Ayres Creek Kayak Launch Brownfield Redevelopment

Maryland Coastal Bays Program | Current Projects

Habitat Restoration & Conservation

Ayres Creek Kayak Launch Brownfield Redevelopment

MCBP is partnered with the town of Ocean City, DNR, and the MD State Highway Administration to create a kayak launch and shoreline restoration with interpretive trails on 37 acres of a former brownfield landfill owned by the town. The launch opened this fall.

SkimmerIsland Restoration &Colonial Waterbird Count

MCBP works with a local marina operator and DNR to transport dredge spoil to an important eroding island just north of the US50 Bridge. Part of a larger spoil usage effort led by Coastal Bays, the multi-year, public/private partnership will restore the only known viable breeding habitat for endangered black skimmers and royal terns. For the past four years, MCBP has organized volunteers to systematically count breeding colonial waterbirds to help DNR establish base populations in the coastal bays. This data has proven essential in moving forward efforts to utilize dredge spoil for island restoration.

Hudson Branch Restoration

The program is working with an underprivileged community in east Berlin to restore this ditched headwater stream in order to improve habitat, alleviate flooding during storms, andprovide enhanced walkable recreational activities.MCBP has already partnered with Berlin to take 36,000 pounds of debris out of this NewportBay tributary.

Land Conservation

The Maryland Coastal Bays Program connects landowners with conservation programs, including the Rural Legacy Program, CELCP, NAWCA, Program Open Space, Coastal Wetland Program and others. The MCBP, the State, and WorcesterCountyhave developed specific land conservation targets for the Newport-Chincoteague Conservation Area.MCBP has helped protect some 10,000 acres in the watershed over the past 10 years. Another four projects totaling 1,800 acres are currently in the works.

Living Shorelines

Shoreline construction and its associated practices are modifying habitat and impacting the local environment. MCBP and its partners have worked with landowners to install living shorelines on 10 properties, including several restaurants in OceanCity. MCBP continues to bring information to local landowners about the benefits of living shorelines, critical to nesting terrapins and horseshoe crabs.

Volunteer Horseshoe Crab Monitoring

Since 2002, MCBP has worked with the state of Maryland to assess the current population status of Atlantic horseshoe crabs, the only such survey in the state of Maryland. Volunteers assist in the May through July monitoring. An annual report helps scientists track the federally managed species.

Adkins Property Restoration

MCBP brought together the Trust for PublicLand, DNR, and WorcesterCounty to help protect 440 acres of headwater forest along Assateague Road. WorcesterCountywill own the new county park but MCBP will create nature trails, signs, and restore 60 acres of pine monoculture to deciduous forested wetlands.

410 213-2297 9919 Stephen Decatur Hwy – Suite 4, Ocean City, Maryland21842