Our second walk of the fall takes place on Thursday, September 10th at 10 am. We will be visiting a beautiful area that most Howard County residents have never seen. We will start off from the Phelps Luck Neighborhood Center and walk along paved paths down and around the Pond. There are beautiful mature beech woods, granite boulders, bucolic stretches of Long Reach/Elkhorn Branch, and the beauty of the pond itself. Come on out and learn a little bit more about this area’s past, present, and future. Check out the YouTube invitation that explains the purpose for these walks.
Our first walk was around Lake Elkhorn and we had over 45 people show up. We are now going upstream to some of the headwaters of the stream that flows from Howard High School down to Lake Elkhorn and then empties into the Little Patuxent River. We will see how healthy these stretches are and how some of the features of the stream and the pond help manage the siltation and the water flow throughout the watershed.
We are hoping that everyone will come away from this trip with a little better knowledge of the nature of this unique open space that is maintained by the Columbia Association. We will discuss the ecology, geology, hydrology, flora and fauna that we encounter along the way. Bring your questions and we will try to agree on the answers.
A few questions that we will address along the way:
- How many ponds are there in Howard County?
- Who was Mr or Mrs Jackson?
- What did EPA hire Hittman to do in this watershed?
- How often has Jackson Pond be dredged? Where were the spoils spread?
- What types of wildlife occur in this green corridor?
Information on future walks around Columbia can be found at http://www.columbiaassociation.com/Home/Components/News/News/840/17?backlist=%2f
Take-a-way: There are many great paths throughout the open spaces of Columbia. Come and get inspired with all the things nature has to offer right in our own backyards.
Saving The Places 