Sharing with landowners how to become better stewards of the Bay in their own backyard

CWH’s Education and Outreach program provides landowners, businesses, schools, civic and community groups, and other interested groups with information about the variety of local wildlife and wildlife habitat in the region. Most of the education that is provided by CWH occurs on a one-on-one basis during a site visit to a landowner’s property. During these visits a habitat specialist can discuss the many possibilities of suitable habitat improvements for a specific site with the landowner. Once the interests of the landowner are determined, a management plan is developed and CWH works with the landowner to implement the plan.

Guided tours of CWH’s Bennett Point Wildlife Area in Queenstown, Barnstable Hill Farm on Kent Island, and/or other significant habitat restoration sites are often the most effective ways to help landowners understand how and why CWH restoration projects work. Seeing Northern Pintail on a restored wetland or Bobwhite Quail in a warm-season grass meadow illustrates the benefits of habitat improvements and how critical they are for wildlife.

In addition to numerous site visits in 2008, CWH’s Education and Outreach Program worked with the Ecology Club at Kennard Elementary School in Centreville, Maryland on a wetland planting project. The wetland will help filter run-off from the school's parking lot before it reaches a major tributary of the Corsica River. CWH's Education and Outreach Director, Andi Pupke, led the students through a discussion of the benefits of planting native plants and providing habitat for wildlife. The students then did the actual planting in and around the wetland. The Ecology Club was awarded the Tawes Youth Award for a Clean Environment from the Maryland Department of the Environment for the project.

The CWH Education and Outreach Program also presented lectures to numerous homeowner's associations, special interest groups and garden clubs on topics such as warm-season grass meadows, backyard habitat, bluebirds, and butterfly gardening. Two sessions of the Annual CWH Monarch Tagging Workshop were held in September 2008.

If you have any questions about our education programs, please contact Andi at 410-822-5100.