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Save of the Week: Conservancy Partnership Protects 1,485-Acre Boy Scout Camp on Chesapeake Bay Tributary

Another merit badge is in order for the scouts at Camp Nanticoke, also known as the Richard A. Henson Scout Reservation. The Del-Mar-Va Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which owns Camp Nanticoke, has worked with The Nature Conservancy of Maryland/DC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to protect the 1,485-acre reservation with a conservation easement.

The conservation easement protects nearly four miles of shoreline on the Nanticoke River and Marshyhope Creek, preserves nesting grounds for bald eagle and potential habitat for the federally listed Delmarva fox squirrel, and maintains more than 600 acres of forested, freshwater tidal and non-tidal wetlands.

“Working together, we’ve helped protect the water quality of the Nanticoke River and the Chesapeake Bay,” said Liz Zucker, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Nanticoke River Project. “The Boy Scouts have been excellent stewards of the scout reservation. The easement allows them to continue using the site for outdoor environmental education activities while providing for the permanent protection of significant natural resources.”

The reservation is one of the largest privately owned forest tracts in Dorchester County and serves as habitat for migratory waterfowl as well as breeding and stopover habitat for neotropical songbirds and raptors. The site also includes spawning and nursery areas for economically and ecologically important fisheries including rock fish, white and yellow perch, and herring species. The property contains nine state-rare plants species, a regionally significant savanna-like seasonal pond and a xeric sand dune system.

The Conservancy has been working with partners to protect the biologically rich Nanticoke watershed for more than a decade. Despite its close proximity to the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan corridor, nearly 20 percent of the pristine, 750,000-acre watershed is now permanently protected by a variety of private and public organizations. The Henson Scout Reservation lies at the core of the watershed and is adjacent to the Nanticoke River Rural Legacy Area, where more than 9,000 acres are protected by the State of Maryland, The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, Dorchester County and the Town of Vienna.

The funding for this purchase came in part from a $660,000 Coastal Wetlands Grant through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources provided $300,000 through its Program Open Space and The Nature Conservancy contributed $155,000 to the easement purchase.
The Richard A. Henson Scout Reservation, named for the famous aviator and philanthropist from Salisbury, Maryland, has been in continuous operation by the Del-Mar-Va Council since the summer of 1965.

For more information:

• Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Maryland/DC
  Working in partnership, the Conservancy recently protected nearly 1,500 acres in the Nanticoke River watershed--and, along the way, helped Boy Scouts carry on tradition.
• Press Release: Partnership Protects 1,485-Acre Boy Scout Camp on Maryland’s Eastern Shore
  The Del-Mar-Va Council of the Boy Scouts of America has worked with The Nature Conservancy of Maryland/DC and other partners to protect the 1,485-acre reservation with a conservation easement.
• Our Partner: Del-Mar-Va Council of the Boy Scouts of America
  The Boy Scouts of America is the Delmarva Peninsula’s foremost youth program of character development and values based leadership training.
• Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
  Read more about our work to save the last great places on Earth.