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Site in 2023

Introduction

This site includes 9.9 acres of forested nontidal wetland restoration, 0.3 acres enhancement of farmed wetland to forested nontidal wetland, and 1.1 acres forested wetland buffer restoration, located in the Isle of Wight Bay watershed (02130103) of Worchester County. 

Construction

The Maryland Department of the Environment, in conjunction with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the contractor and the landowner, restored this wetland through grading and planting in summer/fall 2020.  The site was previously row crops with drainage ditches.​ Construction included plugging/filling these ditches and grading areas to provide habitat diversity (e.g., areas that will hold water longer).  The contractor also installed woody debris piles for habitat. As it is adjacent to a large State Highway Administration wetland mitigation project, it is part of a larger green space. ​​ Fencing was installed around the entire site during construction to temporarily exclude deer, which often limit natural recruitment/establishment of native vegetation. This fence will be removed after the site has had several years to develop. The Lower Shore Land Trust holds a perpetual conservation easement on this mitigation site.

Preconstruction - row crops with drainage ditches

During construction - included micro and macro topographic variations to improve habitat and function

Site in 2023 - areas inundated in the winter draw down in the dry summer months

Abundant wildlife colonized the site soon after construction (spotted turtle)