Two parks in Frederick County get federal funding for environmental projects

Gabrielle Lewis, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Aug. 10—Catoctin Mountain Park and Monocacy National Battlefield have received federal funds for projects related to ecosystem resilience, restoration and environmental planning needs.

The parks received funds through the Inflation Reduction Act. The act provided $52 million to the National Park Service during fiscal year 2023 for restoration and resilience projects.

Both parks fall under multiple projects on the National Park Service's list.

One of these projects, focused on protecting stream and floodplain historic structures, is a collaboration between the Monocacy National Battlefield, Catoctin Mountain Park, the C&O Canal National Historical Park, and Rock Creek Park.

The parks are also part of a multi-regional grasslands restoration project spanning several Eastern regions and states, as well as a project creating a flood-risk geospatial layer for historic structures and cultural landscapes.

The stream and floodplain historic structures project has received $200,000 to be distributed among the four parks under the project, according to Andrew Banasik, superintendent for Monocacy National Battlefield.

The parks will work on a "historic structure risk assessment tool" to help the parks figure out how to prioritize historic structure preservation in the face of climate change.

For the greenlands restoration project, Banasik said, Monocacy National Battlefield will partner with nearby parks and work on "putting together consultation, planning and design for grassland restoration" in multiple parks. This project received $3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the National Park Service website.

The project involving a flood-risk geospatial layer, which encompasses parks in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., received $747,000.

Banasik said the funding from the Inflation Reduction Act funding is a "huge benefit" allowing Monocacy National Battlefield to pursue restoration efforts, particularly of open grassland.

"The major focus areas of the Inflation Reduction Act ... really focuses on the changing climate," Banasik said. "[We're] looking at how do we improve the wildlife habitat where we can to be able to benefit species."

Catoctin Mountain Park also individually received $446,000 for a reforestation project in certain areas of the park, including an old campground of about 20 acres.

Rick Slade, Catoctin Mountain Park's superintendent, said reforestation is the park's primary focus in comparison to the other restoration and resilience projects it falls under.

Slade said trees from when the park was established in the 1930s are reaching maturity now and will soon die out.

The park has been undergoing intensive exotic plant removal and deer management for the past 13 years, he said. This work has allowed seedlings and saplings to start regrowing.

The reforestation work funded by the Inflation Reduction Act will further the process of keeping areas of the park forested even as older trees die.

"Having this investment, the Inflation Reduction Act funds available is something that we would have never dreamed of having this level of support for this kind of ecosystem restoration and resilience work," Slade said.