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Fragments of Change

by Jerry Goodbody/photography by Katherine Lambert

If not for the breeze blowing off the water, it would be hot this April morning in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, on Maryland's Eastern Shore. I'm standing on Wildlife Drive, the refuge's main road, looking out over marsh and open water, shimmering in the brilliant sun. Although the scene seems postcard-perfect, something is wrong. In fact, as I find out later, 40 years ago the view would have been inverted: Instead of the expanse of water and the small area of marsh I see today, I would have seen an expanse of marsh, cut by the channel of the Blackwater River.

Still, Blackwater's 27,000 acres are a beautiful mosaic of salt marsh, freshwater marsh, and dense woodland. The refuge, a vital stop on the Atlantic Flyway, is also home to bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel.

Much of the marsh loss at Blackwater results from nutria, an imported rodent that, since the 1960s, has been relentlessly devouring the tender roots of the plants that stabilize the marsh. But there are other threats as well. Troublesome species, from phragmites to mute swans to resident Canada geese, wreak ecological havoc, and the marsh is further besieged by rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion. Controlling these problems and undoing the damage they cause is a formidable challenge, says refuge manager Glenn Carowan. But "the biggest problem is the lack of funding and personnel," he says. "We currently have very limited fiscal resources to even attempt control activities, and certainly, if it weren't for our partners and cooperators, there would be no restoration funds available."

Since he arrived at Blackwater in 1989, Carowan has actively sought out local partners—both what he calls traditional ones, like Ducks Unlimited, and nontraditional ones, like the Chamber of Commerce. Carowan's key support group is the Friends of Blackwater, a volunteer force uniting 750 individuals, companies, and organizations that do everything from building bluebird boxes to working in the refuge center and securing grants (about $100,000 worth a year, says Carowan).

One of Blackwater's stellar volunteers is 14-year-old Josh Stone. About a year and a half ago, Josh, whose father, Roger, is a biologist at the refuge, led a project at Blackwater for which he and his Boy Scout troop planted 2,000 trees. The intent was to connect two forest fragments, creating critical nesting habitat for such birds as the Louisiana water-thrush and worm-eating, prothonotary, and Kentucky warblers. So far the project is going well, and about 70 percent of the trees have survived, says Josh, who recently was promoted to Eagle Scout.

Josh has worked on other environmental projects at Blackwater, but he chose to plant trees this time because forest fragmentation is such a serious problem in this part of Maryland. "If everybody did a project like this," he says, "you could reforest the whole Eastern Shore very quickly. My project is just an example for others to follow."