Nature Trail

Jennifer Shaver, 13, pulled up stubborn roots all morning. But on this try, she couldn't yank free the subterranean matter, although she twisted it and knelt and pulled with all her might.Eric Layson noticed his eighth-grade classmate's unsuccessful efforts. With a large pick he struck the dirt several times, loosened the root and pulled it from the ground.The pair were among 30 Mayfield Woods Middle School students who uprooted roots and dug soil Friday to create a nature trail near their school in Elkridge.

Creation of a second golf course at the Loch Raven Reservoir has been shot down. Presumably, the effort is history unless the idea is revived by an independent committee. Politics played a role and so did the personalities involved. That's unfortunate.A side issue in the scenario is whether the leaders of Baltimore County made a "neighborly" request to their counterparts in Baltimore City to refrain from issuing the approval that was needed before work could proceed.The Baltimore Municipal Golf Corp.

Consider all the Mayfield Woods Middle School eighth-graders to be trailblazers.Since September, they've been clearing a nearly one-mile path in front of their Elkridge school to build a hiking trail that will serve as a gift to their community and a tribute to nature.And to mark Maryland Youth Service Day yesterday, about 50 of them tramped through the woods to continue the job.Some raked leaves and trimmed small plants, while others worked to pry loose a big stone that sat in the middle of the nearly half-completed nature trail.

If you visit the new nature center on the hill, you will see #F bluebirds, turtles and honeybees. You will walk along a nature trail, gaze at the stars and look into the eyes of a black bear.Bear Branch Nature Center is a place to learn, enjoy and relax. It opens Saturday at Hashawha Environmental Appreciation Center, north of Westminster on Route 97.The center sits on a hill overlooking rolling farmland, wooded areas and a pond. It's so quiet you will hear the birds sing.You'll also see the people work: Bear Branch is the nature center the volunteers built.

Take a bunch of 16- and 17-year-olds, put rakes in their hands, set them to work, and what do you get?How about some good career decisions?And a nature trail in a new public park.That's what they're finding in Hampstead, where the town's Tree Commission decided to involve 34 North Carroll High School forestry students in a project to build a nature trail on a plot of land the town owns in North Carroll Farms, between Greenmount Church Road and Farm Woods Lane.Today, to celebrate Arbor Day, the students will plant about 40 trees and shrubs at the site.

There's something shady about the public beaches that are within an hour's drive of Baltimore.They may not rival their Eastern Shore counterparts in some ways, but a warm breeze, dry sand and boat-dotted waters mean summer no matter what the ZIP code. There are even waves -- tame ones, to be sure -- though many children won't know, or care, about the difference.What makes these close-to-home beaches a respite for families, besides proximity, are their park-like surroundings. There's welcome shade and places to explore amid acres of trees and marshes.

Revelations about buttercups and butter, mistletoe and romance, and trees and toddlers aren't usually the stuff of gardening books. But such tidbits of personal associations with plants, combined with practical information about 27 plant species, are what makes the book "Sampling Nature's Bounty," published by the Cattail River Garden Club, unique.After two years of researching, writing, illustrating and editing, the 27 members of the 35-year-old club in Glenwood are pleased with the finished product -- three hardback books, one of which was given to County Executive Elizabeth Bobo during a recent luncheon meeting.