PatriotLWM Habitat Improvement Projects

Habitat Improvement Projects

Reforestation Projects

Patriot LWM has completed and is currently involved in maintenance and monitoring of multiple reforestation and forest mitigation projects through-out Maryland. Trees are chosen per the clients specifications and monitored for the life of the contract. Patriot LWM is also the only contractor that can also provide deer control services to limit forest planting destruction by deer.

Derwood Reforestation

In Spring 2011, Patriot performed a reforestation in Derwood, MD. The client had hired a company to remove almost 1.5 acres of old growth woods from the property. Because this was done without county approval, the client was made to mitigate the area by reforesting it. Patriot planted over 130 native species trees, installed deer protection guards, and graded and removed a large amount of mulch as a result from chipping activities.

Park Reforestation

In Spring 2011, Patriot LWM performed a riparian buffer reforestation as a mitigation effort for a community developer. Over 420 native species trees of nearly 10 different varieties were planted and protected using buck guards.

Howard County Pond Draw Down and Reforestation

Beginning in 2008, Patriot LWM was brought in on a project to restore a natural stream valley to its natural form. The area had long ago been damed and turned into a farm pond in line of its natural drainage. The first order of business was to draw down the pond and salvage the fish residing there, relocating them to a new location. After that contractors constructed a coastal plains outfall design, which once completed Patriot LWM was brought back on site to conduct a series of reforestation plantings and native seedings.

Invasive Species Management Projects

Over the past several years, many clients have realized the need to control the growing occurrences of non-native invasive plants on their property or project. Patriot LWM is licensed and insured to provide these professional services by staff with an eye for ecological restoration purposes.

Stormwater Retention Area Invasive Species Management & Native Species Establishment

In 2011 Patriot LWM was tasked with selectively removing invasive species from 2 stormwater management areas which had become dominated by a number of non-native species. The Patriot crew selectively applied herbicide to target species being very careful not to inadvertently harm established native species. One site had an oversized erosion control material impeding the growth of previous native seed mixes, which was removed by Patriot and replaced with a native seed mix, straw mulch for moisture retention and tackifier.

Montgomery County Parks Invasives Management

Patriot LWM has been a part of this ongoing project for the last 3 years and has succeeded in achieving its various goals. The parks right-of-way is 1.2 miles long and is an area where a sanitary sewer line cuts through a county park. As part of remediation, it was mandated that trees would be replanted and the site managed for invasive species for up to 7 years. Patriot LWM was brought in to backfill replant a significant portion of reforestation area originally performed by another contractor, as well as perform ongoing invasive species management of microstegium and mile-a-minute, and to perform yearly overseeding of these managed areas with native species.

Invasive Species Management – Poolesville, MD

In order to improve a forest retention area in Poolesville, MD, Patriot LWM was brought in to provide invasive species management, including honeysuckle, poison ivy, tree-of-heaven, American bittersweet, etc., and to reforest the area and replant native species groundcover. Patriot LWM cleared the site of invasive vegetation, planted native species trees like tulip poplar, red maple, flowering dogwood, etc., installed deer protection guards and watering bags, and then hydroseeded the area with a native species wildflower mix.

Project & Habitat Maintenance Projects

Sometimes certain situations arise that require a more delicate or specialty approach to meet our clients needs. Below are some projects that required special attention to detail as a standard.

Super Silt Fence Removal

For this project, our client needed to have several hundred feet super silt fence removed from an old project site. To make matters a little more complicated then a normal removal, the fencing was overgrown from years of lack of management. The fencing needed to be removed without ruining the sediment control gains that had been realized by the years of plant establishment. So Patriot LWM carefully trimmed plant species and removed the fencing by hand.

Emergency Sediment & Erosion Control

During a severe storm event, many stormwater management ponds in a community under development spilled their banks, causing a great deal of sediment to enter the stream channel and depositing within the floodplain. The following week, Hurricane Irene was forecasted to hit this area hard and compound the problems. Patriot LWM was brought in days before the hurricane to perform sediment removal on a surgical scale to bring the developer back into erosion and sediment control compliance. Patriot removed nearly 30 cubic feet of sediment from sensitive floodplain areas and will be returning in late September to overseed the floodplain areas that experienced newly deposited sediment to provide soil stabilization.

Cranberry Relocation – Crofton, MD

In 2008, Patriot LWM was brought in to perform plant relocation of American cranberry (the same species used in commercial cranberry juice and dressing production), a MD DNR listed Watchlist Species (21-100 populations in Maryland). Unfortunately, the site was going to be developed so relocation to another suitable site was important. Patriot hand removed the plants and replanted to another site.