Welcome Watershed Rangers!

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The Prettyboy Watershed now has rangers who will patrol the Baltimore City owned property that surrounds the Prettyboy Reservoir. However they can also act to enforce the laws of Maryland and the City and County of Baltimore in areas off reservoir property. They are commissioned police officers that will be looking out for illegal boating, swimming, dumping, ATV use, camping and drug and alcohol use. In addition the rangers will wear a second hat. They will serve as an educational resource for resident and visitors and will be available to answer questions about the watershed.


In an emergency always call 911. Otherwise contact the rangers at 410.887.2222 to report suspicious or illegal activity. When making this call specifically ask for a Prettyboy Watershed Ranger. Note that the fire roads have been numbered so you can use this information to direct the rangers to a particular site.

Reservoir Forest Management Study

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A three year study has been initiated to see what happens to 10 acres of forest in the Prettyboy watershed when trees are thinned and deer are kept away. The results of the study will measure the forest's ability to regenerate naturally and could become a model for a forest management program for the entire watershed.

Who is doing it: The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service and Baltimore City's Department of Public Works.

The current situation: The Prettyboy contains thousands of acres of pines nearing the end of their lives (see photo above). The pines were planted in the 1940’s and are now so dense that little sunlight reaches the forest floor. Thus significant tree regeneration is inhibited. What does grow is often eaten by deer or engulfed by invasive plant species. Because the pines are a monoculture of the same age there will be significant tree loss in the near future.

The study: Three, 3 acre plots were chosen. One contains white pines that have been thinned; one consists of an oak stand that has been thinned; and the third consists of Virginia pines that were all removed but the hardwoods were left standing. In each section a tenth of an acre was surrounded by an eight-foot deer fence so the results of deer grazing can be seen.

Potential issues affecting regeneration: Deer browse and proliferation of invasive species crowding out the emergent hardwoods. The results of the study should reveal this impact.

Welcome To Our New Website!

Many thanks to ThinkShout and Water Words That Work for helping us create this site and to the Chesapeake Bay Trust for providing us with a scholarship to learn how to develop and manage this site on our own. Also, thanks to the other watershed groups who participated in the first "Website Sprint" ever offered at the annual Chesapeake Watershed Conference. We pretty much all started out as neophytes so sharing in the learning experience was most helpful.