Introduction

The Merkle Wildlife Management Area is a nine acre forested wetland creation located in the Patuxent River Area - Middle Patuxent River (02-13-11-06) watershed within Prince George's County.   

Pre-constuction conditions

During construction

Status

In 2007, MDE conducted intensive site monitoring which included installing IRIS tubes, evaluating the soil, monitoring hydrology multiple times during the spring growing season, and scoring the site.  The installed iris tubes and field observations demonstrated that there was sufficient wetland hydrology, the vegetation was dominated by hydrophytic species, and the soils were hydric in some places.  While some of the site was classified as being too dry for the desired wetland community, the majority of the site has established into a high-functioning wetland.  The University of Maryland CRABBS group also monitored this site.  Using the newly developed Mitigation Site Scoring Method, MDE gave this site the high score of 92/100. This site had some invasive plant species, but still provides excellent wetland functions including filtering sediment/pollutants, furnishing organic matter to the aquatic food web, reducing floodwater flow, educational/aesthetic qualities, and wildlife habitat.  

Merkle wetland mitigation - 2007