Outdoors Maryland; 36

Lord. Lord. Betwixt and between not really water not really land

marshes for too long or been the forgotten stepchild of the environment. Now we're beginning to realize that wetlands are more than troll was of infinite beauty and diversity. They're the fragile linchpins of our own ecosystem. Of the Chesapeake original weapons. Only a third still exists today many barely survive. When Marylanders envision these fragile wetlands a single name comes to mind. And we. Block one. Like what a refuge was established in 1933 by the Congress United States under the authority of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. At that time we originally acquired eighty six hundred acres from the Delmarva for farms.

Originally established as a refuge for ducks. Black Water is now one of the central wintering areas for Canada geese and snow geese following the Atlantic Flyway. The Blackwater ecosystem is composed safely of a large Marsh base and large weapon that is supplied by the black Wood River and Little Black Water River. These two natural river ring systems and this so shaded marshes which encompass approximately 15000 acres of the current twenty one thousand acre refuge provide the natural habitat for the majority of wintering water fowl and migrating water fall that use refuge. During winter migrations peak. The Refuge is home to thousands of ducks and geese. The Refuge is 20000 acres or brackish Marsh.

Freshwater ponds. And timbered swamps of loblolly pine and seed producing hardwoods. While the winter stream lly important for the LRA Foxwell and especially for nesting sites for the Eagle especially along the water. All of the mammals of Blackwater are often overlooked in favor of the more abundant and visual bird life the refuge hosts a wide variety of mammals ranging from the marsupial possum to the elusive white tail. Black Water is also a haven for three endangered species. The resident bald eagle and Delmarva fox squirrel are regularly seen. So is the peregrine falcon during annual migration. We have quite a few illegals here year round there is at least a minimum of 50.

And the population has increased over the years this past year we had 76 pledged in Dorchester County. It's isolated stands of loblolly pine provides secure nesting sites near the abundant food sources of the marsh. Winter is not only a good time for migrating waterfowl and wondering water fall but it's also an excellent time for we're seeing Raptors here on the refuge. Probably the number one Raptor that we claim fame to hear on Blackwater is that is the bald eagle will say during the month of January we generally peak out with eagles and our population is in excess of 200 10 years ago we only had about 45 eagles here during the January period. But in the last 10 years because of increased nesting success in 0 1 and around the refuge we now enjoy some of the greatest nesting she says north of Florida for bald eagles. Every year we tend to get more and more eagles here.

Even in the dead of winter. Several species of shorebirds and certainly our great blue heron which is a very common visitor to the refuges seen quite often here. At first glance black water seems natural and untouched. But in a closer look black water reveals itself as a product of active wildlife management. Beginning in 1040 the refuge owner took a series of major major nations. Including construction of dikes and installation the control structures to support the greater number of migratory wondering would a father have a refuge since that time we've expanded upon that initiative and in the last six or seven years. We've constructed about 12 miles of dikes and installed about 50 water control structures. I should go around the wildlife drive everything to the left of the drive is

the black water or little black water river which is a tidal area. That is brackish water that's like halfway between being very fresh and averse salt water on the right hand side of the drive. You will see the impoundment and you're actually driving on a berm. That is separating the salt water from the fresh water empowerments. The water in the impoundment is managed and regulated by the refuge. Eight to 10 inches is just about the right level for your babbling ducks to tip in the water and feed on the vegetation that's at the bottom of it. And it's also a good novel for your swans and your geese to feed. Oh only three square dominates the marshlands. There tubers are the main food source on the refuge. There are dense stands serving as cover for nesting songbirds and ducks.

Horsemen through the sale and the purchase of migratory bird stamps or duck stands as we all prefer to provide dollars. They come to the refuge system too to support our programs in which to acquire lands for Migratory Bird Refuge is not only Blackwater but a lot of other refuges within the system we've got over 500 refuges now within the within the system of which probably migratory bird money goes to provide acquisition of the majority of those refugees. In this day and age we're very fortunate to have a large number of partners who also support our activities on refuges. Ducks Unlimited for example are provided over 50 percent of the funding that was necessary to rehab buying Pam a system over four hundred acres of new £7 which were created as a result of private funding coming into the vision watch service that was matching dollars under what the DGU calls a matching aid for the rehabilitation of state habitats.

Throughout the refuge over 600 acres are planted in high energy grains and grasses for wintering water fowl. So between our empowerment management system which is about 400 acres and I thought my nascent effort which is about 600 acres we have been to save me from parking a thousand acres if you have. A black water like most tidal wetlands in Maryland is fighting for its life. More than 5000 acres of marsh have been lost since the refuge was first established. Much of the open water seen today was once dense marshland. The destruction of wetland habitat by non-native species like the notary and mute Swan means more of the refuges lost each year. What are various areas of the marsh are burning to reduce the wonder food supply for

the non-native and in true seed new tree out. In spring. The land rebounds with lush new growth. Food for the native muskrat. When our birds leave here in March they're back to being down and that's a lot. And they produce a clutch in the summer time and they fledge those birds and those birds absolutely fly south. What we've determined in some of our research is that when those birds leave we historically thought of those birds kind of work their way through a series of stops down to fly away. But what we're finding in the state of Maryland is that for the most part when the birds laid in God and it's late fly directly to Maryland and so we're dealing with a very unique population of birds almost as if they were subspecies are not a subspecies but but they do nest in a given area and so it's critically important that we we take advantage of that knowledge and know that that there is a particular area that we also have to protect on the breeding grounds because those birds fly directly down

here so during that they're in the course of the the migratory winter season we have we have young of the year birds here and then we have second year birds in and fully adult birds that are that are here on the refuge. Right now the refuge is roughly 85 percent Well we have a little open here on the refugee. As a result of that the refuge helps take some of the most important and ecologically rich wetlands here within the state of Maryland within the Chesapeake Bay region there's only approximately 30 percent of our original weapons left. And within that. Blackwater refuge in his 21000 acres in the adjoining state marshes which are equal but equal in terms of number of acres were bought up a major portion of that protection to these critically important Wellens. Marshes are the basis of an enormous food chain. The tidal marshes in particular are a nursery for a lot of your small oysters and clams crabs and various different fishes the birds of

course feed on some of those. And a lot of your mammals and reptiles will go to the marsh areas to feed. If we were unable to manage world levels if we were unable to build dikes we want to able to do install water control structures if we were unable to plant crops made habitats for the wildlife that we have. We would not be able to sustain the number of critters that we do have and what a refuge would it be not to would if our endangered species what have you. We have to be proactive. We have to manage these habitats are even though they may seem larger 21000 acres are very small in the total scheme of things the habitats outside of these protected areas are dwindling or diminishing every year with the Fed up with pollution etc. so it is incumbent upon us if we're going to try to protect and provide habitat for the greatest number and diversity of species that we have that we do it do it

proactively we have to get out we have to manage we have to have resources to do that. For example we talked about the Canada geese going back north. We have to send them back north and the greatest in the best physical condition that they can in order to pull off a successful clutch. We're not able to manage our resources here at the Refuge. We can't provide most of the vegetation. We can't provide crop lands that are that are good food resources that build their bodies and provide the fat reserves we need Bodog will produce a clutch of of young and therefore the resource as a whole is going to be diminished. So it's really important that the refuge continue to provide a proactive management program to be actively involved in habitat management have it happen if elation and also do the monitoring that goes along with that to see really what's happening to these populations and to these critters as we do our management activities on the refuge.

Betwixt and between. The continued protection of what land habitat is a responsibility that we all must take so that future generations of wildlife. Will continue to call my home. WINTER Well if you're not a daredevil diehard or dedicated sports man or woman. Winter can come at a time when it's all too easy to lose touch with the out-of-doors. But embracing each season's uniqueness can put us back in touch with the natural rhythm of life. And Linda some insight is well. Located just minutes from Baltimore Oregon Ridge is just the place to get back into that natural rhythm. There are so many things that are happening outside that seem to be hidden.

This time of year but in reality life goes on out in the park with almost the same pace as it does in the summer. But the differences are of course the whole blanket of snow and all the other animal happenings that go on seeing me surface and at night. So it's a very active place even in the winter time. It's a great place to visit. Whatever is one of the finest times to experience the outdoors land laid bare. Muted hues that display a quiet simple beauty. Solitude is assured. Well to the untrained eye the vast barren expanse we've seen behind me might seem boding and lifeless but there is a lot of life and activity going on. Some things that people can look for especially in a snow cover like this is animal tracks. The animals like we say unless they're hibernate are out here looking for food. Birds are always prevalent even during the coldest months of the year. And in fact with this kind of a snow

cover it actually makes a lot of the birds show up a lot better. And the beauty of the color in their shape their form their fly patterns show up a lot better with the white backdrop of the snow. In the winter. The forest provides a wide variety of essential for these birds just like we need food water shelter in protected areas. The first provides that many of these trees like these tulip trees that are around this opening here are woods even though they're hardwood they're relatively soft and especially near the top of the canopy here. That's the very top of the tree. You'll fight chickadees and people will think of chickadees as being whole nesting species but they are so the trees themselves when they have rotten limbs provide soft wood for birds to peck and also provides wood for insects to burrow into which then again provides food for woodpeckers. Many animals specifically insects actually can overwinter under the bark. I've just pulled the bark away from this dead tree so not hurting the tree but in exposing some larva

here this is a specific stage of an insect. So these here probably bark beetle larva and these are prime food for the woodpeckers. The many of our winter residence are found throughout the park and we feed the birds here not because they need it but because it allows visitors who come to the nature center to learn about birds and to see them up close. So using a little sun Parsis I'm attracting quite a number of birds like the titmice in the chickadee and some of the Blue Jays I see flying across this opening here. These are examples of fruits and berries. That we have here are used by the birds during the winter to stoke their internal forces to keep them warm the same way that we might use some of this firewood here to stoke our furnace is to keep us warm during the winter. For example one of the main sources of energy for the Berbers would be pine cones because under each of these plates there are seeds of the birds can peck into and get the energy to keep their

furnaces going during the winter to keep them warm. One of our beautiful wines we have here in Oregon really huge which is in central Maryland is the bittersweet which turns a beautiful orange color during the. Fall on into the winter and once again while these food sources might not be preferred by you have the most they don't have much choice during the winter so they pretty much get what they can. I assume that. This is the kind of sumac that. That's poisonous This is a sumac native to Maryland which has berries on it which do contain some energy that the birds can use to keep their horses step by the same token we have shrub such as viburnums which do have little seeds on it once again not really a preferred food source but during the winter if you need something to eat these can be eaten by the birds. Some other things that they may eat. Are the seed pods from the trail of tree and this part here contains hundreds. Of little seeds. And these can be consumed part of the bombers as

well when there are other food sources are pretty much the cleated during the winter. And then finally we have some seed pods here. From the L.A. history. It's also called the Tree of Heaven and you can probably see the seed inside a little pod there which while not a great food source can be used by the birds to get through the hard times of the year. There are a lot of different woodpecker species that live in the Oregon Ridge Park. We're blessed with quite a number. Just to outline a few. We have the largest woodpecker North America that frequencies trees the pileated. We have the red headed woodpecker we have the downy. We have the Harry. We have the flicker. And we have the red belly which is kind of a strange name for woodpecker that has a beautiful red head. The whole head isn't red but the top of the head specially the males are we back to the navel and that is just. Brilliant red.

One of the main parts we will see corn field edge such as we have here would be your rafters which are birds of prey. For example a red tail hawk and they once again are looking for rodents mice voles that kind of thing to eat so they would normally perch themselves on a tree branch on the side of a field and just sit and wait for a. Prey to come by. But a chipmunk would happen to wander out looking for something to eat or a squirrel. The red tail would probably use that opportunity to get a new. Winners a harsh time here in Oregon Ridge Park specially when we have a heavy snow fall. There's a white tail deer. And a good sized one at that. But. Winner has a lot of stresses as well as the animal's biology and what I mean by that is that this book could have died from starvation. During the brief season for white tail deer. They typically will go without eating without

even rest just chasing as many dogs as possible they want to breed with as many as they can and often times by the end of the fall and into the early winter. The Bucs have lost a lot of body weight. And they're emaciated. And they can go into the winter in a weakened condition. This guy had broken his timelines. That's what these things are called probably during his running fights and I'll bet you that's what happened to this guy. Nature recycles over everything even though he's dead. And that's that's a shame. He wasn't going to waste. I can see on here and see if I can point out to you. There's some white marks you can see in the brown of this antler and that's where some of the mice and rodents probably squirrels as well chipmunks and other animals have been literally going to cook eating these things because to them the phosphorus and calcium found in these are like a vitamin pill. What's going to be happening with reptiles and amphibians are for your turtles. They

will actually go to the bottom of the pond where it's muddy and yucky and they actually will burrow under the bottom of the pond and spend most of the winter in the mud. So that enables them to live come the spring thaw will have many different come to our pond such as Americans who have maybe spotted salamanders come with frogs and they will be going through their spring mating ritual. In winter. Each path offers a personality of its own. Through a field. Or along a string. We get into areas of forests that have not been is disturbed. So the tall trees begin to give way to victory. An American chestnut. Trees that you see in the woods here have adopted a very special way to survive through the winter.

With the trees do is when the cold weather sets in. They send all their sap down into the roots. If this were to remain in the trees above ground and we got a cold freeze it would expand and possibly crack the trees wide open. When we get warm days around 40 degrees and then cold nights below freezing it makes the sap run up and down in the trees and that enables us to tap those trees to collect the sap especially from the maple trees to make maple syrup. We're. Going to separate here. Turn over some of these rocks. So we can catch. Up. With an amazing home. The winner. It's green. Man. I hear. This is. Fabulous. Me thinks you got stung. In a tooth. In some. Other. Take a.

Look at this. Let me get some water skiing in the street. And some critters right there. Live. And survive stream. So one wonders grave like it begins to overwhelm. Take to nature. Appreciate the colors. Textures. And. Sounds of the season. You are. An early May morning crisp invigorating international Migratory Bird Day. Chan

Robins is in his element between working for the National Biological service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Jan Robins has spent 50 years monitoring birds to see that his grandchildren and all grandchildren will have birds to enjoy. He says. His area of expertise is near tropical migratory birds songbirds. There are around 200 species of them guesstimates put their numbers between two and five billion. They went there in the West Indies Mexico Central or South America and were trying to nest in the United States or Canada during the spring and summer markets. The most fascinating thing to live I think is the fact that these birds can find their way when they're breeding grounds for their winter guns and come back to the very same place the next summer. Paul asked of the guy with the underbrush is full of migrating

birds stocking up on food with a long watery passage ahead readying for a trek that dates back 10 to 30 million years. When a largely sub tropical climate in North America was replaced by a cooler seasonal one some people think that they can come back to the same place. The way pigeons as opposed to home by being able detect something about magnetic fields. I don't think that's been proven for the Sounders. I think they'll grab themselves by the stars to a lesser degree. Worse the birds migrate at night as northern latitudes warm song birds begin their return flight following the emergence of an appetizing food source. Insects and spiders. These delectable goodies fuel the production and the rearing of young. It's. A byproduct of this feeding is the protection of forests from caterpillars. Left to their own devices caterpillars could do

serious damage to tree foliage. Scientists have shown that birds mostly migrants can reduce the number of caterpillars on a tree by as much as half. And the really small bird. Sometimes I have a problem where they actually get half their body through the net. If I have done that make removing them very complicated. It seems Neil tropical migratory birds are the picture of health harmony and balance in nature. Not so. Scientists discovered in the 1970s when it became apparent the number of long distance migratory birds was declining while the population of year round residents remained stable. One thousand sixty six. We began a nationwide survey to a lot of the changes in the population has caused us to bring good certainty and was started on a small scale here in Maryland in Delaware in 1065 and then in the next three years was expanded to include the whole country of the United States and

southern Canada. What researchers found was that the number of neo tropical forest migrants in eastern North America declined at a rate of one to three percent a year during the 978 to 987 decade. Why. And more important where were these birds being most severely impacted. Researchers wondered petted wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The jury is still out with regard to where these birds are being impacted greatest. But it's clear from studies in the tropics along migration routes and during the breeding season these new tropical birds are getting decimated in areas. Development. Rearranging the landscape for human needs. There is general agreement this is one of the most significant threats to Songbird's. In the United States more than half of the pre settlement what humans are dong tall grass prairie

is have been reduced by more than 95 percent and approximately 90 percent of our old growth forests have been long. What we're doing here is putting developments inside of these forest tracks. We're building roads we're creating an edge so that if you're a satellite flying over the United States you still see forest cover but you don't see these small openings. You don't see obvious edge that's being created by designing where this open land occurs. You can either make it very poor for many of the species of wildlife or very good. And if you have many very small isolated patches of good land it's only going to favor the common species those that you're going to have anyway. Robins build nests under the hubbub of humanity and try. Goldfinches find this old patches that have developed in disturbed habitat and prosper. Song birds that require large trucks or open grassland or the interior of

mature forests to breed are suffering significant setbacks. Take for instance the common wood brush whose numbers are down 50 percent over the last 30 years. A breeding pair is 200 to 300 percent less likely to successfully raise their young. In a fragmented forest then in a large fried matted one habitat loss is compound by predation. Lisa Pettit research wildlife biologist at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. You know I was trying to stay on that nasty during incubation for like half hour periods at a time then they'll get off only to forage. During that time the eggs are very vulnerable. And the predators Jays and the crows they sit in the trees and watch and when they see a bird leave her nasty Dave zoom in on that 60 percent of all nests are lost to predation and 90 percent of all songbirds fail to live beyond the first year of life.

Perhaps the most insidious symbol of the helpless flight of songbirds resides in what appears on first side to be a very ordinary bird. The brown headed however. Adverbs are very wily sneaky birds. They look for birds that are building nests and later on they return when there are eggs in that mast and they lay their own eggs in the nest. Researchers believe there are unusual nesting behavior developed due to their nomadic ways. They follow grass eating mammals eating the insects exposed by the lowered grass. But their life pattern is still mysterious. One thing is certain the threat they posed to Songbird's has increased in recent years as more and more forest is lost or fragmented. The hooded warbler can't raise their own young their own. When it cowbirds

there. They can only raise that cabbage usually or often. And the reason for that is that the cattle become so large and fills that nest so quickly that there is no room for the hooded warbler young in there. And they get squeezed out. Sometimes with a little help from the cowbird and oftentimes just because the cavern is so large. So let it be. They're having a chance to stay in the nest. Calvert is nothing but a huge beak open beaked waiting for this food and these adults don't recognize that it isn't their own young. They aren't capable of that apparently. They only recognize an open beak gets constantly hungry and their instinct is to feed that. It's easy to dismiss the plight of songbirds under the lights on a pleasant summer. Years in the wild.

Our state bird the Baltimore Oriole is not as richly rewarded. Some think we have our economic priorities confused. The economic revenues generated by bird watchers and bird feeding is enormous. For example about five billion dollars a year. That's five billion dollars a year are spent by bird watchers and bird feeders in pursuit of watching live life compare that figure for example to movie theater tickets. It's about equal to the annual sales of movie theater tickets or baseball tickets sold. In Maryland a lot of mere tropical migrants are declining state agencies like the department actual resource have a big role to play through research that they're doing in monitoring the work with county governments. The test of a critical area but DNR is not the only agency that needs to get involved. Mother you just already are. I think the key to survival of these birds in the long run is getting all the parties have a part to play in conservation here tropical hardwoods all that ultimately what we really need is grassroots support folks get out in the woods to

actually get the thrill of finding a scarlet tanager discovering another bird nest. And we need we need their support as well. The bottom line is sometimes not just the bottom line. It's a payoff observed on a sunny day. And investment caught taking wing. It's a dividend that with wise management we will continue to reap well into the future of our grandchildren and their grandchildren. Nature never breaks a long law. That's a job left to people. And mankind has made an art of it. In just three short centuries a million years of change have been forced on the outdoors by man's unending quest to tame the lion. A compression of

time that each day throws the natural balance a bit more out of kilter. That's why experts are trying to patch the natural system by protecting plants and animals. But as government trunks so desponding and so the state asks its citizens to take the lead to help stop the extinction of species living within its borders. The tax checkoff program is the chief tool the state uses to save at risk animals plants and the Chesapeake Bay at tax time tax payers who wish to donate simply check the box on line 63 am their Marilyn tax return form and enter the amount they want to contribute. All funds contributed through the check off are used to study and repair damage to the general Beach Bay and targeted endangered species in the state and the results over the program's eight year history are impressive. The Timber Rattlesnake doesn't enjoy a good reputation among many people. It's

undeserved and the result of censure is a bad press. Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists in 1902 led by renowned snake expert Marty Martin believed the rattler would disappear from Maryland at the hands of habitat destruction and fragmentation as well as the malicious destruction of dens by snake otters. They were worried because rattler counts in New Jersey New York and New England showed the snakes northern decline for the same reasons. So they combed the mountains of western Maryland for rattlesnake dens to find if the species was in trouble. Not surprisingly they found that in areas where timber rattlers were least likely to make contact with people the highest number of populated rattlesnake dens were found intact. That accounts for more than 70 percent of all metal and timber rattler dens. For now the species is safe in Maryland. But experts say public education and tighter controls on development are needed to keep the status quo.

The least tern is one of 21 species of colonial nesting birds in the state. The turns trouble. Shoreline development ate up so much of the turns nesting sites that most colonies decided to head inland. Because there aren't any beaches there. Many ended up nesting on flat roofs covered with pea gravel or stone. DNR biologists want to keep the tern population as robust as possible so enlisting the help of high school students and support from the community. Fences are built around the roofs perimeter to prevent turn chicks from falling to the ground. The bird's future is tentative in Maryland but turned numbers actually increased in 1995 to seven hundred forty one pairs at 14 sites. If it wasn't for an adequately funded recovery program the bald eagle might not be soaring over Maryland's skies today. The Eagles dilemma was a direct result of man's carelessness.

Listed by the federal government in the late 60s as an endangered species. The Eagles numbers dropped dramatically as more and more pesticides like DDT build up in the environment. In the mid-Seventies state funds were used to help bring the Eagle back. The DNR began surveying Eagle nests in 1077 And by 1987 the number of breeding bald eagles in the state had doubled. In 1995 a record one hundred eighty two breeding pairs were spotted couples that raised 265 young. Now the bald eagle is listed as threatened not endangered. One of the best known environmental success stories of the day. Hyping clovers still skitter across Maryland's beaches. But their numbers too have dwindled in fact today they're found only in one spot. The Northern five miles of a city. Like the least tern The Clovers traditional nesting sites have been stolen by coastal development. In

1986 only 17 breeding pairs of Clover's were found in Milan. By 1990 the number dropped to 14 players. Using tax check off funds. The DNR began an emergency program to rescue the birds. Intensive management efforts have paid off. In 1995 44 pairs of piping plovers bred on Asadi. The most counted for 10 years. The tiny shy Northern Song wet owl is a rarity in America. Yet some choose to make the state's three western counties home. It's because of the birds uncertain status that the Department of Natural Resources began a study of the owl in 1901. But it wasn't until two years later that I saw what was actually found in a nest box. Now 15 nests have been located and wildlife biologists are confident that the better insight gained from the checkoff subsidized study will help the agency better protect the software.

The Allegheny wood rat occupies a prominent place in the Endangered Species Psagot within Meron wood rat isn't at all like its cousin the Norwegian wharf rat. That species is more comfortable within the confines of the urban world. The wood rat is special. A critical component to several ecosystems in Maryland many of which contain rare or endangered plants and animals. The Allegheny wood rats presence in the mountains of western Maryland helps many of such species survive. But like the timber rattler wood rat populations in New York Pennsylvania and New Jersey have suffered a deep decline. Now Maryland's would read colonies or disappear into. Biologists who studied the mystery of the wood rat found it wasn't an easy one to solve. They believe however that several factors influence the species decline. The loss to blight of the American chestnut tree hurt the would rather sense it once depended on its fruit

for food. An unusual round worm sickened rat colonies as infected raccoons migrated toward would rat habitat. And other stress maybe forest defoliation due to gypsy moth damage that reduces a corn production. Biologists are hopeful that despite the downward slide of the wood that an answer can be found to stabilize the population. The good news is that the species are doing well in areas where the pressures of human expansion is limited. These are just some of the stories where Marylanders have come to the rescue of the environment. There are many more. Small mammals where fish amphibians bats butterflies snails loons insects and turtles. Just some of the 458 species of plants and animals currently protected by Maryland law. The hope is that the checkoff program will prevent that number from going the way of the 107 the other species that are far more lost to outdoors.

He comes. The frost. Comes. And the quiet lake show feels the torpid touch of his blazing breath. I'm running to the skaters heat. And the strain which danced on the broken rocks. And sang to the leaning grass. Shall bow down to the little church. And the mournful silence. Us. Awaiting the warm breath of spring. Pretty boy reservoir lies locked in Winter's frozen grip. Releasing its frigid waters into the gunpowder river a serene and surreal Crystal landscape. It's.

Like a river of liquid ice the gunpowder flows silently through the wintry landscape. While only the hardiest of residents. Pay witness. As they lie blankness. The river longs for the lushness the spring. And the laughter of a summer day. Oh. Good. Good. Good good good. Good. This is the story of a living jewel Marilyn's purest waters. The book.

But it is more than that. It is a story of survival survival despite historical depletion of other natural resources. And survival through a time when the land and its bodies were seen as nothing more than prizes to be taken in as many numbers as possible. Perhaps no single man epitomizes that long dead philosophy as much as the man buried in this Garret County graveyard. Meshing Browning. Madeleine zome Daniel born like character. I did hear we were in the place I had so long been looking for so much anxiety. And I must say that what my uncle had told me as a truth was only realized. For the country about a good year. Beyers Panthers. Or. Wildcats catamount. Wildcard. Often. Rabbits pheasants and. Partridges wild bees and in

all the streams trout without number. Before going to his rest in this tiny graveyard. Browning claimed to have killed up to 2000 the year 400 bears 50 Panthers and scores of war moves in wildcats. It was the age of the mountain man. And that's what mountain men did declared himself better at it than most. Problem brook trout survive the mountain man philosophy it barely survived what came next when timber companies discovered western Maryland they felled nearly every accessible tree. The hills were bare. This left the earth unprotected from runoff and the once pristine waters filled with silt while the timber companies labored above ground coal companies dug into the earth. Acid runoff from coal mines mixed with the silt turning the crystalline water a poisonous mix for the bookie in Maryland

really around the turn of the century had pretty much a clear cut just about everything that they could economically and obviously in this area there was a tremendous amount of interest in the forest because of coal mining where they needed the tambour for for the shaft underground. Timbering it was a real problem for fish not only brook trout but for any species because typically you would pick up a lot of sediment coming down off of the slopes as well as elevated temperatures because. There's no more canopy cover to shield the the land than the land heats up mining. Obviously the old deep mines with a production of acid mine drainage. That's not that wide of streams in western Maryland. One of the finest visual records of life for the book Trout and its human neighbors in western Maryland is provided by the photos of Leo beachy. This man may be fishing for sucker fish in the early 1900s because the brook trout was

in decline. Rich's photos have appeared in Life magazine. The 20 700 glass plates that survive for more than 10000 taken in the early part of this century show the work of a shadow and light master. The surviving plates are lovingly preserved by Leo B cheese niece Maxine Broadwater. When Les died his sister moved away from the farm and my bathers wanted to use his studio for a chicken coup. So I remember as a child. Death taking literally boxes of the plates. Throwing him out on the old dung wagon they took him back in and threw them in the river. Luckily this classic photo of the book dropped from the beachy collection escape the ride to the river. Its caption reads simply the product of Garrard counties pure water air and food. The book drought has always been to the children of Appalachian. What the catfish was to

Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer on the Mississippi. It was always a reason for an outing. A reason to take out the fishing poles. The grandpa crafted from tree branches. You know. It's been said that if you give a child a fish she'll eat for a day. Or teach a child to fish and she'll eat for a lifetime. Fishing has always been more than just about anybody. It's about the prospect of bringing home more than what you're left with. It's about the excitement of capturing something from the wild. I used to be the. Moon in this area. There were a lot of. Families that supplement their. Life. Going at. Such a. Rucksack. All year. And the days when a fisherman could go out and maybe bring home 10 or 20 fish. Those days are gone. Not so much because the population couldn't withstand some fishing pressure. It's just that we have more people

fishing for these species now and we have probably fewer miles of streams that hold brook trout and what they did in the past. If life was tough for Navy brook trout in was much easier for the people of America. We call it scratch and claw it's a way to keep your house warm. Cole right out of the mountain. It's also a way to make a little money. You get so much and it takes a lot of shipping to make a ton. Of spending day after day scratching and clawing at the mouth. Bend over like. Sometimes on your knees. It's dirty work. Then there's lung disease the cave ins and the chance of hitting some gas that could blow up. When there's no work in the mines we work for the timber companies. At least it's out in the mountain air. But it's not an easy way to live either. A man feels when he hits up against a tree hour after hour day after day. I guess nothing is really easy up here. I place in life. 1030. It wasn't just the men.

Who had it. It wasn't an easy life for the women and children. We had to make do where we could. Just getting dressed and warm in these mountain wonders was almost a full time job. But we survived mostly. I guess it helped not knowing what we didn't have. We worked hard but we had family and we stuck together. Appalachian coal miner's wife 930. But perhaps no place in Appalachia is the dream of survival more vivid than in the mountain streams of October. It's spawning season. The timeless cycle of rebirth for the brook trucked. Maryland Department of Natural Resources fisheries manager can pave all does the play by play for this game. A typical day well I think we can probably get very quickly that they're going to. Get at a Catholic observer following. A choir. Look at it it's really amazing. Beautiful blonde in color and him very clearly.

Like a magnet. The growth. We're seeing in the crowd actually wanting. The female director out. Actually pans out a red. Because the naff but referred to as a red. Male workout Joyner. They. I think that the female releases their eggs into the water the male released the milk simultaneously the eggs are fertilized. And then. The female fan more gravel to cover the egg. And the link you bake in there in the gravel throughout the winter. And won't happen until sometime probably in mid winter and in the fall trout won't actually went up out of the gravel until. Late March or April. You seen here where native brook trout carry on their natural cycle contrasts sharply with the setting of their more domestic remedies. These rainbow trout are reared in one of the states Hatteras their environment is one of concrete run lines. Like pets.

They wait to be fed each day until they drop into streams and ponds for the pleasure of Maryland fishermen in the streams the imported fish become additional competition for the Navy brook trout. This Big Brown is also checking out the spawning waters. It looks as hulking as a submarine. But Browns rainbows and brookies alike all share another danger at spawning time. At the trout. That became the dinner of a problem me. This appears to be a brown trout but. Let the brown of the brook trout and the brown trout are there in these waters spawning now and. They're. Both species are vulnerable to predators when they're in this. When it's. Quite shallow water. This is this is a large fish fry 15 inches at least. The brook trout are native to these waters with the brown trout are introduced in the late eighteen hundred from. Europe and Scotland and they compete for the space in the stream. In fact. Because brown trout generally grow larger. They

actually eat brook trout if you look at the. Brown trouts. Teeth and the size of his mouth you can see that he's he's quite a. Formidable predator. I'm very optimistic about the future the group that we're starting to find brook trout out in western Maryland some streams that. We've never found on the floor. As I mentioned earlier through resilient species it is able to colonize new areas given given the. Chance that it can get there and get into that stream and we're starting to pick up brookies in places that we've just never seen before. The one specter that looms on the horizon is is this global warming crop problems. And there's been estimates that you know within 50 to 100 years that probably our brook trout are going to be restricted just to two counties of Maryland and that will be Allegheny and Garrett County.

Areas where we're at fairly high elevation and where the brook trout. Would be able to make it because the water temperature would remain cold. With increasing success the brook trout continues its struggle against natural and imported animals. It's provided a sense of natural wonders for the ages. And it's a legacy of perseverance has fostered a newfound human respect for the environment. And maybe one of the best reasons to maintain its pristine state. The brook trout. And outdoors melons survive. O O. O O. O O.

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