Conservation Grants

Waterfowl Festival
2008 Conservation Grants

With this year's conservation grants, the Waterfowl Festival reached a significant milestone: $5 Million! That is the amount that has been distributed from the proceeds of the Waterfowl Festival and its Donor Programs since the Festival's founding in 1971. This year, twelve projects being conducted by eight organizations will receive support, ranging from research and education to habitat restoration and preservation. We thank all of the visitors, volunteers and generous donors who have played such a significant and vital role in our attainment of this milestone. You have made a five-million-dollar difference to the wildlife and environment of Maryland's Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
St. Michaels, Maryland
Living Shoreline Project - $11,000

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is engaging in a project to create a living shoreline to enhance its own place on the Miles River. A bulkhead will be removed and storm water culvert diverted to create a marsh adjacent to its campus along 550' of shoreline. Funding will help the museum use the project as an educational tool, teaching visitors of all ages the value of living shorelines in reversing the decline of the Bay and creating habitat.

Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage
Easton, Maryland
Conservation Programs - $31,000

Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage works in partnership with public and private landowners to create, restore and protect wildlife habitat and establish a more sustainable agriculture. Three CWH programs continue to receive Festival support.

• The Wood Duck Nesting Box Program replaces depleted or destroyed natural nesting habitat with manmade nesting boxes. It is estimated that 25,000 ducks were added to the fall flight thanks to the success of this program.
• Through its Chesapeake Care Program, CWH develops partnerships with private landowners restore wildlife habitats. The organization has restored more than 1,000 acres of wetlands in the last seven years.
• The Waterfowl Festival Goose Sanctuary Program provides safe resting havens and food resources for overwintering Canada geese with about 85 acres of standing corn and more than 400 acres of winter wheat for grazing.

Ducks Unlimited
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Habitat Stewardship Program on Delmarva Peninsula - $20,000

Ducks Unlimited's partnership with the Waterfowl Festival dates from the Festival's founding. Ongoing support is provided this year to DU's Habitat Stewardship Program, through which Delmarva Peninsula landowners receive technical and financial assistance in restoring wetlands and associated upland buffers. DU is focusing more of its restoration activity this year on the eastern Bay's coastal marshes. In addition, greater emphasis is being placed on reaching agreements with landowners to protect restored wetlands for longer periods and, if possible, in perpetuity. Two other DU projects are:

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Pool 1 Project, Dorchester County, Maryland - $14,000

The restoration and expansion of Pool 1 on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge continues a new focus begun last year by the Festival on working in partnership with DU and other organizations to tackle larger and more challenging projects. This partnership will not only enhance the existing pool but also add 13 more wetland acres to the impoundment and provide improved ability to manage the water levels effectively.

Hail Cove Canvasback Project, Kent County, Maryland - $29,000

This partnership with DU will prevent the destruction of critical submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds that are endangered by erosion and heavy tidal flows in the Chester River. High tides already breach the 450-foot sandbar connecting the two parts of Hail Peninsula. Restoration and protection of the cove through the creation of stone breakwaters, shallow stone sills and salt marsh plantings will prevent the loss of more than 100 acres of SAV beds.

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Queenstown, Maryland
Land Protection, General Operating Funds - $5,000

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy works to sustain the Eastern Shore's rich landscapes through strategic land conservation and sound land use planning. The organization has preserved 234 properties on more than 43,000 acres, the majority through donated conservation easements. Funding will help support its continued efforts to preserve the area's unique character, abundant farmland and critical wildlife habitat.

Fair Hill Environmental Center
Elkton, Maryland
"Why Ducks Float (and other cool things about aquatic animals)" - $4,000

Fair Hill Environmental Center serves a tri-state area with outdoor school programs for elementary and middle school students, as well as adults. Its new "Why Ducks Float" program focuses on the relationship between form and function in wetland organisms from microscopic plankton to waterfowl. Using hands-on study, Cecil County fourth-grade students will learn about the special adaptations these creatures have developed in order to thrive in wetland environments.

Pickering Creek Audubon Center
Easton, Maryland
Audubon Watershed Experience - $15,000

Emphasizing a community-based approach to conservation and habitat protection, Pickering Creek Audubon Center has provided high-quality science education to Talbot County students for over two decades, instilling an appreciation and understanding of our watershed and wildlife resources. Its Audubon Watershed Experience engages all of the county's tenth-grade biology students in a four-part program including in-class and field experience, helping to create the next generation of conservationists. Teaching the fundamentals of birdwatching and fishing in conjunction with science education curriculum, students are exposed to a spectrum of ecological principals in activities they can take home and share with friends and family. A mentoring component allows the students to transfer their new skills and knowledge to a younger class, creating more active student involvement and an opportunity to further expand the reach of the program.

Talbot County Public Schools
Talbot County, Maryland
Echo Hill Outdoor School - $4,000

Fifth-grade Talbot County students gain field experience for their science unit on Estuaries thanks to this two-part Waterfowl Festival grant, helping them recognize the importance of this ecosystem. At Echo Hill Outdoor School in Worton, students are immersed in the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay for three days and two nights, with professionally trained staff providing instruction. Funding also provides transportation for students to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Skipjack Program. Giving students an unforgettable on-the-water experience, the program familiarizes students with estuaries and their critical role as habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife.

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Restoration and Conservation Research - $7,000

Horn Point Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary research facility studying biology, chemistry, physics and ecology of the Bay and other waters. Through this grant, the Waterfowl Festival will help fund a graduate fellowship for two years to conduct research at test sites into the restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation that has been seriously depleted throughout the Bay in recent years.