducks, blue-winged teal and wood ducks, as well as for bald eagles and the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel. Additionally, the southern land tract is located along the Nanticoke section of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of the nation's premier national wildlife refuges. It consists of more than 27,000 acres, including one-third of Maryland's tidal wetlands and some of the most ecologically important areas in the state.
Visit Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge's website to learn more about the refuge and the expansion.
When you think of the Anacostia River, you may not think of it as being a place that's abundant with wildlife. But did you know that more than 170 species of birds call the Anacostia River and its watershed their home?
(Image courtesy Anacostia Watershed Society)
The Anacostia Watershed Society shows off some of the river's beautiful birds in its latest blog post.
From the American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), a notable species during this time of the year for its Halloween symbolism, to all the raptors, herons, chickadees, warbles, vireos, ducks and turkeys, the lands and waters of the Anacostia watershed have lot to offer for birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts.
To learn more about the Anacostia's important role as wildlife habitat and see some great bird photos, visit the Anacostia Watershed Society's blog.
There are several different kinds of habitats found in the Bay's watershed. Each one is important to the survival of the watershed's diverse wildlife. Habitats also play important roles in Bay restoration.
Chesapeake Bay habitats include:
Forests covered approximately 95 percent of the Bay's 64,000-square-mile watershed when Europeans arrived in the 17th century. Now, forests only cover about 58 percent of the watershed.
Forests are important because they provide vital habitat for wildlife. Forests also filter pollution, keeping nearby waterways cleaner. Forests act as huge natural sponges that absorb and slowly release excess stormwater runoff, which often contains harmful pollutants. Forests also absorb airborne nitrogen that might otherwise pollute our land and water.
Wetlands are transitional areas between land and water. There are two general categories of wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: tidal and non-tidal. Tidal wetlands, found along the Bay's shores, are filled with salt or brackish water when the tide rises. Non-tidal wetlands contain fresh water
Just like forests, wetlands act as important buffers, absorbing and slowing the flow of polluted runoff to the Bay and its tributaries.
Streams and rivers not only provide the Chesapeake Bay with its fresh water, they also provide many aquatic species with critical habitat. Fish, invertebrates, amphibians and other wildlife species all depend on the Bay's tributaries for survival.
When the Bay's streams and rivers are in poor health, so is the Bay, and the great array of wildlife it harbors is put in danger.
Shallow waters are the areas of water from the shoreline to about 10 feet deep. Shallow waters are constantly changing with the tides and weather throughout the year. The shallows support plant life, fish, birds and shellfish.
Tidal marshes in the Bay's shallows connect shorelines to forests and wetlands. Marshes and provide food and shelter for the wildlife that lives in the Bay's shallow waters. Freshwater marshes are found in the upper Bay, brackish marshes in the middle Bay and salt marshes in the lower Bay.
Aquatic reefs are solid three-dimensional habitats made up of densely packed oysters. The reefs form when oyster larvae attach to larger oysters at the bottom of the Bay.
Reefs provide habitat and communities for many aquatic species in the Bay, including fish and crabs. The high concentration of oysters in aquatic reefs improve water quality by filtering algae and pollutants from the water.
Open waters are beyond the shoreline and the shallows. Aquatic reefs replace underwater bay grasses, which cannot grow where the sunlight cannot penetrate deep waters. Open water provides vital habitat for pelagic fish, birds and invertebrates.
Each of these habitats are vital to the survival of the Chesapeake Bay's many different species of wildlife. It's important to protect and restore habitats to help promote the overall health of the Bay. So do your part to save the Bay by protecting habitats near you – find out how.
Do you have a question about the Chesapeake Bay? Ask us and we might choose your question for the next Question of the Week! You can also ask us a question via Twitter by sending a reply to @chesbayprogram! Be sure to follow us there for all the latest in Bay news and events


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This Information Brief is based on one of the...
The Yawanawa have captured their long-held botanical expertise in...
Timber Trade Flows and Actors in Myanmar
The Political Economy of Myanmars Timber Trade
Kevin Woods
This report on Myanmar's political economy of timber trade highlights five different sources and flows of timber destined for export. The purpose is to bring to light the different actors, geographies, and politics embedded within the web of timber flows because each inter-connected stream has its own degree of legality, sustainability, land rights regimes, and ethical sourcing. To date, much of the dialogue on the sourcing of Myanmar timber - particularly the world-famous Burmese teak - has focused on just one of these streams: the government-managed teak forests located in the central plains. However, the other timber sources and actors need to be highlighted, too - and their legality, sustainability, and ethics - as exported timber is an amalgamation of all possible wood sources. The complicated wood trade dynamics outlined in this report need to be made more transparent by the Myanmar government and the domestic private wood sector to provide more clear guidelines for overseas buyers demanding legal, sustainable, and ethical wood sourcing. This, in turn, will provide further impetus for the on-going forest sector reform process in the country.
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|November 2013
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I found a coat I'm just dying to knit...it's in the creative homeowner books, "So Simple Knits." This tells you how adept I am at knitting...if they're so simple, why can't I knit one???? Damn, I love this coat and I just found the yarn at the UK for $6.50 a skein and here it $13.49 a skein...I tried to load a pix of the coat, but I didn't know how...it someone could tell me how to load a pix, I'd greatly appreciate it....
Thanks from a very inexperienced knitter.....
Hi Maggie,
Is the pic you're trying to load on your computer? If so, go to the "Add an Attachment" section that appears lower on the page where you "Post a reply", click the "Browse..." button and select the file that's your coat pic. In the "File Comment" box you can give the name of the pattern or whatever you want to say, then click the "Add Attachment" button. After you're finished, click the "Submit" button.
If the pic is in a book you'll need to scan it to get it in your computer for attaching. Be careful not to include the pattern itself as this is probably copyrighted and we don't want you to get in trouble!
If the pic is somewhere on the internet you can create a link to it. The easiest way to do that is to copy (control, c) the site address (known as a URL) that appears near the top of your browser and the paste it into your messages (control, v). This way anyone who wants to help you can click on the URL and see the pic.
Hope this helps.
Yes, it's on my computer...I'll try to load it now. It's a beautiful coat and I found the yarn in the UK for $6.50/skein and here it's $13.49/skein...Now all I have to do is figure out how to knit it... :rollseyes:


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Which Carb?
Help me decide which carb for my set-up. I have a 1967 el camino with a th350, 4.10 gears, 3000 stall, 350sbc. It has about 9.2 compression, RHS 64cc vortec heads, LT headers, msd pro billet HEI dist and a comp magnum 286h flat tappet cam. I have been having problems with my Holley street avenger 670 vac sec carb. I would like some suggestions on which Edelbrock carb to buy. The carb will need vac secondaries and electric choke. The performer series 600 or 750cfm or the Thunder series 650cfm? This is a street cruising car only, no track time.
I have run the 750 edelbrock on an s10 with a th350 3.89 a 3000 stall, 202 160 461 camel humps hei and a very similar cam with absolutely no problems. I actually had to upgrade from the 600 edelbrock. The edelbrocks are pretty simple to tune also.
Are there any problems with these carbs and Lopey cams? Will there need to be additional adjustments to the carb to get it to run right with high lift/duration cams?
which carb
Adjust your initial timing so you don't use the carburetor's curb idle screw to open the throttle plates to far to uncover the idle transfer slots. Start with around 16* initial timing to get the engine to idle around 950 rpms. If you don't get instructions with your carburetor go to Edelbrock's website for tuning instructions. You will need a vacuum gauge to tune the carburetor. Before installing the carburetor adjust the idle transfer slots to about .020. Here is the technical data on tuning your Holley 670 Street Avenger . http://www.holley.com/data/Products/...0219-3rev3.pdf. Doesn't matter which carburetor you have both will have to be tune to your engine.
Thank you for the replies...Update, I have ordered an Edelbrock 800 thunder series carb and a custum set of 10* and 14* bushings for the MSD dizzy, ($33 for the two bushing, WOW). I will keep everybody posted on the progress....:)
OK, I put the new Edelbrock 650 carb on and installed the new 10* advance bushing in the MSD distributor. I tried to adjust the base to 24-26* but the starter bucks and I can't get the motor to take that much base timing. The most I can get is about 16-18* before the starter bucks and will not crank the engine fast enough to start it...
Any other options? What about hooking up to the manifold vacuum vs ported vacuum to help add 10-12* to the base. Would this help me achieve the 24-26* initial timing? :confused:
it seems like
you cant go wrong with an eddlebrock carb, and as long as you follow every step of their instructions as how to tune them for the purpose they are easy to tune, i had the worse time trying to get my cruise set correctly and not dumping 12-13 afr out the pipes, all because i used an open spacer, #2 on the installation instructions says to NOT use an open adapter:smash: aaaaaaaand now i see why lol =]
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Title I Schools Achieve! Home
Gildo Rey Elementary - Pre-K to Grade 5
All of our kids are all of our kids . . . Principal Robin Logan
Data for Instruction
Gildo Rey teachers access the latest data on student performance organized on an Excel spread sheet. This digital tool provides an up-to-the-minute source for their analysis. On the spreadsheet, they look for the indicators of understanding or struggle on the MSP, in benchmark math, within end-of-unit and weekly problem-solving assessments and in the results of the latest fact fluency timings.
They bring the data forward and analyze it together to determine student placement in the flexible math groups. This churning core of indicators shows Gildo Rey teachers where to review and re-teach, what before- and after-school interventions are necessary, what skills need work during core math review and which kids need time in the Math Fact Café. The information is a snapshot that shows clearly if the interventions and instruction are working and points to student progress toward IEP goals.
The Blueprint
Updated 12/5/2012
Old Capitol Building, PO Box 47200, 600 Washington St. S.E., Olympia, WA 98504-7200 360-725-6000 TTY 360-664-3631
Contact Us | A-Z Index | Site Info | Staff Only | Education Data System (EDS)


text:
Meet Platt's low cost solution to "Make-Your-Own" case needs. These cases are manufactured from prime, high-density polyethylene, with double wall construction. The textured exteriors resist dents, cracking and scuffs. The shells are unaffected by extreme temperatures. The hardware features mechanical latches that are field replaceable, and a mechanical hinge system that is made to last. All cases meet U.S. 94B Specifications as an electrical insulator and are impervious to chemical attack. All Platt Foam-Filled cases are filled with layers of cubed foam and a flat cushion in the bottom and convoluted and/or flat cushion in the lid.
108-3880 - Scotch Super 88 Vinyl Electrical Tape - 3/4'' x 44'
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Durable equipment case provides maximum shock protection for contents making it useful for instruments, audio/video equipment, tactical gear, photographic equipment and test equipment. Pre-cut cubed foam insert (top layer only) is easily customizable to fit nearly...
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Lightweight, stylish, high performance earbuds give crystal clear sound as well as a comfortable fit. Ideal for use with CD, MP3, MP4 and any other small portable audio players.
Fast and efficient service. On-line ordering is easy and quick. Delivery was on-time.


text:
plz answer my pst no 1945
Type: Posts; User: shaikharqam
plz answer my pst no 1945
i have some problem plz check my syscheck
sysCheck v2.1.0b17 by Double_A and R2-D2199
...runs on IOS58 (rev 65535).
Region: NTSC-U
System Menu 4.3U (v513)
Priiloader installed
Drive date:...
so i want to install these wads
which i install with base 58 so there is any...
hello i have a problem when i install with multi mod manager three wads are not installing
plz help why...
hey guys i have one question in ur d2x guide 1st method u say that 247[37] install with this and ur wad method says that cIOS247[53]-d2x-v8-final.wad so they both differ each other so there is any...
and plz answer my last question when doing cios installation if there is power failure my wii is bricked or not or any other problems
i am little confusing how to installing d2x cios guide i have looked this thread but cant understand
some one plz answer my post no 1899
hi i cannot run some games and i dont know whts missing in this so plz tell me whts missing
sysCheck v2.1.0b17 by Double_A and R2-D2199
...runs on IOS58 (rev 65535).
Region: NTSC-U...
thnx for this help
i have a problem in call of duty black ops when i open call of duty black ops it says u have to online save when i press no and start playing and clear 2 levels and when i...
no i am not sure if i know so i dont need to post my problem here
hey guys i want cover in wiiflow and i have no wifi so how can i put covers and see in wiiflow
it is right but i want to play splinter cell double agent and people say that this game can not work in usb loader but it can play through burned dvd
hi guys i want to know can i run burnt dvds in wii 4.3u
hey i have a problem with call of duty black ops when i open call of duty black ops it says this game has online save and when i click no for online save and play 1st level but when i close and open...
thnx for help now i got covers thnx
no buddy u cant understand i am trying to say that i download all the covers from wiitdb in my laptop and i put all the covers in my sd card just like that SD:/usb-loader/covers/ but cfg usb loader...
plz guide me step by step i cant understand i try it but didnt happen plz guide me
i have cfg on sd card and i put every thing in sd card
hey guys i want cover in cfg usbloader and i have no wifi so how can i put covers and see in cfg usbloader
hey guys i have a problem with usbloader gx when i start wwe12 pal version a black screen appears and it returns back to home brew so wht should i do plz help
ok i will try and wht about cfg usbloader bcz i mostly use cfg usbloader thnx for the help
my usb loadergx and cfg usb loader doesnot show any cover and i have no wifi so plz guide me i want covers
i checked in other website he select a game then go to option and select ios250 and play MW3 will it work thorough this method
no i softmodded my wii properly and ofcourse i am playing all the games but i have not a knowledge about ios etc so forget it can i play through cfgloader v70 plz help me guyssssssss............


text:
I have been using a glass bead medium since I first started pressure blasting my firearms. The bead is great for giving that "pearlescent" finish to the metal but it just did not leave a flat enough finish to give the proper contrast on a two tone gun like a 1911.
I tried a couple different mediums this weekend and found one I think is perfect for that "flatter" matte finish I was seeking.
I ended up going with #100 Garnet. I think it gives the perfect contrast and roughness while still being very smooth and refined looking. It is a lot cheaper than the iron oxide and others I tried also.
Here is a pic. You will notice I got a little bleed on on the body of the slide's side. It buffed right out. :)


text:
Green - Business and Technology
Next Green Car
The independent guide to green cars in the UK.
Twitter: @nextgreencar
Carbon Commentary
Chris Goodall's superb, in-depth analysis of carbon and climate issues.
Twitter: @ChrisGoodall2
GreenWise is an independent daily information service for businesses – large and small – that want to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of moving to a low carbon economy.
Twitter: @Green_Wise
Green - Ethical living
Walkonomics is a web-app that rates and maps the pedestrian-friendliness of streets and urban areas by combining Open Data and Crowdsourcing. Walkonomics has a rating for every street in England and New York.
Twitter: @Walkonomics
Read More about Walkonomics on our blog
Global Cool
Green lifestyle magazine for trendsetters.
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MyGardenSchool is dedicated to providing quality online courses on a host of garden related subjects and is the first virtual gardening school in the world.
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Green Blizzard
A practical guide to reducing your carbon footprint.
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Daisy Green Magazine
An online women's magazine dedicated to ethical and green living fashion, regular features in fashion, beauty and travel.
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Dedicated to showing people how walking around town is the smart choice - avoiding delays and overcrowding, while being healthy, green and free.
Twitter: @walkitcom
Read more about Walkit on our blog.
Life Goggles
Green product reviews, news and eco interviews.
Environmental Graffiti
For environmentalists who don't take themselves too seriously.
Twitter: @EnviroGraffiti
The Alternative Consumer
Provides eco news, green product reviews and useful info for people looking to cultivate a greener, healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.
Twitter: @AltCon
Green - Ethical travel
The Man in Seat 61
Winner of the Guardian Travel Award for Best Travel Website in 2008.
Twitter: @seatsixtyone


text:
Tuesday August 9 @ 9pm central time.
Anyone know when this is starting? Can't find any info on it other than a cast intro video. Thanks!
Tuesday August 9 @ 9pm central time.
Thanks guys,
I would have missed the first program w/o this post.
I enjoyed the first two seasons. Ian (an English guy) won the first season. Chris (a cowboy from Texas) won the second season. Those guys are Top Shot Champions.


text:
Another thread got me thinking about weapons cleaners. I don't recall anyone ever saying that they have ever used this product so I figured that I'd mention it.
I have been using this stuff for years with good results.(as a cleaner only) It is mainly used on the bbls of the weapons that people bring to me that,"just don't seem to shoot good anymore". These are the ones that look as they haven't been cleaned in a long time.
This will take all the crud(incl. copper) out. After this I follow it with Rem Clean and/or JB cleaner,then go on from there. The product can be had from any GM parts dept.
GM -- Goodwrench-- Top Engine Cleaner --Stock # 1050002 Cost >>>$8. IIRC
This comes in a silver and black,non resealable can so have other containers ready. You get 15oz. so be prepared to share this with your friends. Believe me you will NEVER use a can by yourself.
This product has worked well for me over the years. --------


text:
Anthony Rave Photographer
annicke shireenClothing Designer Female Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
My Website: annickeshireen.comMy MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/annickeshireen
Mayhem # 2133144
About MeI am a 22 years old designer, I graduated at the Utrecht School of Arts in 2011. I make conceptual fashion and my style is still in development; It started out with costume/street wear elements but my work is becoming more elegant and subtle. I am currently working on interweaving fashion and costume, I try to find my place somewhere in the middle.
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Anthony Rave Photographer
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text:
The Afterlife Journals: The Blue Ribbon HTML version
Copyright © 2013 by Kayley Ireland
Smashwords Edition
To all the Dreamers of the world.
Take it from someone who has been alive for almost five hundred years, society and its people never really
change. We have all heard the cliché "History repeats itself." In my many years I have discovered this tired
saying to be true. Technology improves, power changes hands, but yet the same mistakes are made over and
over again. If one were to take a look back into his tory, one would see that, though the object of desire may be
different, wars are often fought for the same reasons: money, power, freedom, and resources. Many events in
history seem to reoccur. It is also amazing that the way we as humans love never really changes either.
However, I am not writing my memoir in an attempt to change society, though I do hope that it is educational to
some degree. I am simply putting into writing what I have seen for those who find it interesting and so I will not
forget. In doing so, I imagine even the most uneducated readers will recognize the historical trends that
humanity seems doomed to repeat. My plight cycles around the matters of the heart, and the mistakes I was
doomed to repeat. O f course, before anyone reading this will take me seriously, I must first explain who I am
and more importantly what I am.
I am nearly five hundred years old. My birthday is April 17 1511. Yes, this means that I spent what can now
only be described as my infancy in the age of Henry VIII. I ha ve revealed myself to few, but tend to get the
same questions each time. So, no, I am not a vampire or lycanthrope. Although, I would most undoubtedly be
classified as an immortal, I do not fit into the pop culture depictions of them. I do not run around c hopping off
other immortals' heads on a quest to be the only one. To the best of my knowledge, I have yet to ever meet one
like myself. If other immortals do exist, I would imagine I have never crossed paths with them because of our
inability to stay in one place for very long. Although, I do have my suspicions about certain famous people
whose lives were inexplicably cut short.
I did not experience some catastrophic event after which I arose from the dead. Yet, I have died eleven times
according to public record. I believe that I can die if I suffer a fatal blow or terminal illness. I must admit that it
has been some miracle that I have not fell victim to this. Other than my appearance of being somewhere around
twenty-six years of age, I claim no special powers. Subsequently, I do seem to heal quickly and do not get sick
very often. Other than this, my body and brain operate no differently than yours.
I have been a wife and mother many times over. I have taken on many different names, nationalities, and
cultures. My status as an immortal aside, I am still a human. I still enjoy many human things like chocolate,
music, drinking, eating, love and lovemaking. Though old in sprit, I pride myself in being able to evolve with
the trends. I have taken sides in many political battles. I have been both a peacemaker and peace breaker.
Having long life is both a blessing and a curse. I have watched my own children die and suffered much sadness.
Yet I found peace in knowing "that this too shall pass," especially for me. Once you realize that you will never
age and potentially never die, you begin to take a much more objective view of the world. My core belief in
God has not really changed. My views have evolved to include more possibilities. I have to believe that I still
have some manner of a purpose on this earth. Considering that even the Bible mentions individuals that lived to
be more than nine hundred fifty years old, my condition is not all that unheard of. Without having been there, I
cannot tell you if these individuals became frozen at a certain age, but the text leads me to believe they did not.
So, am I special? I would like to think so.
My name at birth was Sarah Walden. I have many fond memories of my childhood. I was an only child. I
have retain memories of many people from the past; however, I miss my mother the most. I can still hear her
voice offering up words of wisdom that would never fail me.
Chapter One


text:
EoP Amicus Request to H WS v WN is one of the EoP Legal Submission cases, involving EoP scientific and cultural law recommendations to shut down the WiP Ponzi profiteering of resource conflict and misery economy, by 'turning off the tap' — i.e. the breeding / consumption above ecological carrying capacity limits — causes of resource conflict and war; by implementing an Ecology of Peace New World Order Social Contract that requires all the worlds citizens of all races and religions to breed and consume below ecological carrying capacity limits; enabling humane and orderly deindustrialization and depopulation return to ecological carrying capacity limits.
Under Construction.


text:
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Originally Posted by
Perfect example of needing to be selective when buying there, did you know that for next to nothing in extra cost they also have genuine GoodYear air hose? The black GoodYear hose is a REALLY good buy, it does not crack like that, stays flexible in cold temperatures and holds up extremely well compared to the (not much) cheaper hose! It is on sale right now in 25', 50' and 100' lengths-but it comes on sale often.
How is this for a coincidence? I too have my Lincoln Ranger 8 torn down for repainting and minor repair, at least I hope it is minor. Did you get a new decal kit and maybe a front panel kit for yours and if so where did you find them? Mine has the fairly common auto-idle failure and does not automatically go back to high engine speed when the arc is struck so I have to leave it on high idle setting when welding, the darn thing will idle up when using power tools however!
Have you had that problem with yours (yet)?
Yea i have a few of the goodyear hoses now from HF,i was just using the plastic ones as an example of what not to buy from them.
One thing to watch for when using a true rubber hose like the goodyears is keep them out of the sun,especialy in the hot south like where i am,i have my compressor outside feeding just hose into the shop until i build a permanant line system into the shop.
Where the is outside regularly in the sun it dried up and cracked in no time,the sun destroys real rubber in no time.
I had a similar problem with my Ranger 8,it wouldn't kick up the RPM's at all,i too thought mine was the switch until I investigated further,found out my problem was the linkage rod had come off under the top cover of the machine,if i remember correctly it was just the little clip that holds it on had popped off and i replaced it and been doin good ever since,but you'rs does sound like the switch to me because mine wouldn't kick up at all,but your's does if you hit the switch manualy,maybe a bad connection or wire to the switch?
The only other problem i ever had with mine is the carb had clogged up from old gas from sitting,was thinking i needed to rebuild it but figured what the heck take the top of it off n look,it was dirty in the bowl so i cleaned it all out as good as possible while still on the enbgine and readjusted the float because the way it ran could tell it was not shuttin off fuel when the float bowl was full,put it back together even with the same gaskets because they didn't tear up at all and now it runs like new again,Mine has the old Onan Performer 16 engine and they just don't make them like that anymore.
I just put a can of seafoam in the tank the other day while was using it to do some mods on a car trailer for a guy and now it runs even smoother than ever.
Here is where you can get all the decals and control panel for it,I havent ordered any yet but good prices,i am thinking of gettin the control panel with the diamond plate look just to be different,i aint paintin mine back to factory red coor,i have a shelf full of different leftover auto paints from side jobs,thinking of a mettalic copper urethane i have left from a job and put the factory side side stickers on and the diamond plate look as the panel,it should look pretty sharp like that...
These guys are lincoln authorised too,so you know your gettin quality and the right ones...they have 2 different panels for the lincoln ranger 8's,make sure you get the one correct for yours...this i mine in the stock look...
Here is the diamond plate look i was talkin about,this is the other type different from mine but i called them and they said they my model in this style,just not on the site for the same price.....
Hers is the side graphics,,,these guys have all the factory stuff for a restore on them,including all the factory warning stickers too....
Hope this is what you are lookin for oldred
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text:
Delicious – Seafood
Nhà hàng Gammer Beer - Bia tươi ngon nhất Sài Gòn
As the beginning of the legendary World famous beer … .the land from the Czech Republic in Praha. With the immense fields of barley, hops cones from Plzen beautiful region to create exquisite yeast.
And all of this is not only legendary from distant lands Praha. With these ingredients are barley and yeast quality imported from the Czech Republic and the system technically advanced machinery from Europe by the World's leading experts use. Welcome everyone to the house of our dear.
"Gammer Beer – 107 pasteur. Located in the heart of bustling Saigon and full of excitement. Wear full breath modern but equally distinct.
With the standard equipment with the enthusiasm of brewing experts have many years of experience in the Czech Republic, by learning and they rise back and make a bold taste of fresh beer Asia East and as he set foot in the main lobby, we will immediately see two very large beer barrels impressive. In through the process of brewing experts will always be checked regularly to assess how the quality of the beer. .
And 2 specialty extremely valuable brand Gammer made during the past: the iridescent golden beer, dark beer, the fanciful. Every drop of beer is poured directly into the cup did not vibrate at the most demanding customers. Enclosed with bold flavors in this beer are dishes with bold color and black and 1 bit of Asia, a bit full of passionate Europe contributed to the perfect party and more meaningful. First to mention dishes: fried salt pork to taste great color comes with modern smoked sausage, corn beef salad 107, rib roast key staff or cheese fries taste for modern hybrid rai weekend.
And look around Gammer Beer restaurant, we will see 4 floors with space for up to 1000 guests, furniture from tables, chairs, stairs are made from warm wood tones make major depression, 1 and press and release some more pictures of Prague classical roots combined with the slightly equipment European elegance and exquisite make all harmony and striking than ever.
Especially on weekends, the restaurant also has Gammer beer dance programs from many different countries and the "lucky draw" with lots of attractive gifts donated to the customer.
All only in "Gammer Beer" 107 pasteur.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Tiếng Việt.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Tiếng Việt.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Tiếng Việt.
Một nhà hàng rất đẹp với phục vụ tuyệt vời và rất nhiều món ăn ngon. Chưa kể đến giá rẻ. Bạn chắc chắn phải đến Bon Appetit!
Không gian rộng rãi, trang trí sang trọng và ấm áp, đồ ăn đa dạng và phong phú, phù hợp dẫn khách nước ngoài, giá cả hợp lý.
Chỉ một từ thôi "tuyệt". Mình mới chỉ đến đây duy nhất một lần, nhưng thực sự là ấn tượng rất tốt luôn, món ăn phong phú và nhiều loại, không gian rất sang trọng.
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Sorry, this entry is only available in Tiếng Việt.
Address: 107 Pasteur – Ben Nghe Ward – District 1 – Ho Chi Minh City.
Tel: [84-8] 3-824-8619 / Fax: [84-8] 3-824-8618
Hotline: 090 26 26 107 – 090 29 29 107
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Website: www.biatuoitiepvn.com
Opening hours:
Morning 6:00 – 11:00 Evening
Every day of the week, including holidays
Looking forward to welcoming you