Taylors Trail Sand Ridge ESA

Photo Courtesy of Dan Murphy, USFWS

Partnership Conserves 438 Acres in Wicomico County

Photo Courtesy of Christina Ryder, USFWS

The Taylors Trail Sand Ridge Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in Wicomico County is home to an additional 438 acres of conserved land at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, thanks to a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, and Chesapeake Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy and the Service collaborated to identify the property’s natural attributes and worked with the landowner to include it as an important addition to the national refuge system. In addition, the project was made possible with the help of private funds secured by the Chesapeake Conservancy from the Mt. Cuba Center and funds from the sale of the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as Duck Stamps.

The property, now part of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, is comprised of upland forest, over 275 acres of tidal and non-tidal wetlands, a stand of mature Atlantic white cedars, and a unique dune habitat that will be restored to native short-leaf pine. In addition to its location in the heart of the Taylors Trail Sand Ridge ESA, it is proximate to the Barren Creek ESA, and more than 200 acres of protected Chesapeake forest land.