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An oyster gardening project to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay earned a Somerset County elementary school teacher the 35th annual Tawes Awards for a clean environment.
As a part of the Disney Planet Challenge, Princess Anne Elementary School teacher Kolby Noble and her students raised 1,000 baby oysters to maturity at Janes Island State Park in Somerset County. Additionally, the group donated $350 to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to assist in building oyster reefs in the Bay.
Catonsville Elementary School in Baltimore County earned the Tawes Youth Award for its commitment to “greening” their school. Over the past year, students, faculty and parents have organized an environmental fair with local businesses and State agencies, encouraged earth-friendly transportation such as using bicycles or walking to school and planted native species of vegetation on school grounds.
The awards are named in honor of J. Millard Tawes, governor of Maryland from 1959 to 1967 and the first secretary of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources.
Stephen Reid of the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission –Montgomery County won the seventh annual James B. Coulter Awards, named after Maryland’s second DNR secretary, which acknowledges environmental contributions by a government employee. As project manager for the Maydale Conservation Park Stream Restoration Project in Colesville, Reid was responsible for replacing a failing fish ladder to promote fish migration upstream, stabilizing eroded stream banks and replacing multiple pedestrian trail stream crossings with a single crossing. He was also involved in the dredging of Lake Needwood in Rock Creek Regional Park and restoring streams in Northwest Golf Course in Silver Spring.
The awards are co-sponsored by the Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Petroleum Council and the Department of Natural Resources to recognize youth, adults, and private organizations involved in the restoration and protection of Maryland’s natural resources. The awards were presented May 8 at MDE headquarters in Baltimore.
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