“The sphagnums are the keystone species in peatland ecosystems, which hold one third of the earth’s organic carbon.”
Annie Proulx, Fen, Bog & Swamp
On July 21, 2023, CER was honored to help celebrate International Bog Day with many partners featured in the photos below. The event took place at Hidden Pond on the 20th anniversary of the wetland bog restoration project located at the headwaters of Brewers Creek in Anne Arundel County. The County preserves its unique bog habitats from disturbance with a model protective overlay zone that protects the bogs’ entire drainage area.
Children from the Sherwood Forest Summer Camp and Downs communities planted bog species, including cranberry, sweet bay magnolia and Atlantic white-cedar trees.
Event leader, William Moulden, welcomes the volunteers from Sherwood Forest and the Downs communities to the Bog Day event. Councilwoman Lisa Rodvien (green hat) came to show her support.
CER board member, Dr. Dennis Whigham, Senior Botanist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), describes the importance of bogs in Maryland and the world. SERC was a sponsor of the event.
Underwood & Associates (UA) led the Bog Day Celebration and provided fun educational activities, and donated the plants for the celebration. DNR funded and UA designed and constructed the wetland restoration project, which celebrated its 20th anniversary of ecological uplift.
Volunteers plant cranberries along Hidden Pond, which was once choked with phragmites. Kids and mud seem to go together!
State Senator Sarah Elfreth came to show her support and helps plant a sweet bay magnolia.
Erik Michelsen, Deputy Director, Bureau of Watershed Protection & Restoration, Anne Arundel County, talks with CER Board Member Dr. Dennis Whigham. Erik spoke about the County bog protection efforts.
Drone footage of the Hidden Pond wetland provided by event sponsor, the Severn Riverkeeper Program, multimedia specialist Nate Frankoff.
Everyone took home a sticker to remember the day! The sticker featured Calapogon tuberosus, a native orchid that is found in bogs. The North American Orchid Conservation Association was a Bog Day event sponsor.
Cotton grass drying in the sun after a morning rain storm. Anne Arundel County professes to have more bogs than any other county in Maryland.
Bogs are home to sphagnum moss, a keystone species, which prefers the wet soils and acidic, nutrient-poor waters found in bog habitats.