Representatives from the Lower Shore Land Trust, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service were at the Berlin Library last week to update Worcester County residents about the state’s acquisition and ongoing transformation work at the old Bay Club Golf Course property.

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The former Bay Club Golf Course is being transformed into a Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property as officials work to establish trails and pollinator meadows, restore wetlands and enhance recreation space.

Last week, the Lower Shore Land Trust, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting natural resources and wildlife habitat, invited community members to an information session about the DNR’s purchase of the Bay Club golf course property on Libertytown Road outside Berlin.

In 2023, the state acquired the 672-acre property to be managed by the Maryland Forest Service to provide water quality and habitat benefits and create opportunities for public recreation, such as walking, horseback riding, hunting, bird watching, and cycling.

Leaders of the initiative were present at the Jan. 16 information session, providing project updates and outlining their mission with the Bay Club transformation.

Alex Clark of the state Forest Service said the work already completed at the site includes the removal of buildings and pavement as a condition of the acquisition, the majority of the parking lot construction, and planting trees across 62 acres. Officials have also coordinated with the Berlin and Ocean Pines fire companies to provide them with access to the property in the case of emergencies.

Still to come are some finishing touches on the parking area, additional signs and more cleanup, especially collecting all the golf balls that have found their way into the space’s ponds. In addition, DNR engineers are making sure the property’s bridges are structurally sound.

“We want to make sure that if you put a horse on [the bridges], it’s not going to fall through,” Clark said.

Officials are looking to change the name of the property. Clark said renaming suggestions are now being welcomed from community members. The forest service representative maintained that any update to the title must be approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works, comprised of Gov. Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis, and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.

Leah Franzleubbers of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service told the audience that the restoration of the wetlands on the parcel is environmentally vital.

“The main animating issue behind this is the sheer scale of wetlands loss that we have experienced both in the US and Maryland, historically,” Franzleubber said. “Prior to European settlement, a lot of the Eastern Shore would have been largely forest, and a lot of that would have been forested wetlands … We do restoration because wetlands are important for clean air, clean water, and species’ biodiversity, and they can be beautiful and productive areas for human recreation.”

The Bay Club acreage will see seasonal wetlands on the golf course fairways, an enhancement to the existing golf course ponds, using ditch plugs to restore the wet forest in the southern portion of the property, and semi-permanent wetlands in the former agricultural areas.

Franzleubbers said the seasonal wetlands will consist of shallow excavation in the fairway areas to produce areas that are “primarily driven by groundwater and precipitation.” These spaces will likely be dry in the summer and fall but wet in the winter and spring.

“This shortened wet time allows a different kind of species to inhabit them than if you had a pond that’s wet all year ‘round,” the USFWS representative said.

This excavation project will also generate a good bit of material that will then be used to enhance the existing golf course ponds, such as reducing their depth and adding some islands. This will allow different species of plants to grow in those areas.

“They dig the golf course primarily for aesthetic value,” Franzleubbers noted. “So they are really deep, very flat on that bottom, so we will be mixing that up, adding some differences in the topography.”

Franzleubbers said the forested areas have ditches that were put in by the previous landowners in an attempt to drain the woods. To remedy this, her team will install earth and ditch plugs to keep the wooded area saturated like it once was and keep the roots wet. Additionally, semi-permanent wetlands, which will be damp for more of the year than the seasonal ones, will be established in the agricultural areas.

“Our intent with this project is to seamlessly integrate our wetland restoration activities within the other restoration activities that the Lower Shore Land Trust and the Maryland Forest Service are doing to create a complex of varied upland and wetland habitat that can benefit wildlife, but also is a wonderful place for humans to enjoy for recreation,” Franzleubbers said.

Representatives said they can be contacted with questions and suggestions. Clark can be reached at alexander.clark@maryland.gov, Franzleubbers at leahfranzluebbers@fws.gov, and Matt Heim, Jared Parks, and Beth Sheppard of the Lower Shore Land Trust at info@LowerShoreLandTrust.org.

The Lower Shore Land Trust is hosting the same information session again on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Berlin Library from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.