Chesapeake Bay will gain new wildlife refuge

The Chesapeake Bay area will have a new wildlife refuge for the first time in a quarter century. The Southern Maryland Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge will protect up to 40,000 acres in an area south of Washington, D.C. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun to purchase land in several counties for the refuge and is entering into easement agreements with private landowners in others. This land will provide federal protection for federally listed species like the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), the northeastern beach tiger beetle (Habroscelimorpha dorsalis dorsalis) and the puritan tiger beetle (Ellipsoptera puritana). “This is one of the most pristine landscapes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed’s western shore, and it faces many threats,” said Chesapeake Conservancy President Joel Dunn in a statement. “This new refuge offers an opportunity to halt and even reverse biodiversity loss in this important place, and in a way that fully integrates and respects the leadership and rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.”

Read more at the Baltimore Banner.