Natural Lands Project

Purpose:  Install wetlands and native buffers on agricultural land to reduce pollution and provide habitat for bobwhite quail and waterfowl. 

Project: The Natural Lands Project, funded by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, is a partnership with Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society, working with farmers and landowners to install warm season grass buffers and wetland restorations on marginal farmland to improve water quality and increase natural habitat on a regional scale.

Recognizing that the distant notion of a “healthy Bay,” is often not enough to motivate landowners toward significant pollution reduction practices, this project promotes

1. The Northern Bobwhite Quail, a species with proven regional charismatic appeal, as a lever species to incentivize landowners to install native, warm season grass buffers and

2. Waterfowl, to incentivize wetland installations on marginal agricultural land. Due to habitat loss from intensified agriculture, the Northern Bobwhite’s population is in precipitous decline and is recognized as a Maryland species of Greatest Conservation Need.

A request to plant buffers and install wetlands on farmland will be more appealing to many landowners if the focus is on increasing quail and waterfowl habitat in addition to improving water quality. In essence, enhanced habitat for a land-based, culturally desirable species drives implementation of cost-effective practices to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution where pollution begins.