Congressman Wayne Gilchrest By Daniel White Imagine for a moment
that you’re a bird soaring over the Nassawango Creek watershed.
Spread out beneath your wings would be an enormous expanse of
virtually unbroken forest. Among huge gums and maples, a
smattering of bald cypress might catch your eye at the
headwaters of two streams. You’re looking down on the Foster
tract – the largest privately owned forest in Maryland. And now
thanks to the persistence of The Nature Conservancy and its
state and federal partners, this special place will be
protected. Your imaginary flight was solitary. But in reality,
millions of songbirds congregate as they migrate through these
Nassawango forests — habitat they depend on for food and
shelter. That’s only part of the story here, however. In
unanimously approving the preservation of the 4,769-acre Foster
property, the Maryland Board of Public Works, chaired by
Governor Martin O’Malley, recognized the project as a sound
investment that will produce ecologic, cultural and economic