Subscribe
Community
County's parklands are beautiful, valuable
Our Opinion
Friday, Oct. 9, 2009
|
|
E-Mail This Article
This is a beautiful time in Charles County. The temperature is cooler — though winter will be here before we know it — but look around now and what stands out is how the trees are turning. What is startling sometimes is how many trees and open spaces still remain in Charles County. The county isn't just lines of strips malls and highways. Go a few miles in any direction from the U.S. 301 corridor in Waldorf and you'll find areas lush with the colors of fall. Go a few more miles beyond that and you'll find some very rural areas and access to the water that surrounds the county.
There is a fine network of parks throughout the county hosting youth and adult sports leagues. There are state parks — Chapman, Smallwood and Purse — all three along the Potomac River. There's Chapel Point along the Port Tobacco River. There's an apparently little-known national park at the home of Thomas Stone, Haber de Venture. Stone was a signer of the Declaration of Independence who lived in Charles County. According to statistics from the National Park Service, the Thomas Stone National Historic Site is one of the least visited national parks. Attendance figures rank it 344th among 360 parks.
There are hiking trails at Friendship Farm Park in Nanjemoy. Plans are under way for a new regional park in Waldorf. There are several wildlife management areas around the county.
Recently, the county celebrated the opening of the Indian Head Rail Trail, a 13-mile-long multipurpose recreational hike and bike trail that runs from White Plains to Indian Head along an abandoned railroad corridor.
And the latest jewel in the county's crown of outdoor destinations recently made news. The Maryland Board of Public Works gave the OK to a long-term lease for the county to use Mallows Bay Park in Nanjemoy for recreation activities.
The 185 acres on the Potomac is home to Mallows Bay, where a fleet of 130 wooden steamships was decommissioned by the U.S. Navy after World War II. The metal on the ships was salvaged and then the boats were sunk.
They now rest at the bottom of the Potomac. What exists today is an entire ecosystem that has developed in and around the hulls. Local recreation and parks officials believe the parks will be a real draw for outdoor enthusiasts, birders, canoeists and kayakers.
The county has thousands of acres of land that are being preserved, many through state Rural Legacy and other land preservation programs. This preservation of open space for the public, at times, has come with some controversy. Through the decades there have been objections — sometimes to the cost of purchasing the land and sometimes to taking land off the tax rolls.
During times of rapid growth in the county, when bulldozers are knocking over trees, people worry about the loss of the county's rural character. This is not one of those times. Much development around the county is stalled now. But when construction does boom again, one of Charles County's selling points will be the green space and access to outdoor and water recreation activities. Then, the green spaces purchased and used for public use will be valued and appreciated.
