Dear Chestertown Spy
I was devastated when I went for my walk at Wilmer Park and found the beautiful shoreline was mowed down and destroyed. The beautiful marsh grasses, the hibiscus, morning glory and wild flowers. Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and a lot of wildlife made this shoreline their home. The town I understand did this. I am not sure if they had approval from DNR. I am hoping you could look into this. So many of us are shocked and deeply saddened. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Cecilia Brown
6 Responses
Whoever OKed destruction of vegetation and habitat inWilmer Park is obliged to explain why.
Thank you, Cecilia, for your righteous howl of dismay.
Dear Cecilia Brown,
Thank you for your message. I hope this won’t happen this again. I thought it was against the law to interfere in wetlands in any way? The shorelines are so important.
I was walking there about a week and a half ago and there were two men working the shoreline with a backhoe. It appeared as though they were doing some repair work along the bulkhead and the shoreline. Being a waterfront property owner myself, I understand that sometimes you have to get to the problem in order to fix it. You cannot get a backhoe or other equipment to work on the shoreline without disturbing the habitat. That being the case, the marsh grasses will grow back, along with the rest of the flora and fauna.
Additionally, if you look along the riverfront section of bulkhead, it’s obvious that tidal levels rise over it. Over time, this takes a toll on the structure and the surrounding areas. I know how that goes!
I think that the area will recover and the situation will resolve itself.
The living shoreline that was recently cut back significantly by the Town was, in fact, planted by the Town approximately 20 years ago. Since that happened, many plants – both native and nonnative – that were not part of the original plantings have made their way into that space. Most problematic of these are groundsel tree and phragmites. Groundsel tree is a native woody shrub that grows to 12′ tall and equally as wide. This blocked off river views for residents walking along the water’s edge and also crowded out the public access point to the river near the ramp to the Wilmer Park pavilion. Another invasive plant that made its way to the living shoreline is phragmites, also known as the common reed. Phragmites aggressively crowds out native vegetation and also grows to 12′ high, blocking out river views even further. I am sure that by this time next year most of the native grasses will return to their full splendor and the degraded shoreline that everyone sees right now will be a distant memory.