Tag: maryland department of natural resources

Maryland weighs opening more state trails to e-bikes – WTOP News

Popular e-bikes could soon be joining old-school bicycles and pedestrians on Maryland state bike trails.

Maryland has drafted a regulation that would allow pedal-assist e-bikes on state trails that currently allow bicycles.(Courtesy Maryland Department of Natural Resources)

Popular e-bikes could soon be joining old-school bicycles and pedestrians on Maryland state bike trails.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is considering regulations that would allow pedal-assist electric bicycles on state bike trails.

Until now, all electric bikes have been regulated the same as motorized vehicles in parks and public lands — banned from traveling on trails, and restricted to roads and parking lots.

With the recent quadrupling of e-bike sales between 2019 and 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, Maryland’s DNR has drafted a regulation that would allow pedal-assist e-bikes on state trails that currently allow bicycles.

“This e-bike policy will help even more people enjoy Maryland’s multi-use trails,” said Sandi Olek, director of the Maryland Office of Outdoor Recreation, in a news release.

Only certain e-bikes would be allowed

Not all e-bikes would be permitted on state bike trails, under the drafted regulation.

Class 1 and Class 3 bikes are pedal-assist e-bikes, and would be allowed. According to DNR, the electric assist function will not activate unless a person is pedaling. These bikes stop providing assistance once the bike reaches 20 mph.

Class 2 bikes have a throttle function and do not require pedaling, according to the Maryland department. Class 2 e-bikes would only be allowed on trails if the bike is adaptive, and designed for people with physical disabilities or mobility challenges.

Class 1 and Class 3 e-bikes are already allowed on the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail and the Western Maryland Rail Trail, but prohibited on all other trails.

According to DNR, e-bikes would not be allowed on trails that were designed for specific user groups, such as pedestrians, for infrastructure concerns, for safety concerns and for habitat protection, at the department’s discretion.

The department is taking public comments through Sept. 22 before finalizing the regulation. Comments may be mailed to the Office of Outdoor Recreation, emailed to outdoorrecreation.dnr@maryland.gov or submitted online.

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Neal Augenstein

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September 1, 2025
Why you can’t burn that campfire or start up that charcoal grill in Maryland this weekend – WTOP News

Maryland is under an open air burning ban, which includes charcoal grills and campfires.

Did you gather some wood for a campfire this weekend? The Maryland Department of Natural Resources says now’s not the time to light it up.

The state is under an open air burning ban — which includes charcoal grills and campfires.

Open-air burning is defined by state law as a fire where anything is burned outside or in a receptacle other than a furnace, incinerator or fireplace attached to a stack or chimney. You are still allowed to use a propane grill.

The ban comes after extremely dry conditions throughout the state have led to wildfires.

Any burning in violation of the ban could cost you. The first citation is $125.

“While fines may be imposed for violations, the most important result of a ban of this type is that it communicates to the public the severity of the situation, and the critical need to act responsibly to protect lives, property and our environment,” said State Forester Anne Hairston-Strang.

Some local counties were under a fire weather warning on Friday.

Since the beginning of October, the Forest Service in Maryland has responded to more than 24 wildfires that have burned 75 acres, according to a news release.

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Valerie Bonk

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November 2, 2024
Parts of Maryland and Virginia reach peak fall foliage conditions – WTOP News

In this year’s fall foliage season, western parts of Maryland and Virginia have reached peak foliage conditions, forestry officials said.

Fall is the best time of the year for some of us. Western parts of Virginia and Maryland are already awash in vibrant colors, but the states’ forestry officials said this year, with a hotter than average summer, it’s been particularly difficult to predict the color change in foliage.

“We really thought it was going to be early because so many trees were stressed out and starting to color very early, like in September,” said Ellen Powell, conservation education coordinator at the Virginia Department of Forestry. “But it seems that things sort of just ground to a halt and stayed where they were for a while, and at this point, we’re not very far off the average timing.”

Powell said in Virginia, areas bordering West Virginia and in the state’s southwest are experiencing peak foliage conditions.

However, she warned, some towns and roads in the southwest are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. The iconic Blue Ridge Parkway, a popular road trip destination in the fall, is still closed in stretches of Virginia and all of North Carolina.

In central and Northern Virginia, things move a bit slower.

“If you ride around right now and you see broad-leaved trees that are still green as they can be, those are probably oaks, and they will change later in the season,” Powell explained. “So probably into the first week of November, those will start really developing their color, and they have these beautiful tones of amber and garnet.”

Maryland’s Forest Service has posted a helpful foliage map on its Facebook page.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Fall Foliage Report for 2024. (Courtesy Maryland DNR)

Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties are all experiencing optimal leaf-peeping conditions.

Dan Coy, urban and community forestry program manager with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, recommended not avoiding the areas that are past peak.

“I love seeing the browns in with the oranges and reds and yellows. So just because you’re seeing past peak, in my personal opinion, it’s still a good place to go,” said Coy. “Where we’re showing past peak right now is Garrett County.”

He said the drier days ahead may slow down the leaf senescence processes in other parts of the state, including in areas closer to D.C. and Baltimore, adding, “I’m curious to see if the warmer weather speeds them up and kind of outcompetes the dryness.”

Coy predicts it may be another week or two for the D.C. and Baltimore regions to achieve their most dramatic colors. But he admits that foliage forecasting is a fickle thing.

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Shayna Estulin

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October 18, 2024
These fish are everywhere. Maryland only wants them on your dinner plate – WTOP News

The push is on to get blue catfish on more restaurant menus, dinner plates, and anywhere else that can keep the population manageable (if not eradicated) as they continue to overtake the Chesapeake Bay, eating almost everything in its sight.

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Can Maryland convince you to eat fish that aren’t native to the bay?

While there have been improvements, there remains a fragile ecosystem within the Chesapeake Bay. Among the growing problems are some of the animals that live and swim in those waters.

That’s because they’re not supposed to be in those waters but have found their way in and really enjoy it.

There are doubts in the state of Maryland that the invasive blue catfish will ever disappear. But the push is on to get it on more restaurant menus, dinner plates, and anywhere else that can keep the population manageable (if not eradicated) as they keep swimming north from the Virginia end of the Chesapeake Bay, eating almost everything in its sight.

“It’s kind of the perfect invasive species,” said Chris Jones, whose job with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources is to focus on invasive species like the blue catfish and the Chesapeake Channa, also known as the snakehead fish.

People don’t necessarily think of a blue catfish as native to the Chesapeake region, so when it’s probably not something one thinks about ordering. The state is hoping to change that.

Maryland is launching a campaign aimed at making the blue catfish more popular as a meal. The effort includes publishing recipes and marketing that says your dinner makes a difference for the Bay and those who work on it.

At the same time, Jones is aware that the blue catfish problem probably can’t be eaten away, no matter how many you order, so they’re also investigating future uses of the blue catfish in pet food and for fertilizing compost.

“This is a great, delicious meat that can be cooked so many different ways and (for) so many different things, and provide a good, nutritious, delicious meal for folks,” said Jones. “This is a fish that’s commercially, recreationally viable. They’re delicious. They are abundant as they can be, and it provides a unique opportunity for watermen to make a living with something different, to fill some income or subsidize some of the other stuff that they tend to do.”

Scientists have found lots of animals, including rock fish, inside the bellies of blue catfish. But one of their favorite things to eat are the blue crabs that swim on the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

“Right out here in this Chester River, we didn’t have blue catfish five years ago. Now, we have commercial fishery based in the river. So it’s not very good,” said Jason Ruth, the owner of Harris Seafood Company on Kent Island. “I don’t know where the future is going to be in it, but we need to at least get it in check so they can keep the balance of all the other species that are here as well.”

Next door to the processing plant that Ruth operates sits Harris Crab House. And on the menu is a fried blue catfish po’boy sandwich.

“The fish is great,” said Ruth, who said it’s similar to perch, which are in abundance in the bay and also among an angler’s favorite to eat, though also really easy to catch. “It’s a nice, beautiful white fish. It’s flaky. It cooks up easy. It’s a cheap protein, and that’s what you need in today’s time.”

He hopes the fish will be featured on even more menus, and the state is trying to help.

“They are estimating that blue catfish are eating about 400 metric tons of blue crabs in a year, which is about 4% of the harvest of the state of Virginia,” said Jones. “But then consider that harvest crabs are five inches or larger. These blue catfish are working on juvenile crab. So 400 metric tons of juvenile crabs is a significantly larger quantity of crab than eating five inch, six inch, eight-inch crabs. So it’s become a huge problem.”

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John Domen

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August 7, 2024
Fishing limitations in effect for Maryland as heat wave brings up water temps – WTOP News

Anglers cannot target certain types of fish in certain parts of Maryland for the time being, and extreme heat is to blame.

Recreational fishers and anglers cannot target certain types of fish in certain parts of Maryland for the time being and extreme heat is to blame.

This week, the state began encouraging people fishing in areas designated for catch and release to not target trout, and in the Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries, targeting striped bass is prohibited until the end of the month.

“This is to protect the population of fish and avoid additional mortality during the hottest time of the year, which is typically mid-July into early August,” said Erik Zlokovitz, recreational fisheries coordinator for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Zlokovitz said this summer, especially with instances of extreme heat, water temperatures have reached the upper 60s and low 70s — temperatures that can really stress out and risk the lives of fish in catch-and-release areas.

“We have high temperatures, low oxygen, which is a bad combination,” Zlokovitz said.

When it comes to striped bass, Zlokovitz said the heat isn’t the only reason for the restriction, since the summer prohibition has been in place since 2020. Around that time, the state of Maryland saw a big spike in the number of fish dying after being caught and released.

When the temperature of the water rises, fish go deeper or toward the mouths of cold water streams or rivers, seeking cooler water. The problem for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay is there a limitation on how deep they can go.

“The problem in the bay is we have an issue with low dissolved oxygen as well. So they can’t go too deep or otherwise, the striped bass will have some issues with low oxygen,” he said.

The bass fishery is expected to open back up Aug. 1, but those fishing in the bay can expect advisories on days when the temperature outside exceeds 95 degrees. Zlokovitz also said advisories for trout are expected to continue until things cool down.

Zlokovitz said there are fish that the state welcomes everyone to fish for right now — invasive blue catfish and Chesapeake Channa, better known as the northern snakehead fish, which are challenging the state’s ecosystem by eating smaller native fish, freshwater clams and blue crabs.

“So we’re targeting all these invasive fish. They provide sport and a lot of fun times for our anglers in Maryland and, by the way, they’re also excellent to eat and are served at several restaurants,” he said.

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Mike Murillo

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July 16, 2024
Virginia commission lifts ban on winter dredging for blue crabs; opponents of decision snap back – WTOP News

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources said the state “strongly disagrees with Virginia’s decision” to lift a ban on dredging for blue crabs in the winter. The Tuesday decision drew swift criticism from many Maryland officials and nature conservation groups.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) voted to lift a ban on dredging for blue crabs in the winter in a 5-4 vote on Tuesday.

The move drew immediate fire from neighboring Maryland where the Department of Natural Resources said in a release that the DNR “strongly disagrees with Virginia’s decision.”

Maryland DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz said in a statement that the recovery of the blue crab after a steep decline in the 2000s “can be directly traced to Maryland and Virginia cooperatively managing blue crabs, especially females, based on science.” The action by the VMRC on Tuesday, “breaks with this successful approach.”

“It’s a bad day if you care about blue crabs,” he wrote.

Winter dredging involves towing a “half-inch nylon mesh liner” along the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay, according to the DNR website. The survey allows the department to receive essential information for the “management of the (blue crab) species,” including amount, age and spawning potential. There were 317 million crabs living in the bay so far this year, according to the department.

Zach Widgeon, director of communications with the VMRC, was quick to say, “We didn’t open the fishery, nothing has changed.” Widgeon said the move allows the VMRC staff to now conduct research to see “what would dredge fishing look like in Virginia in 2025?”

Widgeon said there had been “lots of contention” over whether the VMRC could have prohibitions over fisheries: “Does that discriminate against certain user groups, in particular the winter dredge fishermen?”

When the winter dredging prohibition went into effect in 2008, Widgeon said there were 98 eligible permit holders harvesting crabs in the fishery. “That user group has declined drastically” since then, said Widgeon.

He said since then, “a lot of our commercial watermen” have been asking “what is the trigger point” for when winter dredging could resume.

Allison Colden, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, told WTOP the move by the VMRC raises questions.

“More questions than answers, in fact,” she said.

Those questions included “How many people would be allowed to participate, how many days of the week?” And how would a potential harvest impact the crab population across the Chesapeake Bay?

Colden explained the concern over reopening the winter crab fishery stems from the tumultuous history of the crab population.

Prior to the 2008 closure of the fishery, “Ninety-six percent of their harvest was adult female crabs that were harvested before they had an opportunity to spawn and contribute to the next generation of crabs,” said Colden. “At that time, we had declared a ‘federal fisheries disaster’ based on the low number of crabs in the bay and concerns about the long term sustainability of the population.”

Concerns about the crab population remain, Colden said.

In the winter dredge survey of the crab population released in May, the VMRC and Maryland DNR estimated the blue crab “abundance” at 317 million, down from the previous year’s survey of 323 million.

The VMRC will meet again in September, when it will discuss and vote on crab dredging regulations.

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© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Kate Ryan

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June 26, 2024
‘They’re everywhere’: Maryland seeks to reduce supply of tasty, invasive blue catfish – WTOP News

Blue catfish grow to large sizes, are tasty to eat and can be easily caught in the majority of Maryland’s rivers — the problem is they’re considered invasive, locally, and are a threat to other native fish and aquatic life.

Blue catfish grow to large sizes, are tasty to eat and can be easily caught in the majority of Maryland’s rivers — the problem is they’re considered invasive and are a threat to other native fish and aquatic life.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources is urging people fishing in the area to target blue catfish.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources is urging people looking to do some local fishing to target blue catfish, which are an invasive species locally. (Courtesy Stephen Badger, Maryland Department of Natural Resources)

“Catch and keep as many as you want, any sizes,” said Branson Williams, the department’s invasive fishes program manager. “They’re really a tasty fish, and we’re encouraging people to eat them.”

Blue catfish are native to midwestern river basins, including the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Rio Grande rivers, Williams said.

The freshwater fish were introduced in Virginia during the 1970s to create a new sport fishery, according to the MDNR’s website.

“They were stocked in Virginia and across the country to form these recreational fisheries, because they reach large sizes and they taste good,” Williams said. “The world record is 143 pounds, out of Virginia.”

However, they don’t just thrive in freshwater rivers.

“Turns out they do pretty well in brackish waters, so they’ve spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the past 20 years or so,” Williams said. “They now occupy all tributaries of the Bay, and even the Bay proper, in the upper bay and middle bay.”

Not only has the blue catfish expanded its range, but also its abundance: “They’re everywhere,” Williams said.

Catfish eat a lot of different aquatic animals, including ones that are important to Maryland.

“They do eat a significant amount of blue crab, white perch, Atlantic menhaden, which are species that have cultural and commercial importance to the region,” Williams said. “Blue catfish are associated with decreased abundance of white catfish, which are our native catfish.”

Williams said blue catfish are so prominent they can be caught in a variety of ways, off boats and by dropping a line off a riverbank.

“People use a wide variety of baits to catch them, everything from fresh cut fish, like fresh Atlantic menhaden — blue catfish eat chicken livers,” Williams said. “I’ve heard of people soaking chicken breast in garlic, and different flavors of Jell-O to catch them.”

The MDNR offers specific locations with large blue catfish populations on its website.

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© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Neal Augenstein

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April 11, 2024
Coyote killed after attacking 2 women in Montgomery Co. – WTOP News

A coyote was shot and killed after police say it attacked two women Thursday during separate attacks in Montgomery County, Maryland.

A coyote was shot and killed after police say it attacked two women Thursday during separate attacks in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Police, animal services and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources were all searching for the coyote following the two separate attacks which took place hours apart, according to the police department.

Montgomery County police said the first attack happened just before 10 a.m. while a woman was walking her dog in the 1400 block of Patuxent Drive — near Watershed drive in Ashton.

She was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK.

The second attack took place around 3:45 p.m. in the 3600 block of Bell Road in Burtonsville. Police said that woman fought the coyote off and stabbed the animal.

Around 7 p.m., police said the coyote was found along a trail on Dustin Road. The animal was shot and killed. It will be tested for rabies.

Police are reminding residents to stay away from any coyotes they might spot and to instead call 911 or animal services at 240-773-5925.

WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer contributed to this report.

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Alicia Abelson

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March 28, 2024