On June 13th, Gunpowder Riverkeeper staff led employees from the Towson Branch of Baird Wealth Management on a stream walk during their corporate week of giving. On our walk along the upper Gunpowder, we discussed our projects that connect the forest to the faucet and protect the drinking water supply for 1.5 million Baltimore City and Baltimore Metro-Area residents. The river is nationally recognized as hosting a wild and native population of trout that draws anglers from 50 states.
We discussed our legal research and litigation to solve environmental problems, as well as our work to combat invasive species like didymo, New Zealand mud snails, and snakeheads. We shared our environmental monitoring goals to protect communities from legacy PCBs and emerging contaminants, such as PFAS. We explained our bacteria sampling protocols and outreach for E.Coli to inform the public about safe swimming guidelines.
The volunteers also participated in a trash cleanup on the Gunpowder South/Lefty Kreh Trail below I-83. They cleaned two wader wash stations to contain didymo algae– an invasive that forms dense algal blooms—from smaller tributaries that contain native Brook trout.
Thank you again to the following volunteers from Baird for helping us protect this invaluable resource: Rich DuVal, Sharon Martin, Bill Watt, and Brian Heidelbach.