Outdoors Maryland; 713

A. Coming up in the light of hope illuminates the mountains of western Maryland and a festival of living. And learning. Thanks. We're surrounded by our lives commanded by. Water. Will there be enough for a growing state. And follow freshly laid winter tracks straight to the heart of the wilderness in outdoors Maryland. Speed agility her survive these qualities describe top notch

athletes whatever their sport background or above a. Common dream to win. And if not to win then to finish with the last ounce of determination. 0 0. 0 0 0. 0. 0. Athletes competing in the Winter Games Special Olympics. Overcome challenges every day. With these games they've set higher goals. They're going for the gold. Medals and the equally golden moments of fellowship and affirmation. Special effects Maryland is a year round sports training and competition program for Maryland's children and adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Patricia Krebs is president and CEO of Special Olympics. Mara what's unique about Special Olympics Marilyn's winter games

is that we offer. Alpine cross-country skiing and modified our kind skiing modified school. We use it for athletes who have the ability of parents. Now within each of those three. Skiing the visions we have different ability divisions so that everybody in the same division has about the same qualifying abilities. And really can compete for the gold in their division. The opening ceremonies of the Winter Games spawn modeled after the international Olympics. Complete with the traditional passing of the torch. And the lighting of the Olympic flame. Was.

This year's Winter Games began with a nor'easter dropping nearly a foot of snow in two days. Some of the toughest competition in the time trials and races were soft wet snow and 25 mile an hour with. The right to it was when the conditions were grueling at best. Eric Magnus one of the determined elites competing in the cross-country competitions. This 500 meter race was the first of the brutal day later Eric would also race to one kid. And Team related. To. The weather. I train. Sundays a good meter races. I do gain to.

Keep in shape. Exercise is a bit like her. Every day was a fun day for the practice. Eric is 27 years old and lives in an apartment and works as a mail clerk. In summer. Eric also participates in Special Olympics track and field basketball and golf competitions. Yes. And Eric finish the 500 meter in two minutes 14 seconds is intended as exciting to intensify moment brought encourages this delicate run encouraged by seeing people try their best. I think if they. Slip on their skis they try they try to rebound take a rebound or two to try again at the example of making decisions to try and not give up. Responsibility chores and partner house. I mean the whole

thing principle for them here. Medals are awarded throughout the two days of competition at the end of the Winter Games. Eric Magnum had won gold in both the 500 meter and the 1 K.. I. Thank her. These games are truly training for life which is the current theme for Special Olympics. Mike's on ask is Games director one of the management team volunteers who works tirelessly all year long to organize Special Olympics Games. One of the great things about special effects in general and specifically about the Winter Games is that the athletes learn lessons here that they take off the slopes and into the classroom into the workplace into every other aspect of the life whether it's how to deal with rules or how to deal with disappointment over how to deal with excitement how to bond how to make friendships. It's training them to be better citizens to better workers to be better in every

aspect of their their overall lives. Alpine skiing offers events to accommodate every ability level of Alpine athletes. Experience skiers reach speeds of up to 64 kilometers an hour all. The way. Amy Trowbridge just turned 19. She graduates from high school in the spring and is looking for work. Her other Special Olympics competitions include basketball softball and soccer. For the Winter Games Aimee competed in the Alpine intermediate slalom and giant slalom. Because of snow storm conditions race times for the intermediate giant slalom would clocked nearly double the time trials. Anyone saw.

Media giant slalom my thirty point four seconds. The next day she also won silver for the intermediate slot. At the Special Olympics is really really important because the socializing aspect of this they're able to come out be themselves and be proud of the things that they can do and always do accomplish. Mary Trowbridge is Amy's mother and her sisters and brothers we all enjoy coming to a Special Olympics is how we got into skiing otherwise we never would have. What have been. Athletes and their families and the only winning participants in Special Olympics marathon. We are funded totally private business donations. We really couldn't run this program without our corporate sponsors and without the thousands upon thousands of hours of volunteers put in here Hotel and Resort donate an awful lot to us to hold these magnificent. What's wonderful about the Winter Games is its size and its intimacy whereas the Summer Games has thirteen hundred

athletes and to the 3000 volunteers and winter games we have one hundred thirty seven athletes and about 300 or so volunteers not counting the coaches. We have approximately 50 members of the American Legion which are part of the backbone of our organization or program. We've got to run the games without the Americans. In addition we have a core group who are our management team who actually run plan operate the entire games and move it forward. Moving forward in personal sportsmanship and in life is what Special Olympics is all about. Willis bronze age 70 is a sensitive and sincere effort and a very tough cross-country competitive racing this year in the 1 Pay 3 K and team relay the Santa Pola Special Olympics coach cross-country ski. Cross country has grown immensely a natural athlete he just flies along as he's learning more technique and learning to turn a corner. One of the harder things on cross-country skis.

For me. Why. The. Special Olympics more strenuous cross-country race with three K. came at the very end of a grueling day that also included time trials. The weather was steadily closing in. Will us finish the three K in 18 minutes 57 seconds. He was exhausted. But it was going. To find out. Do I have to be. Yeah he said the next day Willis also won silver in the one case. I feel great and I. Was.

Competition is also fierce and modified Alpine events. For athletes not wanting medal. The experience proves just as enduring a silver on. One of the really great things is seeing some of the athletes who don't come in first and come in second they may come in fourth or fifth but they're just as excited as across the finish line because they know that they did their best. They know that they've improved their time and they know how they're doing. Bobby Carroll age 15 is an honor roll student in the 10th grade. Doctors told his parents when he was gone that he would never walk. I mean that you know I really try to keep focused. Did your injury list for the high just to get through all the gate. Try good. That was possible. Unmodified Alpine attacks coaches may not help athletes if their sit ski to

swerve off course. Bobby placed fifth in the giant slalom but he's a resilient Offaly. You won the special olympics Male Athlete of the Year award in 1997. Bobby has big plans. Yeah when I got back special and I talked to Peter Kirk of the base any offer me a job to be a radio broadcaster during the season I can go on a road trip so I can do everything. So that helped me toward my life being a rock caster for Baltimore's. Special Olympics awards include participation with the testing for the courage and determination to make every participant. For these athletes crossing the finish line is only the beginning.

Thanks. Water. It's there when you turn on the faucet is just there to wash our cars. Take a shower. Water our lawns. Wash our dishes. Our drains and sewers lead to the Chesapeake the largest estuary on the East Coast intake pipes and filtration plants along the Chesapeake many tributaries collect water so it can be funneled to our homes and offices. Average annual rainfall is forty two inches and it's evenly spaced throughout the year. Is he just crying wolf to suggest such abundance could ever fail to provide adequate drinking water for all our citizens. Less to skid. Wardens ILM and civic Improvement Association. Water water everywhere but not a bit to drink.

And that's true. We have very few wells that are not contaminated. One has sufficient water for over six years in Borden's Illinois a former mining community near Frostburg. Residents had to carry in water because Wells receded and contamination seeped into existing supplies. Some residents collected surface water in cisterns for watering lawns and doing household chores. An awkward and time consuming task for. Those few who had good drinking water helped out their neighbors. Yeah I guess. The Gordon Tillman problem has been resolved by piping water in from the new water treatment plant in nearby Frostburg.

Hood Borden zone represent the beginnings of a trend of Marylanders should be concerned about. John Grace Maryland Department of the environment. Well I think what's clear something clear is that we can't take our water for granted that we do need to appreciate what we have and to work together to protect it and to. Enhance its suitability far yes. 80 percent of the 850 million gallons of water taken daily to provide drinking water from Islanders comes from surface water supplies. Two thirds of all Marylanders are connected to surface water systems. The largest withdrawals of surface water are in Baltimore and Montgomery County. As the population of Maryland increases from four point eight million in 1900 to 6.1 million in 2020. Additional stresses will be put on water resources. Could that growth create water shortages for Marylanders living in the increasingly congested corridor. Between Baltimore and Washington

D.C.. Jim O'Conner. Hydro geologist. The concern comes in two cases. One is where the rising population and the rising demand for the future can we go on 40 inches of rain. And the optimistic view is we don't have to worry for the next century. But if we throw in drought conditions and we start having like this year only 30 inches of rain for the next two years. Then we're in graphic. Serious trouble. But not on the surface a lot of that eventually affects the groundwater. They are all linked. Roland Steiner of the interstate commission on the Potomac River Basin in the 1050 60s and 70s. There were droughts in this area. And there were increasing demands for water and forecasts of demands for water for the Washington metropolitan area. The demand on the river. Was seen to be growing from 300 million gallons a day to 400 million

gallons a day to 500 million gallons a day needing to be withdrawn from the river to go into water treatment plants into pipes people's homes offices and businesses. In 1966 flow under 400 million gallons a day was recorded on the Potomac River. And so it was clear that the Potomac River without the support of a reservoir like this would not be able to supply the demands for singing in the future. A network of backup supplies of water was put together using reservoirs like little Seneca to avoid shortages no releases from these sort of unnecessary projections indicate this system should meet water needs well into the next century. Not everyone feels secure. What's happening is while the 40 inches of rain is not changing. What is really changing as the storms would get more intense. It's. Getting worse. Same amount of rainfall we're getting at faster and in big

doses. And that that is a big change due to some of the global warming are the global weather patterns that are happening right now. Instead of getting that nice and gentle three inches of rain per month that what we're getting is the water's coming down in big chunks and move it will move out back. Therefore we can store it. Would this mean we are moving away from our evenly spaced rainfall and towards drought and rainy seasons like those in the western United States. No one can say no one has been able to check the fast expansion into what was previously open space or farmland. That's causing serious problems for residents in those communities. Water Wars of a sort or opening skirmishes before the battle. Have begun to develop. Numerous aquifers the source of all our groundwater flow below the surface recharging the rivers and streams while providing drinking water for about a third of our

population. When urban sprawl pushes into areas like Charles County that depend on groundwater residents like Vivian Mills soon find out development can affect their water supply. At an October 1995 town meeting she pointedly reminded county commissioner Murray Levy of the county's duty to all its residents. This is not just merely an environmental thing. This is a quality of life thing and it's also a property values thing. We have only the two aquifers here. One clearly has all the signals of being stressed already. There is no backup plan for what to do for us. The crisis for some of us has already been here not just lowering pumps but having to drill new wells. We really need that water study they can tell us what you want to know and that is how much is my wealth going to drop. Well I have to drill you well. Charlie how are you. Other Charles County residents like Charlie Phillips have experienced water problems to lowering their well or connecting with an existing water system are the

only remedy. Both are cost OK. The water level in the 30 years that we were here 32 years I think it's something like 85 85 85 this was not monitored so we don't over here I suspect in the last 10 years has dropped much more rapidly than merely the pace of drop yet. So that was a good well you know until it started so what's happened up and down the street in the neighborhood here. My next door neighbor has had to have his bar down. Just now. And still getting water but he's brought back. Another neighbor up the street two houses out since passed on. First had his pump lowered and it went out again. I had to redo another. That's what we're worried about you know. People who have been taking the water out for a long time are now losing their water because somebody put in a bigger Arlo a pipe and they're going high and dry. It's not that there's a lack of water. There's a lack that somebody else. When followed by so there are

ground water was going on right now in Maryland. Between certain citizens and so it's not a citizen. There are many rivers streams an awkward furs that supply Maryland with its drinking water a complex and sophisticated system to bring that water into our homes is in place many competent professionals are working hard to anticipate and relieve present and future water shortages. Is it crying wolf to suggest Marylanders could ever experience a lack of adequate drinking water. Tracks in the snow. They are the mysterious code of secret lives. The fleeting notes of deep winter song. Thompson regional manager for the wildlife and heritage division Department of Natural

Resources takes us on a walk of discovery. Yeah I've always been intrigued with the track. Just because it. Gives you some insight into who that are very very early. And many people Oh no these animals through. Television start searching for tracks you see tangible evidence that these creatures are out here. And even though you may know that you can follow the tracks if you find a really good trail you follow it and watch how they go about that. And you can then visualize this animal what it's doing and how it's living. I've always been. This is a small mammal possibly a short tailed true you can see where they've run across this. Tunnel the way. Could be a short tailed true Redback pole.

Some little mouse like. Because of this this snow flurries as we head through the night. If the track itself is rated. By the size and the way it's almost in a straight line I would say that that's a gray fox. Gray Fox. I'm sure Dan at the rock outcrop that we're going to end up that. If we see fresh tracks then we can. Talk about track itself is great. Yeah. Here even though it's still not a very distinctive track it's more distinct because protecting one of the conifers. It has a dog like shape and you can see at the very tip where claws have kind of taken off. And that pretty well assures me that it's a fox. And in this case given the habitat of Grey Fox. This.

It looks like. It could be a fair Fox are generally throughout the year there. They're loners. This time of year we're getting close to the mating season and you could you could see where Couple flocks are travelling together. This could be that or it could be one fox that came this way. Around. And went back. Well basically animals will follow other animals particularly if it's a predator and they know it's afraid they'll fall right. And in mating season if it's. Could be two things it could be one male Fox. Following another male that's infringing on his territory. Or it could be a male that's picked up the scent of a female. Like. Oh. The kind of place. If you had a good wood rat population in there. I don't know if there's any

here anymore not. Some of these cracks and crevices are big to the point that people might think that that's what a bear down would be. But the truth is a bear will. Try and get into places it can because they want to get in a tight place to keep their body. And feel safe. Of course. A large boar. Needs a bigger hole but a 200 pound sow that's going to go to a den to have her cubs go in a hole no bigger than this. Found some small mammal tracks here look like wood rest. It looks like the animal.

From there here and that's where the tail the tail drug when it hopped up it looks like. And that's really gives the clue that it's a wood rat. Then hopped over here. And it looks like I would say it either went back in that direction. That's a good looking wood rat crack or back in there. I don't see any fresh. Wood Rat scat. So this one was just traveling. Currently this is an animal that is having trouble it's declining throughout its entire range. So to see wood rats here is good it's good news for them. But here we have a little running animal. Down the tree right here. Right across part of that of the tree and it's a red squirrel. Can't help it's a him or her from the tracks. Here's the rear palls. He's in

the front hall. The rear poles are ready to take the next leap. So they're out front. He's not running from a predator probably but he's heard high energy at all times. Chances are one of these trees there's a hole where the red squirrel lives. This track is very fresh. Probably went by here within the hour maybe even a few minutes ago. The thing that intrigues me is you know that there was a red squirrel here and you can picture in your mind. But now we come down here we see no sign of a red anywhere. However because of these fresh tracks you know there's a red light around here somewhere. Chances are the red squirrel knows we're here too. It really is a special time of year to. Go out. And see tracks of creatures that you never see. Really brings these animals like. That you know they do exist out in the wild. Otherwise you never see them. OK.

On we go.