How do you know if a stream is healthy? This question and many others were answered at the Third Annual Wildlife Adventure Day held at Mirant’s McGreagor Farm in Southern Maryland on Saturday Oct. 6.
This unlikely pairing of environmental causes and local power plants attracted more than one hundred children to the youth-aimed event.
Mirant biologist Anne Wearmouth and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist Bob Long, among others, were on hand to help teach children how to determine the health of their eco-system and what they can do to improve it. The children had many educational opportunities during the day including archery, training hunting dogs, kayaking and identifying trees and plants.
“The event is a public outreach effort to promote the education of youths to the importance that wildlife plays in our ecosystem,” Misty Allen, Manager of External Affairs at Mirant Mid-Atlantic told The Bay Net.
“The company has a role in environmental stewardship and we wanted to see what we could do,” explained Billy Moore, the manager of Piney Point Pipeline. Allen indicated that Moore played an important role in organizing the event.
Mirant Mid-Atlantic has additional ways of participating in the community. They often work with the local schools offering plant tour opportunities to educate about electricity production. They also provide in-class discussions, career days and local employee recruitment. Mirant employees volunteer as coaches for local Science Fair competitions and Envirothon teams.
Mirant Mid-Atlantic is planning to have the event again next year.
Event Partners & Sponsors
Charles County 4H
National Wild Turkey Federation
Maryland Quails Unlimited
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Newburg Rescue Squad
Coca Cola of La Plata
Boy Scouts of America
National Archery in Schools Program
Maryland Sportsman Foundation
Identifying plants & trees on the nature trail. All photos courtesy of Mirant Mid-Atlantic
