Eccleston is for the Birds: How a Trout Restoration Project was Designed to be a Birding Hotspot in Maryland
Kristina Higgins, PE
Jim Morris, PE
Johnson, Mirmiran, & Thompson, Inc.
Hunt Valley, MD
Authors: Kristina Higgins and Jim Morris
The Eccleston Restoration Site, completed in October 2022, is a large-scale stream and wetland restoration project located in the Upper Jones Falls River catchment area within the Gunpowder-Patapsco Watershed in Baltimore County, MD. The project restored a 99-acre parcel, via floodplain restoration and upland practices, with special attention paid to preserving and enhancing habitats for the brown trout fishery. The project included elements of in-channel stream restoration as well as landscape restoration to holistically create a self-sustaining, abundant, and diverse ecosystem.
The Site was developed by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) to provide compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to state and federally regulated aquatic resources resulting from the I-95 Express Toll Lanes (ETL) Section 200 Improvements. The total restored area of 58-acres, which is protected by a perpetual conservation easement, includes 22-acres of wetland restoration, enhancement, and preservation along with over 10,000-linear feet of stream restoration, creation, and preservation.
This presentation will describe the techniques for restoration that resulted in 122 (and counting) bird species utilizing a former agricultural site, the expansion of a dwindling trout spawning population, and the correlation of trout spawning locations with observed bird species and diversity. Through modified floodplain restoration techniques, mitigation goals were met as well as the development of a regionally significant resource for the fishery, residents, and migratory birds. The benefits of upland preservation and management in relation to bird, benthic, and fish communities will be explored, as well as how community stakeholder involvement was essential for the project.
About Kristina Higgins, PD
Coming Soon
About Jim Morris, PE
Coming Soon