Assawoman Bay PC: Brooke Orr This summer we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. As we commemorate this with our gatherings of family and friends and community celebrations, many of us will do so while enjoying the beauty of this special landscape we live in – the waterways, the coasts, the forests, and the fields that make the Eastern Shore so special. It is a celebration – but also a time for reflection, for thinking about our “solemn

Two years ago, I walked across the stage at Salisbury University with an Environmental Studies degree in hand and one overwhelming question on my mind: What's next? Brooke Orr and her graduating AmeriCorps Service Class. PC: LSLT Like many recent graduates, I was riddled with this anxiety of not having everything figured out. My plan was simple: apply to every environmental job I could find while splitting my time between my Salisbury apartment, whose lease was quickly expir

Cypress Swamp from Md Biodiversity. PC: Matthew Beziat LSLT is always looking for unused or less-productive acreage for restoration projects. We work with landowners to establish quail habitat and open meadows, hedgerows between or at the edge of fields, streamside or riparian buffers, and add new or connect forest blocks. Establishing a forest in an area where one is currently absent is called afforestation. The opposite, removing a forest from the landscape, is called defor

Team LSLT bringing home 2nd place at River Fest 2025. PC: LSLT Mark your calendars! The annual Snow Hill River Festival is returning this July 18, and the Lower Shore Land Trust team is ready to hit the water once again. Over the past two years, Team LSLT has built a strong reputation on the Pocomoke River, earning a fourth-place finish in the inaugural Raft Race and paddling our way to second place last year. With each race, we've gotten a little closer to the top spot and

LSLT’s Ella Samis and Brooke Orr work with Fenix Youth Group volunteers to plant native species through the Shore Blooms program. This spring marked the exciting launch of Shore Blooms, a collaborative initiative bringing together organizations across the Lower Eastern Shore to expand pollinator habitat through public education, community engagement, and the visibility of pollinator demonstration sites throughout our region. The effort was catalyzed by a $20,000 grant from Su

Ava Fries, Native Plant Sale 2026 Hello everyone!! My name is Ava Fries, and I’m LSLT’s new Conservation and Stewardship Specialist! In my first two months at LSLT I’ve had the absolute best time visiting some of our incredible easement properties, getting to know our wonderful landowners, and helping create Coastal Resilience Management Plans that connect conservation goals with each landowner’s vision for their property. I’ve also gotten to spend plenty of time out in the f

I’ve yet to find a person that doesn’t enjoy their local farmer's market. We live in such a unique place where farming and agriculture is such a big part of our community. This means we have quite a few farmers markets in our service areas with our neighbors selling their produce and homemade goodies. Find your local farmer market(s) below or use this map! Somerset PC: Ocean Pines Farmers & Artisans Market Coops to Co-Op’s Market: Saturdays 9 AM - 1 PM (9 AM - 3 PM on first

LSLT Staff, SU Teachers, & SU ENVR Students after Senior Seminar presentation. PC: Beth Sheppard During the Spring 2026 semester, the Salisbury Environmental Studies Senior Seminar class partnered with the stewardship program of the Lower Shore Land Trust (LSLT). Throughout the season, students accompanied LSLT staff on monitoring activities, developed educational fact sheets for landowners, and conducted research to support future grant opportunities. Their efforts provided

During the early spring I took a deep dive researching a handful of obscure, hard to identify native plants. Learning the difference between Eupatorium maculatum (Spotted Joe-pye Weed) and Eupatorium perfoliatum (Common Boneset) is one example; Spotted Joe-pye has a reddish stem and pink flowers while Boneset is a white fuzzy perennial whose perfoliate leaves look like they are growing right through the stem. Learning weird facts and identifiers helps me better familiarize my

Longtime supporter and author of this article, Earl Dolan. PC: Margot Resto The best word to describe Wild Turkey hunting is CHALLENGING. Wild Turkeys are very smart, cautious birds with excellent eyesight. The key to a successful Wild Turkey hunt is preparation. Weeks before opening day of Wild Turkey season, I organize my supplies. These include: 1) three turkey decoys (two hens and one jake). A hen is a female turkey, a jake is a young male turkey with a short beard, and a

PGT 2025 Garden Host, Donna Main and her resident scarecrow. PC: Brooke Orr There is something powerful about stepping into a space that is alive with motion. Bees move from bloom to bloom, butterflies drift through the air, and native plants thrive in a landscape designed to support them. On Saturday, June 6, the Lower Shore Land Trust invites you to experience that firsthand at our annual Pollinator Garden Tour. This year’s tour is focused in Wicomico County and marks the k

LSLT Staff: Jared Parks, Matt Heim, Ava Fries, Lauren Imhof, Brooke Orr, and Heather Geraldes. PC: Claudio Garcia The Lower Shore Land Trust was recognized at the PACE Showcase on April 23rd by Salisbury University’s PACE program (Public Affairs and Civic Engagement) with the Community Partner of the Year Award. This was both unexpected and deeply appreciated, and we see it as a strong reflection of the work our team has been doing. PACE at SU holds several opportunities for

We asked our staff to put together themed native plant packs using some of their favorite species from the sale, and they delivered! Each pack reflects a different idea, some practical, some a little more fun, but all thoughtfully pulled together with plants they know and love. Below, you’ll find each themed collection, with every plant linked so you can easily explore or bring the whole pack home. Nectar in the Moment Pack - Beth Sheppard (Restoration Manager) Aster novi be

The milky way in Assateague Island. PC: Ruth Coffey As the sun winks behind the horizon, leaving behind hues of gold and coral, a new world awakens. In twilight, insects buzz, birds fly, and stars twinkle above. The sanctity of a dark environment is essential for the biodiversity that thrives in the night, but with an increase of light pollution, our nocturnal friends are at risk. On the eastern shore, light pollution strongly affects our migrating bird population. Snow gees

Heather Geraldes PC: Heather Geraldes Heather Geraldes joined the Lower Shore Land Trust in March as our Grants Manager. She brings strong nonprofit leadership experience in best practices, capacity building, and grantmaking from her past roles at the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore and the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families. Heather is excited to join LSLT with a goal of fostering sustainability and purposeful growth across the organization. Outs

PC: LSLT As the days stretch out and the ground starts waking up, farming season is here. Folks are already out in the fields from sunup to sundown, planting, fixing, checking on things, doing what needs to be done to keep the season moving. That also means you’ll start seeing more tractors and farm equipment on the roads. If you come up behind one, just take it slow and give it some room. Those machines aren’t built for speed, and they need a little extra space to turn and g

Before meadow installation at a LSLT Yards for Creation site, Delmarva Free School. PC: Brooke Orr After meadow installation at a LSLT Yards for Creation site, Delmarva Free School. PC: Brooke Orr Meadows, meadows, meadows. That is all we seem to be talking about in the office lately and honestly, we love it. More and more people across Maryland are discovering just how valuable native plants and native meadows can be for their homes, their communities, and the ecosystems ar

The temperature at the Libertytown Branch tract just outside Berlin read 27 degrees Fahrenheit and with a biting windchill it felt closer to 16. But for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources burn crew gathered on site at 9 a.m. on February 13, those numbers were simply part of the equation. Under a breezy blue sky, the DNR team launched the first prescribed burn of 2026 at the Chesapeake Forest tract, a carefully managed fire that would spend the better part of the day

Mystery Moth Cocoon on a Red Oak in Jared's Yard. PC: Jared Parks Daylight Saving Time is near, and the spring equinox (March 20) is not far behind, though it might not look like it outside my window. Our flower beds are buried in multiple inches (feet in some drifted areas) of snow along with the crocuses that had been in full bloom just the day before, but those are mere trifles. I am busy planning for the warmer days ahead. I know that certain tasks must be performed as

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of sitting with conservation easement holders, supporters, farmers, neighbors, county government partners, and friends as we kicked off outreach for the Lower Shore Land Trust’s next Conservation Strategic Plan. As someone who grew up here on the Lower Shore, has a deep love of the landscape, and now gets to do this work alongside all of you, I can say honestly that these meetings were among the most meaningful moments I’ve had