Prince George’s Audubon Society strongly supports the action proposed by Marcia Watson, president of the Patuxent Bird Club, in her letter to its members as follows

Dear Patuxent Bird Club members:

I wrote several weeks ago with news of a proposed plan to expand Patuxent Research Refuge by acquiring additional National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) lands in Southern Maryland. At that time, the news I had to share consisted of nothing more than the announcement of three public listening sessions on the proposal. Now I have a little more information to share.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has posted a webpage with basic information about the proposal at https://www.fws.gov/project/proposed-new-refuge-lands-southern-maryland The webpage includes links to a downloadable press release, a map of the concept plan, a FAQ, and a blog post by the American Chestnut Land Trust. I’ve attached these documents here so that you can readily look at them.

Especially, please take a look at the attached map – you’ll see that the target area for land acquisition is extensive and that it includes the watersheds of the Mattawoman, Nanjemoy, Zekiah Swamp, McIntosh Run/St. Mary's River, and Patuxent River, and Calvert County shoreline where there are endangered tiger beetles. Right now the plan USFWS is drafting requests approval to purchase interest on 30,000 acres over 30 years within the larger acquisition boundary.

I would like to raise one issue that could be addressed in public comments on the plan: the proposed acquisition area does NOT include the watershed of Piscataway Creek, which is one of the major tributaries of the Potomac. MOS’s Piscataway Sanctuary is in that watershed, and is NOT included in the target area. The Piscataway watershed and the MOS Sanctuary are in southern Prince George’s County, just a couple miles north of the northwest corner of the acquisition boundary.

Much of the land along Piscataway Creek is held by Prince George’s County (MNCPPC) as a stream valley conservation area, and it’s a shame that the USFWS plan is missing the opportunity to include this rich habitat and give it further protection. Currently, Piscataway Creek is one source of polluted water flowing into the Potomac, and the stream would benefit from added water quality protections. I suggest we should advocate for expansion of the acquisition boundary to include the Piscataway Creek watershed. And to be clear: I am not suggesting that MOS turn over the Piscataway Sanctuary to USFWS to become part of the proposed Refuge. But wouldn’t it be good if lands adjacent to the MOS Sanctuary were raised to NWR status? It would enhance the ecological value of the MOS Sanctuary, and perhaps would provide MOS with additional resources to manage the sanctuary.

The USFWS is taking public comments and questions on the proposed plan either in person at the listening sessions or by email to

FW5southernmarylandplan@fws.gov . USFWS indicates that public comments will be used to draft a land protection plan and environmental assessment that will be released later this year, and there will be a public comment period on those documents as well.

There are two remaining listening sessions:

Thursday March 30, 2023, 7 – 8 pm at the Charles County Administration Bldg., La Plata, MD.
Tuesday April 18, 2023, 7 – 8 pm at the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, MD.

Please attend one of the public listening sessions if you can, or submit your questions and comments on the plan via email to FW5southernmarylandplan@fws.gov I hope that Patuxent Bird Club members will submit comments in support of the plan, perhaps with the suggestion that the acquisition boundary be expanded to include Piscataway Creek and the MOS Piscataway Sanctuary.

Marcia