Restoring Wetland and Revenue in Agricultural Harford County

摘要

Decades of prior agricultural prac-tices and livestock presence had left farmland within the Deer Creek Watershed inundated and unproductive, reducing the land to cattle grazing pasture. In 2013, Maryland's new nutrient management laws threatened profitable use of a particular Deer Creek Watershed farm, causing the landowner to contact the Harford Soil Conservation District (HSCD) in search of a solution. Through their local partnership, the HSCD and Ecotone, Inc., were able to propose an 18-acre wetland restoration project, implementing 3 shallow water wetland developments, simultaneously creating 3.5 acres of viable waterfowl hunting habitat.