Heritage Greenway

PATAPSCO HERITAGE Greenway is an initiative of the Ellicott City Restoration Foundation, stemming from former Gov. William Donald Schaefer's March 1990 call for a Maryland greenways program.The goal is to create a statewide corridor of trails and wildlife areas that would connect the existing framework of Maryland stream buffers.Patapsco Heritage Greenway is focusing on the area between Ellicott City and Elkridge, potentially linking its green area with Patapsco State Park and, eventually, Annapolis.

It's not that often that a building's final appearance surpasses the perfect rendering an artist creates in advance of a project, but that seems to be the case at an 18.4-acre site off Cedar Lane near Route 32. The striking stone-and-cedar structure that will become the $18 million James and Anne Robinson Nature Center is set into a hillside, rising from the soil below as if it sprouted there. And it's equally rare to have highly skilled volunteers in place before a building is finished, but that is the case at the James and Anne Robinson Foundation, which is preparing now for when the county opens its 25,000-square-foot nature center in the spring.

Residents of Ellicott City want to know more about the plans of Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway Inc. before that group seeks state certification of an effort to develop tourist and recreational opportunities in the Patapsco River valley. Members of the Ellicott City Residents Association, an umbrella group of homeowners and residents organizations, want the group "to get the plan out in the public so people can make an informed decision," said Daniel Murray, its president.

Rising in Carroll and Howard counties, the Patapsco becomes a real river when its two watery tentacles blend together at Marriottsville, and then gently roll some 50 miles southeastward until disgorging itself into tidal Chesapeake Bay waters at Baltimore. Its journey carries it through the historic Patapsco Valley that, beginning in Colonial days, was transformed into something of an industrial cradle when mill towns and villages began rising along its banks. Change began arriving when the National Road - the nation's first interstate road, which has been compared in historical significance to Rome's Appian Way - crossed the Patapsco Valley on its way westward in the late 1790s.

Residents of Ellicott City want to know more about the plans of the Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway Inc. before that group seeks state certification of an effort to develop tourist and recreational opportunities in the Patapsco river valley. Members of the Ellicott City Residents Association, an umbrella group of homeowners and residents organizations, want the group "to get the plan out in the public so people can make an informed decision," said Daniel Murray, its president.

An Ellicott City activist has demanded that Howard County government officials launch an investigation into the Patapsco Heritage Greenway Committee's use of public funds. Lee Walker Oxenham, a member of the Sierra Club, says the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks gave the greenway committee $20,000 to produce a feasibility study and master plan for the Patapsco heritage corridor. The group is trying to turn the Patapsco Valley into a certified heritage area. The master plan was produced pro bono by Human and Rohde Inc., documents from the Towson landscape and architecture firm show.

A statewide coalition of environmental groups has asked Gov. Parris N. Glendening to halt future funding for a proposed network of nature trails and commercial concessions in the Patapsco River Valley, warning it would hurt the river and Patapsco Valley State Park.The project -- called the Patapsco Heritage Greenway -- is "destructive to the Patapsco River and its watershed," according to a letter given to the governor this week by the Maryland Conservation Council."Despite the fact that the Patapsco Valley State Park is currently over utilized, the Patapsco Heritage Greenway Committee, a private group organized by Oella developer Charles Wagandt, has targeted the Park as the centerpiece of an extensive economic and tourism development plan," the letter said.

The citizens of Oella did it.In sharp contrast to a chaotic Greater Oella Community Association meeting in May, residents of the historic mill town across the Patapsco River from Ellicott City managed last night to hold a civil information-gathering meeting about the proposed Patapsco Heritage Greenway.Jay Patel, president of the community association, said at 9: 30 p.m. that no vote would be taken on whether to support the greenway until a future meeting, probably in late summer or the fall.

STEPS BEING taken to involve environmentalists in planning the proposed Patapsco Heritage Greenway are, unfortunately, late. Had efforts to reach environmental groups been made when discussions began four years ago, some of the criticism now confronting the proposal might have been allayed. That oversight, however, should not be fatal to a project that could greatly enhance the Patapsco River valley that binds Baltimore and Howard counties.Critics of the proposal must keep in mind that no final decisions have been made.

A statewide coalition of environmental groups has asked Gov. Parris N. Glendening to halt future funding for a proposed network of nature trails and commercial concessions in the Patapsco River Valley, warning it would hurt the river and Patapsco Valley State Park.The project -- called the Patapsco Heritage Greenway -- is "destructive to the Patapsco River and its watershed," according to a letter given to the governor this week by the Maryland Conservation Council."Despite the fact that the Patapsco Valley State Park is currently over utilized, the Patapsco Heritage Greenway Committee, a private group organized by Oella developer Charles Wagandt, has targeted the park as the centerpiece of an extensive economic and tourism development plan," the letter said.

Agency, groups seek assistance tomorrow The Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, Howard County Conservancy, Howard County Arts Council and Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway will conduct projects that require volunteers tomorrow in celebration of National and Global Youth Service Day and Earth Day. The Department of Recreation and Parks will hold a tree-planting and stream-buffer planting project at 9 a.m. at West Friendship...

In the Gettysburg campaign, one of Gen. Robert E. Lee's objectives was to cut the Union's communications and transportation lines to Washington. By June 27, 1863, strong elements of the Army of Northern Virginia had reached Chambersburg, Pa., and were threatening the railroad center and the state capital at Harrisburg. On June 28, the Confederates were engaging Union militia at Wrightsville, Pa., on the Susquehanna River, seeking to gain control of the bridge across the river there. But there was another vital though little remembered transportation artery at stake in that battle before Gettysburg - the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal.

Rita Chelton of Elkridge knows a thing or two about garlic mustard. She won the cooking contest at the Garlic Mustard Challenge in Patapsco State Park two years in a row - in 2004 for her garlic mustard bread, and this year for her garlic mustard herb chicken. "I consider it not a very strong herb," she said of the edible weed - a plant so invasive that nature lovers mount a push each spring to yank as much of it from the invaded park as possible. "It has an interesting odor, but I don't think it has a strong taste."

County bus system service changes to start Monday Starting Monday, the county's public bus system, Howard Transit, will make changes in its service, County Executive James N. Robey has announced. The changes involve a shift in service hours, but the total number of hours will not be reduced. The most significant change is that the former silver route will become part of the yellow route, resulting in seven, rather than eight, routes. Other adjustments include minor changes in routes and scheduling.

Residents of Ellicott City want to know more about the plans of the Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway Inc. before that group seeks state certification of an effort to develop tourist and recreational opportunities in the Patapsco river valley. Members of the Ellicott City Residents Association, an umbrella group of homeowners and residents organizations, want the group "to get the plan out in the public so people can make an informed decision," said Daniel Murray, its president.

Residents of Ellicott City want to know more about the plans of Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway Inc. before that group seeks state certification of an effort to develop tourist and recreational opportunities in the Patapsco River valley. Members of the Ellicott City Residents Association, an umbrella group of homeowners and residents organizations, want the group "to get the plan out in the public so people can make an informed decision," said Daniel Murray, its president.

Howard County officials' decision not to provide additional funding to the Patapsco Heritage Greenway in the near future further cripples a project that has met with severe opposition from the day the general public found out about it a year and a half ago. The county will not renew a contract that would have given the group an additional $15,000, said Sang Oh, an aide to County Executive James N. Robey. In addition, Oh said, the group will have to repay the county $752.52 in expenses.

Ellicott City businesses should unite if they are to take advantage of economic benefits resulting from a possible Patapsco Heritage Greenway project, a consultant advised them yesterday.Elaine Carmichael, who works for Economic Research Associates and is an adviser for the Patapsco Heritage Greenway Committee, met with the Ellicott City Business Association. The greenway proposal has stirred controversy as opponents worry about the environmental impact of the project that would link towns along the river through a trail network in Baltimore and Howard counties, which includes Patapsco Valley State Park.

When Bob Chance stands on the shore of the Susquehanna River he can envision a route for hikers and bicyclists to cross the river and connect trails threading through woods, a state park and towns in Harford and Cecil counties. Someday, 38 miles of trails could bind together an area rich with arrowheads, eagles and skipjacks, said Chance, executive director of the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway. The project would also help fill a gap in a system of trails stretching from Maine to Florida.