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The Port of Baltimore
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November/December 2013
Environmental Stewardship at the Port of Baltimore
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Green
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BY NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON & NICOLE SALEM
Wetlands Restored Along
Masonville Waterfront
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
in September officially designated
Masonville Cove as one of eight
pilot Urban Wildlife Refuge
Partnerships to be established
this year.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s National
Wildlife Refuge System is working
with key community organizations
as part of efforts to “connect city
dwellers to nature.” In Baltimore,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation and The Chesapeake
Bay Trust are dedicating a total
of $55,000 in support of the
Masonville Cove partnership.
“National wildlife refuges are the
best of America’s wild places,
but many are not near major
metropolitan areas,” said Dan
Ashe, Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. “Most Americans
have grown up without a real
connection to the outdoors and
wildlife, and the Urban Wildlife
Refuge Initiative gives us a chance
to change that. We believe these
unique urban partnerships can
inspire the imagination and
create a connected conservation
constituency of people who are
aware, understand and support fish
and wildlife conservation.”
AN URBAN REFUGE
S
ome people might think of it
as a “convenience store,” but
to those who participated in
recent cleanup efforts, Masonville
Cove is a living shoreline worth
protecting.
The nickname refers to residents
from the region who have been
known to “conveniently store” their
trash along the now-picturesque
waterfront. In mid-September, the
National Aquarium partnered with
the Maryland Port Administration
(MPA), Living Classrooms
Foundation, BayBrook Coalition and
Maryland Environmental Service
in a community-based initiative to
restore wetlands and rid Masonville
Cove of the cigarette butts, food
wrappers, plastic forks, straws and
other debris that has gathered at
the site.
“Trash can even come from
Towson through the Baltimore storm
sewers and end up here,” noted
Laura Bankey, National Aquarium
Director of Conservation.
The National Aquarium and
other groups are working to
ensure the site’s successful
transformation from a Dredged
Material Containment Facility
(DMCF) to a nature-recreation
and environmental-education
destination.
“We want to reach out to
students and have them understand
what’s in their backyard,” said
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Maryland Transportation
Secretary James T.
Smith, Jr., spoke about
Masonville Cove being
named an Urban
Wildlife Refuge.
Students participated
in wetlands
restoration.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL MCALLEN
