Patapsco Valley Heritage Area

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Patapsco Valley Heritage Area

The Patapsco Valley Heritage Area- Experience its unique history and enjoy the cultural, natural and recreational assets of this river valley.
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The Patapsco Valley Heritage Area- Experience its unique history and enjoy the cultural, natural and recreational assets of Maryland's most dramatic river valley.

01/03/2025

Winter weather means icy roads and walkways, but did you know that overusing salt can be harmful?

Once applied, salt stays in the environment, altering soil, harming plants, and weakening infrastructure like bridges and roads. It eventually washes into waterways, posing risks to water quality, aquatic plants, fish and other wildlife.

As winter weather approaches, using salt wisely can minimize its environmental impact. Start by shoveling sidewalks and parking lots first to reduce the need for salt. Scatter salt crystals sparingly—just a 12-ounce mug of salt can cover a 20-foot driveway. Sweep up excess salt to reuse it and prevent it from washing away. For added traction or when temperatures drop below 15 degrees (when salt becomes ineffective), consider using sand or alternative deicers.

Winter Salt Awareness Week is later this month. Visit wintersaltweek.org to learn more and join us for a Salt Watch event on January 31st—details will be announced soon.

Photo taken by Geoffrey Baker

12/30/2024

As the old adage goes, many hands make light work. With our small staff working across the 36+ square mile Patapsco Valley Heritage Area (PVHA), we always need extra hands and our community never disappoints. In 2024, we worked together on over 115 occasions. Whether picking up trash along a quiet stream or singing along to a band at Frederick Road Fridays, we did it as a community. I was fortunate enough to work with you as PHG’s Chesapeake Climate and Conservation Corps member and then move into a permanent position. What an amazing community to work alongside--I am excited for a new year with you. Our work and impact throughout the PVHA would not be possible without our volunteers, partners, donors, and supporters. Thank you.

An integral part of expanding and strengthening community is having opportunities to engage in inclusive educational and recreational activities. This year, PHG hosted our first Festival del Río Patapsco in Patapsco Valley State Park, a fun-filled environmental-focused day with all programming in English and Spanish. Plans are already underway for next year’s Festival. We’d love to see you there!

2024 Year in Review:
- Launched our Groups Programs (stewardship/social experiences) with two new corporate partners
- Two Family Days on the Trolley Trail with over 120 participants
- Partnered with 13 schools/afterschool programs
- Engaged with our community at Pride festivals, Korean and Latino/Hispanic cultural celebrations, the Big Hike and National Public Lands Day with Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park, and Nature Fest at Charlestown Senior Living, among others.

A few exciting things for 2025:
- Second annual Festival del Río, Trolley Trail Family Days, Family Fun Run, and Vernal Pool hikes
- PHG involvement with the first Salt Watch Awareness Week
- More crossover events bridging historical, cultural, and recreational aspects of the PVHA

Thank you for being a part of our community. Please consider making a generous donation online at patapsco.org/support-the-heritage-area or via US Mail to Patapsco Heritage Greenway, PO Box 96, Ellicott City, MD 21041.

Anyone who donates $100 or more during the 2024 calendar year will receive a 2025 PaSNAPsco calendar. We are excited to see you across the Valley in 2025!

Hannah Emmons
Community Programs Coordinator

12/23/2024

In the Patapsco Valley, history, nature, and creativity come together, shaped by the stories and experiences of those who live, work, visit, and create here. From stunning landscapes captured through a camera lens to brushstrokes that bring the river to life on canvas, the presence of the arts in the Patapsco Valley both enrich the region and showcase the beauty and character that make the valley truly special.

At Patapsco Heritage Greenway (PHG), we believe the arts help tell the story of the Patapsco Valley and offer new ways to discover its history, environment, and recreational opportunities. Through our initiatives, we aim to support the arts and help nurture its growing creative community.

In 2024, we:
- Hosted our seventh annual PaSNAPsco photo contest, which saw record-breaking participation. Local photographers captured the valley’s diversity, highlighting its landscapes, history, and daily life through unique perspectives.
- Organized a PaSNAPsco exhibit featuring contest winners from 2020–2023 at the Catonsville Clubhouse and OCA Mocha in Arbutus, sharing the talent of the PaSNAPsco community with new audiences.
- Sponsored and selected the Best Depiction of the Patapsco River award at Paint It! Ellicott City.
- Supported arts and culture projects and events across the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area, including music and art festivals and community concerts.

As we look to 2025, we are excited to deepen our engagement with the arts community and continue to find new ways to integrate creativity into our programs. This includes:
- Continuing the PaSNAPsco photo contest in its eighth year and organizing a community exhibit featuring the 2024 winners and honorable mentions—a total of 21 exceptional photographs that showcase the valley’s places, people, and stories.
- Exploring opportunities to blend arts and culture with our other focus areas—heritage, environment, and recreation—to create even more meaningful experiences for residents and visitors.
- Building new partnerships with artists and organizations to further promote the arts in the Patapsco Valley.

Your support makes these achievements possible and helps inspire creativity in the Patapsco Valley. Please consider making a donation online at patapsco.org/support-the-heritage-area or via US Mail to Patapsco Heritage Greenway, PO Box 96, Ellicott City, MD 21041.

Anyone who donates $100 or more during the 2024 calendar year will receive a 2025 PaSNAPsco calendar.

Gaelyn Mitchell
Marketing Coordinator

12/16/2024

Hello again to the friends I have made and those I look forward to making. After three years as President of Patapsco Heritage Greenway (PHG), I feel even more strongly that we are an effective and efficient organization with the promise of even greater accomplishments in the future.

PHG is made of a board, staff, and local citizens, like you, who share an interest and appreciation for the beauty, history, and cultural richness of the Patapsco Valley. The staff is led by Executive Director Dr. Aaron Shapiro, who is supported by Diana Devers, Kyla Cools, Mandy DeLeo, Gaelyn Mitchell, and Hannah Emmons—it is an excellent staff. Please visit our website and see the many programs and activities available to you, as we tell the story of the Patapsco Valley.

Let me tell you about a special PHG film project that I find especially exciting—A Watershed in Time: Exploring the Patapsco's Past, Present, and Future. This film will explore the Patapsco Valley to tell the environmental story of how watersheds work, tracing an arc from indigenous people’s relationship with the earth to industrial revolution transformations to current restoration efforts. By exploring the human-nature relationship at a watershed scale, we will show how human actions impact the river and Chesapeake Bay and highlight behavior change opportunities to create a more sustainable future in the watershed. PHG is currently soliciting funding for this 30-minute film that will support a wide range of PHG programs and be shown as part of the Maryland Science Center’s traveling science program, among others. For a taste of what this film will include—overhead views of the watershed and on-the-ground stories—please check out our 3-minute videos.

The Patapsco Valley is a special place and I believe PHG is a great place to further the connections of nature, history, arts, and our human community. I hope you will support PHG, become a member, and participate in any way you wish. Donations can be made online at patapsco.org/support-the-heritage-area or sent via mail to Patapsco Heritage Greenway, PO Box 96, Ellicott City, MD 21041. Anyone who donates $100 or more during the 2024 calendar year will receive a 2025 PaSNAPsco calendar.

Mark Southerland, PhD
President
Patapsco Heritage Greenway

12/09/2024

The PHG environmental team appreciates having a front row seat seeing our community come together to improve the Patapsco Valley in 2024. Together, we have removed thousands of pounds of litter, removed over 400,000 square feet of invasive plants, and planted over 250 native trees. We began our new AgroForestry initiative integrating “crop-based” native tree & shrub species into our tree planting events to create environmental, economic, and social benefits for all.

Our programs are only possible due to the involvement of our volunteers. Your support helped us host environmental education events with local and global connections, including partnering with the Mandela Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Initiative at UMBC to introduce 25 young African leaders to Patapsco Valley State Park and conduct water quality monitoring education. Our program participants are contributing environmental knowledge gained through our programs to the Patapsco Valley and communities beyond. Expanding our partnerships and adding depth to our programming is part of our 2025 goals.

We will focus on deepening our program content and developing more synergistic programs so participants understand how environmental ideas are linked together–for example, that planting trees contributes to improved water quality. We also want community members to experience these programs in cooperative ways such as a historical hike or a kayaking trash cleanup. Included below are a few elements of our plans.

-Macroinvertebrate Discovery Program
-Salt Watch Awareness
-Spanish-Language and Korean-Language based programming
-Combined Pillar Programming (Heritage, Environment, Arts & Culture, Recreation)
-Groups Program

I hope you’re as excited as we are to get outdoors and support our stewardship in 2025! We ask that you consider making a generous donation either online at patapsco.org/support-the-heritage-area or via US Mail to Patapsco Heritage Greenway, PO Box 96, Ellicott City, MD 21041. Anyone donating $100 or more during the 2024 calendar year will receive a 2025 PaSNAPsco calendar.

Diana Devers, Environmental Program Manager
Mandy DeLeo, Water Quality Monitoring Program Coordinator
Hannah Emmons, Community Programs Coordinator

12/03/2024

As executive director of Patapsco Heritage Greenway (PHG), I appreciate having time to reflect on our accomplishments while also looking forward to the opportunities ahead. Placing education, engagement, inclusiveness and transparency at the core of all of our programs—both those we operate and those we support through grant-making, sponsorships and by providing technical expertise—helps position us as a community anchor that undertakes innovative and thought-provoking work to preserve, protect, interpret and restore the environment, history and culture of the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area (PVHA). These efforts are possible because of generous support from donors like you.

Our work explores the region’s history, cares for its environment, promotes outdoor recreation, and highlights the vital role that arts and cultural programming play in sustaining community. Please join us in 2025 as we continue our work to make the Patapsco Valley a better place to live, work and play.

I encourage you to visit our publications page at patapsco.org/about/publications/ to learn more by exploring our FY24 Annual Report, our annual Environmental Portfolio, and our second Non-Tidal Patapsco River Report Card.

Your support has helped us plant and maintain a lot of trees and expand our water quality monitoring program to 12 sites while also continuing our stewardship activities and efforts to tell a more inclusive Patapsco Valley story. With your support, we’ll continue to provide programs that connect examinations of historical and cultural resources with opportunities to raise ecosystem awareness and encourage sustainable practices.

We hope you share our enthusiasm and ask that you consider making a generous donation to show your support. Donations can be made online at patapsco.org/connect-with-us/support-the-heritage-area/ or sent via US Mail to Patapsco Heritage Greenway, PO Box 96, Ellicott City, MD 21041.

Anyone who donates $100 or more during the 2024 calendar year will receive a 2025 PaSNAPsco calendar.

If you represent a local business, you may also be interested in our new PHG local sponsorship program. Visit patapsco.org/wp-content/uploads/Sponsorship-Brochure.pdf for more information.

Aaron Shapiro
Executive Director
Patapsco Heritage Greenway

12/02/2024

Patapsco Heritage Greenway (PHG) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 PaSNAPsco Photo Contest. Now in its seventh year, the contest awarded $900 in total prize money, including individual $100 prizes in seven categories as well as a $200 Best of Patapsco Prize.

Dawn Smyers took top honors capturing a perfect fall mountain biking day in "Autumn Overlook" winning both the Get Out award and the Best of Patapsco prize. Geoffrey Baker won the Step Back award with "Jay’s Store," capturing this iconic Oella community space. William Beck won the Main Street Moments award for "B&O Railroad Museum." Bernadette Carrieri took home the Nature Nurtures award with "Lone Guard," a striking image of an Eastern Bluebird at the Howard County Conservancy. Ryan Belcher won the Aspiring Photographer (Student) award with "Snow Day" and Siobhan O’Boyle captured a vibrant performance in Catonsville in "Blue Light Special," which took home the A Muse Award. In addition to the judges’ selections, an online vote determined Ellen Anderson’s "Autumn Waterfall" as the People’s Choice winner.

A $100 prize was awarded for the top selection in each category and the winning photos along with honorable mention entries from Frank Aquino, Geoffrey Baker, Ryan Belcher and Bernadette Carrieri will be featured in PHG’s 2025 PaSNAPsco calendar.

Additionally, PHG awarded honorable mentions to photographs from Ellen Anderson, William Beck, Andrew Gosden, Korey Hopkins, Bonnie Ott, Ron Peters, Dawn Smyers and Allana Weikel that will appear in our PaSNAPsco exhibit in Fall 2025.

In announcing the awards, PHG Executive Director Aaron Shapiro commented, “PHG continues to be a proud supporter of the visual arts in the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area and we were pleased to host a retrospective PaSNAPsco exhibit in partnership with the Baltimore County Arts Guild. The record number of submissions this year highlights the richness and diversity of our area and should inspire viewers to explore and care for its resources.”

PaSNAPsco awards are sponsored by The Rogers Family of Ellicott City and the project is made possible through support from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

11/20/2024

Don’t forget! MHT will be hosting a virtual roadshow all about our financial incentive programs on December 4 at 11am. Come along to hear from staff representing the African American Heritage Preservation Program, the Historic Preservation Capital Grants Program, the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grants Program, the Maryland Heritage Areas Grant Program, and the Maryland Historic Revitalization Tax Credit Program. This program is free, but registration is required. Register at https://forms.gle/bWM3UWJ5G8Mhkbb16.

The MHT Virtual Roadshow is for everyone--homeowners, government agencies, non-profit representatives, and members of the public--to learn about our grant funding opportunities. You can read more about the different programs currently "touring" with our roadshows at the MHT Roadshow webpage (bit.ly/Roadshow-MHT).

This event will be recorded and uploaded to our YouTube Channel. If you have any questions, email Nell Ziehl, Chief, Office of Planning, Education and Outreach at [email protected].

11/13/2024

Just a few more stewardship events scheduled for this fall! RSVP at patapsco.org/events

11/08/2024

Cast your vote for the 2024 PaSNAPsco People’s Choice Award by giving your favorite photo a "like." Voting closes at midnight on Tuesday, November 19th!

10/29/2024

Wrap up the fall season with us at November’s environmental stewardship events!

RSVP at patapsco.org/events

10/28/2024

The PaSNAPsco entry deadline is this Friday, November 1st!

Learn more about the contest and submit your photos of the Patapsco Valley at patapsco.org/attraction/pasnapsco

10/25/2024

Family Day on the Trolley Trail is this weekend! Meet us on the trail for a morning of family-friendly activities including discovering and identifying stream critters, creating nature bookmarks, and participating in scavenger hunts. And we’re excited to have Backwater Books join us with a Storybook Walk activity!

RSVP at https://ow.ly/oFVo50TTiqA

Address

3748 Old Columbia Pike
Ellicott City, MD
21043

Website

http://www.patapsco.org/

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Videos

A Watershed in Time: Exploring the Patapsco's Past, Present and Future

What is a watershed? Perhaps that question peaks your curiosity or you think you can answer what seems like a basic question but may not be so simple. Whatever your circumstance, check out our new Watershed in Time short video to learn more about watersheds and what you can do to help improve watershed health in the Patapsco and beyond. We developed two short videos with funding support from the Kahlert Foundation and are looking to expand on the topics presented to produce a more comprehensive story of watersheds using the Patapsco Valley as the focus. Visit our YouTube channel to watch an additional ending to the video and Spanish language captions: www.youtube.com/@patapscoheritagegreenway

Mayflies are one of the insects we frequently encounter during our monitoring of the Patapsco River. They spend most of their lives as an aquatic nymph and then emerge to live as a winged adult for about 24 hours. Mayflies can be distinguished from other aquatic nymphs by their three distinct tails (though some have only two) and a set of gills along the abdomen. Check out this video of a Mayfly using its gills to get dissolved oxygen from the water! Mayflies are sensitive to pollution, so their absence may be a sign that the waterway is not healthy enough to support them. We are pleased to report that we have found mayflies at many of our Patapsco River monitoring sites this spring. Stay tuned for a wrap-up post about our spring 2024 biological monitoring season!