Editor’s note: I’ve made it a policy since assuming responsibility of this paper, not to write opinion pieces, but as we got to press, I witnessing the wanton destruction of a quintessential roadside riparian/wetlands barrier by the County and find myself unable to hold my tongue. So here goes.

On April 27, under the guise of ‘roadside maintenance,’ county crews began to dredge out ~16-foot wide, ~400-foot long riparian barrier and functioning wetland alongside of Keysville Road. Riparian zones are important in ecology, environmental resource management, because of their role in soil conservation, their habitat biodiversity, and the influence they have on fauna and aquatic ecosystems, including grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, or even non-vegetative areas.

In the case of the destroyed Keysville riparian barrier, it filtered out agricultural and roadside contaminates, and slowed the runoff into Toms Creek, and thereby contributed to the health of not only the Monocacy, but of the Chesapeake Bay.

For anyone lucky enough to have seen this beautiful riparian barrier, knows only 1st hand the impact it had on the local wildlife. The barrier was filled with Milk Weed, Cat Tails, Day Lilies and other native plants. The collection of silt about the plants only showcased the effectiveness of the plants in stemming runoff into Toms Creek.

During the summer it provided a haven for the endangered Monarch Butterflies and native bees. Not to mention serving as a vital source of water for local birds and wild life. Barn Swallows were drawn to the barrier due to the abundance of flying insects. It was a local haven for them. The barrier was an Mother Nature made environment oasis and wildlife habitat. Accomplishing everything the State and County has been preaching and demanding of farmers and homeowners for the past 20 years.

In its place, the county left a mud pit that will allow agricultural and roadside contaminates to run off un-inhibited, and more quickly, into Tom’s Creek – thereby increasing the wanton pollution of that creek. In addition, without the support of the root systems from the plants in the barrier, the now exposed dirt in the ditch will also erode, attending to the degradation of Tom’s Creek.

According to the County Engineer overseeing the project, the destruction of the riparian barrier was to prevent the "flooding of the road", yet when questioned, the engineer could not site a single time the road had ever flooded. He was unimpressed with my comment that in the 32 years I’ve resided in the area, I’ve never seen any flooding at the area being destroyed, even during hurricanes. Instead the County Engineer continued to fall back on "it was simple roadside work." When pressed if an environmental study was conducted prior to the destruction, he again fell back on a ‘malicious compliance’ mentality that the law did not require a environmental study for ‘road side work’ even if the work was on sensitive land.

When the work was first noticed, I contacted County officials; including Jan Gardener to request to have the work paused until its environmental impact could be evaluated. And to everyone’s credit, the work was paused – for 16 hours.

In spite of multiple calls and e-mails to county officials, not a single one, could be bothered to call me back, or return my e-mails. This in spite of the fact that I made myself available to meet with the county at their convenience at the buffer and to assemble ecologists to vouch for the environmental importance of the barrier. Not a single individual in the County thought responding to a concerned citizen was worth their time.

The only time I did get a call back was after I contacted the County the next morning after discovering that destruction had been resumed, and that was the County Engineer who told me - from his desk somewhere in the county - that the work was ‘simple roadside maintenance.’ Apparently meeting me at the scene to discuss what was going on was not worth his time. When it comes to protecting the environment – ‘Just doing my job" no longer cuts it. We need our officials to engage their brains and think bigger.

If the County wants its citizens to protect the environment, is it too much to ask that they lead by example? In this case, the example set by the County is that the Environment does not matter. The health of our creeks and streams does not matter. The health of the Chesapeake does not matter.

When the call went out to stop a wrong, no one cared. Suffice it to say; my faith in the integrity of the County has been shaken.

The damage is done and can’t be undone. When you keep chipping away at the edges of an eco-system, you’ll eventually destroy it. Man will be unable to replicate what Mother Nature took generations to make.

"One of the penalties of an ecological education
is that one lives alone in a world of wounds"
– Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac

Editor's note: I finally did receive a call back from Jan Gardner, who was honestly apologetic at what happened. Unfortunately her call came too late to stop the destruction of the barrier. She committed to ensuring that the County environmental staff will have input in the future for all road side dredging, which if done properly, will go a long way in preventing this type of environmental insult for re-occurring.

For those interesting in learning more about Riparian barriers, please
read our April Master Gardener article. We dedicated two full pages
to the critical role they play in increasing water quality in
associated streams, rivers, and lakes, thus providing environmental benefits.