Wetlands

(AP) - Maryland is using insects to fight invasive species. The State Highway Administration said Friday that it is using a weevil and a beetle that feed only on invasive species harming native plants in wetlands and along roadways. The weevil feeds on the mile-a-minute vine, an Asian import that grows on shrubs, trees and other plants, blocking out sunlight and killing them. The beetle feeds on purple loosestrife, which can form thick stands, crowding out native plants and altering wetlands water flow.

Stories are being sought for the Write On! Wetlands Challenge 2011. Open to writers in grades sixth through ninth grade. Students are asked to write a story that tells about the different types of wetlands all over the world. Stories must be typed and single-spaced on 8 1/2-by-11 inch paper. For a list of full contest guidelines, as well as helpful tips and a checklist, go to www.wetland.org/education_writeon.htm . To submit stories to Environmental Concern by mail, write to: Attention: Write On!

KEEDYSVILLE - Peter Skylstad, associate professor of natural resources and wildlife technology at Garrett College, received the Western Maryland Conservation Award from the Western Maryland Resource Conservation and Development Council (WMRC&D) at its quarterly meeting Dec. 21 in Keedysville. Skylstad was recognized for his five years of innovative research on the condition and recovery of the North Branch and Laurel Run Wetlands at the abandoned Kempton Coal Mine Complex in Garrett County, and for inspiring students to pursue careers related to conservation.

Township still seeking wetlands donations WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Fourteen wetlands preservation donations totaling $3,760 had been received at the Washington Township, Pa., offices by the end of business on Monday, Township Secretary Karen Hargrave told township supervisors. The township supervisors next week will go to settlement on Pennersville Road land once targeted for a housing development. Instead, they are seeking $150,000 in community contributions for the property in order to expand Happel's Meadow Wetlands Preserve.

BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, Pa. - A Happel's Meadow Wetlands Preserve fundraiser and educational event has been scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at the Blue Ridge Fire Hall. Environmental displays and presentations by the Antietam Watershed Association, Renfrew Institute, Happel's Meadow committee, local businesses and members of the Happel family will be part of the community event, according to a news release. Music by D&M DJ Entertainment has been scheduled starting at 6 p.m., and the fire hall will be open for tours and safety instruction.

For the first time since the debut of the Federal Duck Stamp in 1934, the competition to choose 2012's edition will be held in West Virginia.   On Oct. 28 and 29, a panel of five judges at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's National Conservation Training Center near Shepherdstown will decide among 192 entries which species will grace next year's Duck Stamp. This year, competing artists were able to choose one of five species to paint - mallard, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal, wood duck or gadwall, said Rachel F. Levin, spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife's migratory bird section, the division that runs the Duck Stamp program.

Several dozen people joined Washington Township officials Wednesday evening to dedicate a trail at Happel's Meadow Wetlands to a former committee member, who passed away on April 25, 2008, at the age of 62. John F. Birely, of Blue Ridge Summit, was one of the original five members of the preservation committee, which oversees and offers recommendations to the township about its 80-plus acres of wetlands along Pa. 16. Originally appointed to...

 The Potomac Valley Audubon Society will sponsor two early September birding trips on Saturday, Sept. 1, and Wednesday, Sept. 5. Both will be led by an experienced birder and visit various ponds and wetlands in the Eastern Panhandle. For both trips, participants will meet at 7:30 a.m. just inside the entrance to the Archer's Rock subdivision off Harlan Springs Road. From there, various ponds and wetlands in the Eastern Panhandle will be visited. Each trip will last about three hours.

A plan to extend the Western Maryland Rail Trail could be approved by the National Park Service by August with construction of a portion of the extension possibly beginning later this year. An environmental assessment of the extension was reviewed by about two dozen people Thursday night at an open house meeting at the Hancock Town Hall. The assessment looked at a section from Pearre, Md., to Paw Paw, W.Va., a winding section of  former railroad approximately 15 miles long.

Development could damage wetlands To the editor: Without any prior input or notice to the citizens and taxpayers of Washington Township in Franklin County, Pa., the Washington Township Planning Committee passed a proposed housing development of 18 single-family homes on 6.3 acres of land to be known as Blue Oak Development Project. This development will be placed behind the existing homes of 1300 to 1290 block of Pennersville Road and Happel's Meadows, adjacent to the wetlands on Buchanan Trail.