Once upon a time, there were three islands in Chesapeake Bay, to the east of Baltimore. Looking like tiny scraps of land to most, what the Army Corps of Engineers and Maryland Department of Natural Resources saw was potential. Taking 30 years and 1,100 acres later, Hart-Miller Island State Park was ‘born’ of a need to dispose safely of dredging material and build diminishing habitat for the bay. Join us for a morning boat and bus tour of the island, offered through Maryland Environmental Service (MES). As important habitat for migrating shorebirds, nesting terns and grassland-nesting songbirds, the site was developed with upland grassland and wetlands grading into an extensive pool and a 1-acre nesting island after surveying done with the Maryland Ornithological Society. We will finish with a picnic on the beach. Please bring a lunch/drink. We will meet in Essex at the MES landbase at 9:15 am. To participate, please note that the ability to board a boat, climb stairs and hike .5 miles on a gravel road will be required. Complete information will be provided with registration and donation. Please note that while this tour is offered for free from MES, please consider donating to cover our costs in offering this program. For questions, please email Jayne at JAsh@Marylandnature.org. Here’s a link to an article from 2004 describing the park’s history: lhttps://web.archive.org/web/20080323102414/http://www.dnr.state.md.us/naturalresource/summer2004/hartmiller.html
Location
Maryland Environmental Land base
