Dear Deal Island Peninsula Partners,

We have much to share with you this month! Thanks to all who came out for the excellent community conversation a couple of weeks ago. For those who couldn't make it, you'll find a summary of our discussions below. You'll also find new information about monitoring efforts that have been carried out on the Deal Island Shoreline, and some pending ditch maintenance projects for which the County has submitted permit applications. Be sure to also check out MD-NERRS's photos of some cute barn owls living in the local marshes. Finally, we'd love your input on three questions below that will help us with our ongoing DIPP strategic planning efforts. Please share your thoughts by next Friday.

Looking forward to seeing many of you this weekend at the Deal Island Skipjack Festival! 

Sincerely,
Liz Van Dolah

DIPP Coordinator

Update on August Community Conversation

 About 30 people attended the meeting. Nicole Carlozo and Becky Swerida from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD-DNR) gave updates on the living shoreline project’s construction timeline and the results of monitoring data collected by MD-DNR staff, The Nature Conservancy, and George Mason University to document the shoreline's pre-project conditions (more details below). 

Kristen Tremblay, Charles Cavanaugh, and Woody Barnes from Somerset County Government provided updates on the County’s ongoing and future ditch improvement projects. Kristen shared the latest on the ditch drainage study being conducted in Oriole/Champ and Dames Quarter. As of the meeting, AMT Engineers -- the contracted firm conducting the study – was completing their assessment of Dames Quarter ditches and planning to begin assessments of the Champ ditch network. Charles and Woody shared the County’s latest ditch maintenance plans, which include several pending projects for sections of ditch along Champ Road, Haines Point Road, and Hodson White Road (more details below). 

These discussions led to a lengthy conversation about County and local challenges with the existing permitting process required to clean ditches and address shoreline erosion. Acquiring permits has become increasingly time-consuming and cumbersome, largely due to environmental changes, such as protected wetland grasses moving further inland as upland areas are becoming wetter. The group discussed a number of needed actions, including:

• increasing local engagement with the County to: 1) improve understandings of how these challenges are affecting both locals and County staff, and 2) enable residents to become more involved with the County’s process for deciding ditch maintenance projects; 
• educating local landowners about how they can assist the County with maintaining ditches on their property, especially where Phragmites are creating clogs. Phragmites are particularly problematic because they are moving in so fast that it is becoming increasingly difficult for County staff to keep up with maintenance needs across the County; 
• and creating avenues to vocalize local issues with the permitting process to legislators and elected officials at higher levels of government. 

DIPP plans to host another community conversation later this fall to follow-up on this discussion, and to share the County’s ditch drainage study results so that residents can provide their input to inform next steps.  

Deal Island Shoreline Restoration Project Update

The permitting process has been extended due the landownership changes that have require that new negotiations take place between the new landowner, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) (permitting agency), MD-DNR, and Somerset County, which is overseeing the contract. MD-DNR anticipates that necessary permits will be approved later this fall, and that construction will begin soon thereafter. 

Despite the permit hold-ups, important monitoring work has been underway on the shoreline in preparation for construction. MD-DNR has been measuring vegetation and elevation changes of the shoreline in order to collect data on pre- and post-project conditions of the shoreline. These data will help them understand how successful the living shoreline is in reducing erosion. It will also provide important insights to help them improve upon future living shoreline projects.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), in partnership with George Mason University (GMU), has also been collecting pre-construction data to understand how the living shoreline project will improve the shoreline’s capacity to attenuate waves and water. Their initial findings suggest that the shoreline in its current condition plays an important role in reducing wave height. In fact, they found that the first 66 feet of marsh on the shoreline helped to reduce 90% of wave height. However, it is less effective at reducing water inundation to the marsh complex behind the beach, which matches local experiences that DIPP has documented through the ICRA and other communications with local residents. Implementation of a living shoreline project will likely improve protection benefits for the surrounding communities in the future. Pending funding, MD-DNR, GMU and TNC plan to collect additional data post-construction to better understand how much these benefits improve.  

Somerset County Maintenance Project Activities

The Champ Road ditch maintenance work has been divided into two permit applications. The first phase, which has been submitted to MDE for approval, is on the north end of Champ Road and includes 5,485 feet of ditches. 

The Haines Point Road application includes the ditch behind the Rock Creek Church and neighboring homes. Stormwater from the ditch is carried along the roadside ditch on Haines Point Road for approximately 100 yards where it crosses under the road to another ditch leading to Scotts Cove. Both of these ditches are included in the pending maintenance project.

The off-road portion of the Hodson White Road ditch that connects to the Deal Island Road has been cleaned out. A permit application has been submitted to MDE to clean out approximately 1,200 feet of roadside ditch along Deal Island Road heading west to the creek. The County is in the process of responding to comments from MDE.

They also are looking into addressing ditch drainage issues on Riley Roberts Road (Dames Quarter) near the Macedonia United Methodist Church, but have not yet submitted an application for this area. 

MD-National Estuarine Research Reserve System (MD-NERRS) at Monie Bay: Notes from the Marsh

The Barn Owl is a cosmopolitan species found on every continent except Antarctica. They are nocturnal hunters who favor open grasslands that afford good habitat for the rodent prey species that make up the majority of their diet. They predominantly use sound for hunting and have excellent hearing. They can nest any time of year, but typically will nest from April to September.

In Maryland their numbers have been on the decline, most likely due to habitat loss and the use of rodenticides. In Monie Bay, we keep an eye on the local population of barn owls by monitoring them through nest boxes we have placed in the marsh. There are few natural structures available in the marshes for barn owls to use for nesting, but if a suitable box is provided, the salt marsh can be a good home for the owls. During monitoring, we visit each box to determine nest fate. If the box is active we will band the young owls when they are large enough. Although recapture data is low for species like owls, it can provide useful information, like where the young owls go and if females return to the same nest the following year. In our study we have seen females return to the same box where they hatched to nest for their first year. 

Photos: One of the the MD-NERRS Barn Owl boxes located in the Monie Bay Reserve (left), and a hatchling found inside waiting for his siblings to come out of their shells (right). (Credit: Chris Snow)

In 2019 we banded 35 birds, 34 birds that hatched this year and one adult. We also had two recaptures of birds we banded in previous years. This was the most productive year for our barn owls, with more owls banded this year than in past years. The population here in Monie Bay has been more resilient than other areas around the state. With a little help from us, we hope to keep the owls around for many years to come.  

DIPP's Strategic Planning Efforts: Input Needed!

A small group representing the DIPP Leadership Team will be meeting in mid-September to begin drafting a strategic plan to guide DIPP’s activities over the next 3-5 years. This document will serve as a working document that we’ll seek the Partnership’s input on in the near future.

We have collected initial input from some partners about where DIPP’s future work should focus, but would benefit from additional input from you to help guide our discussions. We’d greatly quick appreciate your feedback on the following three questions. Please send your thoughts to Liz (vandolah@terpmail.umd.edu) by next Friday, Sept. 6th.

1.     What has been most helpful about DIPP so far?
2.     What would you like to see more of in the future?   
3.     What are two topics or issues that you’d like DIPP to focus on over the next 3-5 years?

The Skipjack Race and Labor Festival - This Weekend!

If you have not yet made your plans for Labor Day weekend, come out to Deal Island to enjoy the 60th Annual Skipjack Race and Festival!

Details about the events held throughout the weekend are available below.

Michael Paolisso and Liz Van Dolah will be manning the DIPP booth on Monday.

Please stop by to say hello!