Essence of the Edge:
Photographer David Harp can often be found taking photos of the beauty in the marshes along the Chesapeake.. He has been doing this most of his life and with writer Tom Horton they have published several books about the Bay and the "edge." That meandering, jagged transition where water meets land.
Scraping the Bottom:
In an attempt to determine how many crabs are in the Bay, dredging is done in the winter when the crabs are far more "static" then in the summer and fall months. The results give a clear picture of how to set harvest limits for the following year.
Chesapeake From the Bottom Up:
Major efforts are underway to restore the Chesapeake . For decades, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has been monitoring water quality in the Bay to track the effectiveness of the restoration efforts.
A Chesapeake Passage:
Follow some modern day adventurists as they retrace the trail of Captain John Smith who charted these waters more than 400 years ago while in search of riches and a path to the Orient.
Wild Encounters:
Every Year the Maryland Department of Natural Resources fields about ten thousand calls from our citizens concerning Wildlife. Learn what is being done to ease the problems sometimes created by Human/Wildlife encounters with the emphasis on safety for both people and the animals.
Sailing the Tanqueray:
The Chesapeake Bay is a sailor's paradise. Sailing to a secluded creek on a hot summer day or a favorite crab house on a brisk fall afternoon, brings the promise of adventure.
Island Gateway:
Janes Island, often called the Caribbean of the Chesapeake, offers visitors tent camping and cabins, canoe and kayak rentals boat slips and a dock area. Fishing and crabbing are favorite adventures here as well as Park Quest... a wildly successful program to create good old fashioned outdoor fun for the whole family.
Like Nowhere Else:
New Germany State Park offers visitors camping in all seasons, fishing, boating, hunting and both downhill and cross country skiing.
Escape to the Valley:
Patapsco Valley State Park is the oldest State Park in Maryland. The Maryland Civic Justice Corps offers paid Summer Jobs to urban teenagers. They work on much needed conservation projects while gaining skills that prepare them for careers as well as teaching them to become stewards of the environment.
Hidden Treasures:
Geocaching is a rapidly expanding sport with well over a million treasures hidden all around the world. Geocachers use GPS units to pinpoint the precise coordinates of each geographic location.
» Visit the Outdoors Maryland Geocache page: find our treasure!
Island Nesters:
DNR scientists fear for the future of our Colonial Nesting Water Birds. Coastal Development, pollution, sea level rise and competition between species are all contributing to the disappearance of their nesting areas.
Common Grounds:
The Long Reach Community in Columbia, MD provides 150 small plots of ground at $35.00 per year as well as providing all the essentials needed for a successful garden.
Vixen and Kits:
Highly adaptive, Red Foxes are being pushed by development into Suburbia where they've managed to thrive.
Of Rice and Rails:
Jug Bay is a special section of the Patuxent River…a pristine oasis with a unique habitat, a fresh water tidal marsh containing countless numbers of birds, animals, insects and plants.
The Sacred Places:
Kayakers pitch their tents on windswept beaches and seek inspiration on the Chesapeake Bay.
Historic Barns of Maryland
"Historic Barns of Maryland" (an Outdoors Maryland special) airs on Wednesday, February 29th at 8pm. Maryland has more historic barns per acre than just about any other state in the nation. In Historic Barns of Maryland, we discover the agricultural, economic, and cultural significance of these aging, iconic structures as we journey from the Appalachian mountains of Western Maryland to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Part travelogue, part nostalgia -- part celebration of architectural ingenuity -- Historic Barns of Maryland features interviews with farmers, builders, preservationists, architects, artists, and historians, and examines the construction, use, and re-purposing of these classic American structures -- from the tobacco barns of the lower Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland and the red bank barns of the Piedmont plateau, to an innovative barn quilt project in Garrett County. Highlights include Maryland's oldest continuously standing barn in St. Mary's City, a one-of-a-kind French-style stone barn on the Monocacy Battlefield, and a dilapidated dairy barn marvelously renovated into an environmentally friendly three-story home — complete with elevator and an observatory atop a silo. Historic Barns of Maryland is a program that will have you looking at the historic barns of Maryland in a whole new way!
