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BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND ANNUAL MEETINGS
Next scheduled board of trustees meeting:
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
11am
Location TBA
Annual report of Cove Point Natural
Heritage Trust 2010-2011
In accordance with the Agreement,
for 2010-2011 the Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust consisted of
seven Trustees and the Executive Director. Trustees from
Dominion Cove Point LNG LP were Mike Frederick and Mike Gardner.
Trustees from Maryland Conservation Council were Karen Meadow
and Millie Kriemelmeyer. Trustees from Sierra Club Maryland
Chapter were Ewing Miller and Fred Tutman. Mike Rudy was the
trustee elected by the organizational trustees to represent the
community. Executive Director was Bob Boxwell.
The three member organizations
approved the Trust’s budget and appointed their Trustees.
Information from Dominion’s
trustees and visit to the beach has kept board members and staff
informed about the progress of the Living Shoreline project.
Staff assisted many other volunteers with the beach plantings
held in February and May.
Dominion generously provided
meeting space and lunches, trips to the beach, and photographs
of the beach breach, including the past and current
environmental issues with the cuspate foreland.
The Trust has approved a
scholarship fund to honor the memory of Ruth Mathes using the
designated Mathes Fund.
Members of the Science Advisory
Group and research funded by the Trust were presented at the
Calvert Marine Museum in the Calvert Cliffs Conundrum series.
The Trust’s investments remained
with Bernstein. The annual audit was performed by Askey and
Askey. Financial documents are available for review upon
request.
The accountant was Susan Lantz
and the bank accounts are with PNC.
An office was maintained at the
Hellen Creek Forest and Wildlife Preserve located at 11785
Clifton Drive in Lusby, Maryland.
The Trust held regular business
meetings and its annual meeting.
The Hellen Creek Nature Preserve
and house were maintained by the Executive Director.
The Hilltop Road property
continues to be monitored and communication with the county
concerning permits and issues with future work here have been
initiated. Plans continue to look at hiring a surveyor for
placement of a driveway, parking area, and path through the
woods to the adjoining Hellen Creek property.
The acquisition of TNC’s Hemlock
Preserve is near completion.
The Webster Street Marsh Preserve
continued to revert to marsh.
Other potential property
acquisition was investigated with a survey being completed.
The following reports for
2010-2011 were submitted by the Executive Director:
Correspondence
- Letters to State delegation
supporting No Child Left Behind alliance and supporting
Program Open Space.
- Letter supporting the Green
School program in Calvert County.
- Communications with The
Nature Conservancy and Calvert County Department of Planning
concerning transfer of ownership of the Hemlock Preserve to
the Trust.
- Comments on the EPA Baywide
TMDL.
- Comments on Phase I State of
Maryland WIP.
- Article for the Sierra Club
Southern Maryland Group newsletter.
- Web page updates and new
Facebook page begun.
Meetings
- Board and staff met with
Calvert planning staff to discuss environmental issues in
Calvert County and ways in which we may cooperate.
- Board members attended
meetings of the Maryland Conservation Council.
- Staff attended chapter and
local group Sierra Club ExComs.
- Staff attended Bay TMDL
meetings and State WIP meetings.
- Board and staff meet with
representative of the Calvert Marine Museum to discuss areas
of cooperation.
- Staff attended briefing of
the Baltimore District of the Army Corp of Engineers.
- Staff attended Green
Building Council meetings and workshop.
- Staff participated in State
Trails workshops.
Strategic Planning
- Completed strategic planning
with Karen Meadow facilitating to develop a plan for future
activities for the Trust and to determine the best use of
the Hilltop Road property.
- Manual review and policy
work continuing.
- Initiated two new forms to
track e-mail decisions and an easy to read tracking of
certain budgeted areas.
- Provided documentation for
TNC in relationship to Hemlock Property acquisition.
Outreach
- Held four seasonal public
outings and two workdays at Hellen Creek Nature Preserve.
- Participated in PRAD, Earth
Day on the Square in Leonardtown, Calvert County Green Expo,
and Riverfest
- Staff serves on Calvert
County Citizen’s Green Team.
- Staff attended meetings as
board member of the Patuxent River Restoration Advisory
Board, Lower Potomac Tributary Strategy Team, Southern
Calvert Land Trust, and Sierra Club Southern Maryland group.
- Judged and presented award
for the 2011 Calvert County Science Fair.
- Cooperated with Patuxent
River NAS in providing assistance for marsh restoration
program.
- Cooperated in water and fish
monitoring efforts in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s
Counties.
Education
- Provided programming for
Chesapeake Bay Field Lab, Boy and Girl Scouts troops in
Southern Maryland, Chesapeake Public Charter School, Appeal
Elementary School, Spring Ridge Middle STEM program, Calvert
Middle School, Camp Maria, Historic St. Mary’s City, and the
Calvert Marine Museum.
- Mentored students and
provided programs for St. Mary’s County Tech center.
- Supervised two students in
Conservation Biology through the CCPS Mentorship program
- Worked with CHESPAX as
advisor to schools on bluebird trails and nature trails.
- Assisted Appeal Elementary
School’s green school program.
Land Management
- Continued invasive plant
removal efforts.
- Continued deer management
hunting program.
- Continued biological
monitoring programs for plants, birds, amphibians, and
reptiles.
- Maintained trails and
continued clean up of Hilltop and Hellen Creek sites.
- Repaired deer exclosures for
native plant gardens at office and along streamside.
- Planted white turtlehead and
spicebush in streamside exclosure.
- Planted elderberry,
spicebush, and white turtlehead in office exclosure.
- Maintained and supplemented
hummingbird/butterfly plot.
- Monitored blue bird trail at
Dominion Cove Point LNG site.
Research
- Funded Richard Orr’s
ondonata survey at Cove Point.
- Funded Paul Bushmann’s
research on horseshoe crabs at Cove Point beach.
- Continued funding RTE
monitoring of Cove Point beach and marsh easement and survey
of other herbaceous marsh flora.
- Funded work at Cove Point
and other Calvert blocks for reptile/amphibian survey.
Grants and donations
- Funded publication of
Backyard to the Bay green homeowners guide by SMRWA.
- Funded restoration work on
the Dee of St. Mary’s to continue its work in hands on
environmental education at the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab.
- Provided funding for birds
of prey show at Earth Day, St. Mary’s County Envirothon,
Cove Point Beach Association road maintenance fund
- Funded grant requests for
Northern High School to aid in green school qualifications.
- Sponsored and participated
in the Third Annual Green Expo in Calvert County.
- Funded intern for Calvert
County to work on County’s GIS program.
- Funded and participated in
quarterly water monitoring for Calvert County
Submitted May 24, 2011 |
