Turtles Run From Development That Would Destroy Forested Wetlands

Take a look at this aerial photo of the lush green forest beside Deep Cove Creek in southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Does this look like the right place to build a subdivision, with driveways and roofs replacing the trees beside this Chesapeake Bay tributary?

No, it's the worst possible place for development.  And yet, the Snyder Development Corp., is proposing to build 18 homes right here, just to the left of the bend at the top of this picture.

Opposition to the project has been led by a citizens group called South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development (SACReD). The Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently challenged the developer's application for a permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment to destroy forested wetlands and build the Turtle Run project on this 127 acre parcel, off Deep Cove Road and Shadyside Road in Shadyside, Maryland.

Cutting down the trees would eliminate an important filter that keeps pollution out of a waterway that flows into a section of the Bay that is already classified by the state as impaired by pollution. 

The Turtle Run at Deep Cove project is a poster child for poorly planned waterfront growth.  Yes, the homeowners would probably enjoy waterfront views.  But it's bad for the Bay to pile up houses, right along the water, in environmentally critical areas like this.

Why do they call the project "Turtle Run" anyway?  Well, perhaps because the terrapin are already fleeing in horror from what the beautiful riverbank will become.

"Nooo!" quoth the turtle. 

 

By Tom Pelton

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Check out SACReD's Facebook site --called "Run, Turtle, Run" -- on the development project by going here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Run-Turtles-Run/161278020568805

(Photo at top by Mike Shay/ SACReD; bottom photo by CBF/Bill Portlock)

 

 

 

Comments

[Clifford Grumpelt]

Turtles Rule! But they Need your Advocacy.
The State and or the Federal Government should take over this Land for Conservation. Do Not Let People Ruin it for The Terrapins and all other Natives such as Fish Water Fowl (Eagles Crains Herrings Hawks) and the rest of the Food Web (Chain), and what about The Natural Beauty?
I recently watched a documentary on the natural resources of Cuba and their Sea waters have been Preserved by the Gvmnt which could be a World wide Example of an undisturbed aqua ecosystem. "Today, more than half of Cuba’s plants and animals, including more than 80 percent of its reptiles and amphibians, are found nowhere else on the planet. Several Cubans expressed the belief that living on an island, with its natural boundaries, breeds awareness that there are limits to natural resources. Everyone who has worked on the documentary hopes that, seeing this film, people will also see the world on which we live, as another, much larger, island."
I used to live by the Chesapeake bay on the Chester River and Now live by the Susquehanna River which is the Largest body of water dumping into the Bay and i am still upset that Wilkes-Barre Pa got a grant of 78 Million and built a Waterfront Park and still has not Spend any $ on Cleaning up the river itself. (when big rains come sewage overflows into the river, this should have been part of that $ usage!) I Love eating Oysters Muscles Crabs & Fish, but not when they are contaminated! Keep it Clean Maryland Department of the Environment in Anne Arundel County! We Need the Bay to Stay and Get Well Soon, not die of Development Cancer!
Clifford G @ DC/AC

[John Koontz]

We will see if MDE steps up to the plate for the environment or the developer.

[Tom Pelton]

Good question, John. MDE must approve a wetlands permit for this project to proceed.