A Quest to Bring Back Habitat for Grassland Birds

Jake Solyst, Chesapeake Bay Program • June 18, 2024

Washington College and Queen Anne’s County transition farmland to habitat at Conquest Preserve


For decades, the call of the Northern bobwhite quail was synonymous with life on the farm along Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The bird’s pleasing chirp, a whistling bob-white that sweeps upward in pitch, would ring across the field during spring breeding season, around the time when farmers planted their crops.

 

“Quail are very vocal and easy to see when they're around, so people want to hear and see them again,” said Dan Small, coordinator of the Natural Lands Project at Washington College.

 

Through the Natural Lands Project, which is run out of Washington College’s Center for Environment & Society, Small is working with public and private landowners to make room for grassland birds like the bobwhite quail. Unlike birds that prefer to live in dense forests or along shorelines, species such as quail, field sparrows and golden winged warblers require early successional habitat. This is essentially meadows and field where young trees, shrubs, and other plants grow. The edges of forests are also preferred by these species, depending on the time of year.

 

“During the nesting season they want the big open grassland and diverse meadow habitat for nesting. But then in the winter, they want winter cover,” said Small.


Watch how Small and his team helped restore a similar grassland at Washington College's Chester River Field Research Station at Chino Farms.


Farms were once the perfect place for successional habitat. Farmers would leave areas at the edge of their farm empty, known as fallow land, where native grasses, shrubs, and young trees would grow. But starting in the 1940s, farmers began planting crops and including pasture all the way to the edge of the property, usually at a forest or riverbank.

 

Today, Small says that many landowners are encouraged to bring back some of that habitat at the edge of their property when they find out how it benefits bobwhite quail. He’s built much of the Natural Lands Project around the idea that farmers are attached to the nostalgia of grassland birds, which were once abundant on the Eastern Shore.

 

“Farmers are often willing to make changes to their land, to their properties, to support quail,” said Small.




One of the newer and largest examples of turning farmland into successional habitat can be found at Conquest Preserve in Centreville, Maryland. The 758-acre property is public land, not private, and instead of using the edge of a farm to establish successional plants, the entire farm has been turned into a mosaic of habitats, successional included.

 

Since 2019, Washington College has been working with Queen Anne’s County on making this transition. The property was gifted to the county decades earlier by the Wilson family and included a beach and nearly 378 acres of farmland. Washington College converted an initial 212 acres of farmland into natural habitat with support from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, and they now are helping to manage the remaining farmland for habitat.

 


Today, all 758 acres of Conquest Preserve have been turned into wetlands, forest and meadows, the latter two being the habitat most used amongst quail. The native grasses and wildflowers within the meadow, which burst with color during the summer, offer large open areas for the bird to nest, while the edges of the forest is where they can shelter during winter.

 

“The numbers of quail out here [have] increased each year,” said Small.

 

But the meadows aren’t just popular among quail. Other grassland birds like grasshopper sparrows, field sparrows, common yellowthroat, blue grosbeaks, and indigo buntings also use the habitat. This has made the preserve popular amongst birders.

 

In October 2023, two rare LeConte’s sparrows arrived at the property and stayed for several weeks. “There were probably 300 birders that came to look for this species,” said Small. One of those birders, so delighted with the park, ended up donating money for wildflower seeds to be spread in the meadow.

 

According to Small, filling the meadow with diverse plants and wildflowers is key to creating good habitat. “Wildflowers or anything that's producing nectar or pollen are going to attract pollinators or other insects. That in turn provides a food source [that’s] high in protein for grassland birds or birds in general,” said Small.

 


One roadblock is the amount of cool season grasses that continue to grow on the property. Cool season grasses, which are typically found in people’s yards, are often planted because they don’t die over the winter. The downside is that out in the wild, these grasses don’t leave room for a greater diversity of plants to grow in, limiting the amount of insect life.

 

Warm season grasses on the other hand, which tend to be native to the region, grow in clumps that leave space for wildflowers and other plants to grow in. “Generally, the native grasses facilitate more diversity than these non-native [grasses] tend to,” said Small.

 

Another challenge is that in order to keep the meadow as early succession habitat, Small and his team have to limit the growth of trees like eastern red cedar that will grow too tall and ruin that low-to-the-ground vegetation. To do so they use controlled burns — a common environmental practice where taller trees and shrubs are burned down. The natural growth cycle of native grasses actually includes fires, so the controlled burns help to reinvigorate the vegetation while making room for more plant diversity.

 

Every couple of years, the meadows are burned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, typically from February to March to leave as much habitat during winter as possible.

 

“It greens up pretty quickly,” said Kathy Thornton, a field technician who works on the Washington College team. “Some of the wildflowers, just two weeks after it burns, you'll see them starting to grow up.



Outside the meadow, Small’s team also manages five wetlands, totaling 32.3 acres, which they restored in 2020 with partners from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While some songbirds and mammals will visit the wetlands, they’re primarily for the region’s waterfowl, such as geese, wood ducks, and teals. According to Small, a handful of waterfowl will use the wetland during the summer for breeding, but over winter, hundreds will stop by as they migrate South.

 

“The diving ducks are super numerous off the beach in the winter months as well,” said Small.

 

Bordering the meadows and wetlands are 175 acres of forest, 38 of which were planted by Washington College. The team planted over existing farmland, filling in a large hole in the woods to provide continuous habitat for forest-dwelling species. “The was an idea to help some of those woodland birds, too,” said Small.

 

The preserve’s latest edition is a five-acre food forest, a space that offers food for not just wildlife, but people as well.




In 2020, the Washington College team began planting rows of fruit-producing trees and shrubs in a fenced area, welcoming the public to come and pick from them. The food forest includes a variety of native plants like American plum, persimmon, paw paw, hazelnut, and black chokeberry that start producing in the late spring and summer. Before the fruit comes in, flowers and leaves emerge that are a great source of sustenance for pollinators and invertebrates, which are in turn food for birds. Because these are native plants, they tend to require less water and fertilizer, can offer preferable habitat to other local insects and even produce better quality food for wildlife.

 

“There are studies [showing that] native fruits have better nutritional content than some of the non-native fruits,” said Thornton.

 

At the end of the day, all of these habitats help keep the two rivers that border the property — the Chester and Corsica rivers — healthy, which means cleaner water flowing to the Chesapeake Bay. Wetlands, meadows, and forests soak up stormwater runoff coming from the surrounding area and help keep the beach from eroding. Estimates show that the land practices at Conquest Preserve have resulted in a reduction of 1,094 pounds of nitrogen, 73 pounds of phosphorus, and 42,890 pounds of sediment that would otherwise have flowed into the water.

 

“Our projects serve a dual function where we're helping to improve water quality,” said Small.

 

The success of Conquest Preserve is being replicated all across the Eastern Shore.

 

Through the Natural Lands Project, Washington College and other partners are creating meadow and forest habitat on private properties like farms, as well as public areas such as Cypress Branch State Park, Tuckahoe State Park, and Sassafras Natural Resource Management Area. At Sassafras alone, Small says his team put in about 160 acres of meadow and 120 acres of trees.

 

But at Conquest Preserve, the meadow remains the biggest draw for grassland birds and people coming to appreciate them.

 

“You can't go anywhere else on the Eastern Shore and see this much open grassland habitat,” said Small. “You can go down the lower shore and see open marshland habitat, but not grassland habitat like this.”

 

 

Jake Solyst has been telling environmental stories about the Chesapeake Bay watershed for nearly five years.

 

The Chesapeake Bay Program is a unique regional partnership that has led and directed the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay since 1983.

 

Common Sense for the Eastern Shore

“Liberty: The Promises and Paradoxes”

By John Christie • March 3, 2026
Just up the road from Maryland’s Eastern Shore lies Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. Administered by the National Park Service (NPS), the park is dedicated to the preservation of historical structures and properties associated with the American Revolution and the founding and growth of the United States. The centerpiece of the park is Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers in the late 18th century. Nearby is the Liberty Bell, an iconic symbol of American independence, displayed in the Liberty Bell Center. In the park as well is what’s called the President’s House, an exhibit on the site of the first official residence of the president of the United States. President Washington occupied the Philadelphia President's House from 1790 to 1797. His successor, John Adams, lived there from 1797 to 1800. Although the original structure no longer exists, the exhibit includes a view of the foundation of the house where our first two presidents lived with their families. Research has turned up information about nine enslaved Africans owned by Washington and brought to Philadelphia’s presidential residence during his time there. To commemorate the lives of those slaves, their names are etched in a wall in the exhibit: Oney Judge, Austin, Christopher Sheels, Giles, Hercules Posey, Joe Richardson, Moll, Paris, and Richmond. The site includes exhibits on how their struggles for freedom represented this country’s progress away from the horrors of slavery and into an era where the founding ideals of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” could be achieved for every American. An intended theme of the President’s House exhibit is “Liberty: The Promises and Paradoxes.” “The promises of liberty and equality granted in the founding documents present a paradox: not only were they ideals to strive for but they were unfulfilled promises for people who struggled to be fully included as citizens of our nation.” ------------------------------------------------------------ On March 27, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” EO14253 stated in part: “Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” In order to “restore truth in American history,” EO14253 directed the Secretary of the Interior to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior's jurisdiction do not contain descriptions or other content that “inappropriately disparage” Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times) and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people. In response to this order, on January 22, 2026, the NPS suddenly removed 34 educational panels and video exhibits that referenced slavery and provided information about the individuals enslaved at the President’s House. The day these exhibits were removed, the City of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Philadelphia against Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the Department of the Interior, Acting Director of NPS Jessica Bowron, and the NPS itself, claiming that the removal of the displays was unlawful agency action. On February 16, Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered the Trump administration to restore the slavery-related exhibits at the national park site, holding that NPS lacked the power “to dissemble and disassemble historical truths.” In court, the government asserted it alone had the power to erase, alter, remove, and hide historical accounts on taxpayer and local government-funded monuments within its control. According to Judge Rufe, to claim that “truth is no longer self-evident, but rather the property of the elected chief magistrate and his appointees and delegees, at his whim to be scraped clean, hidden, or overwritten” comes right out of George Orwell’s 1984. In her opinion, no government agency can “arbitrarily” decide what is true, “based on its own whims or the whims of the new leadership.” “It is not disputed that President Washington owned slaves.” Moreover, Judge Rufe determined the removed displays were not mere decorations to be taken down and redisplayed; rather, they were a memorial to the “men, women, and children of African descent who lived, worked, and died as enslaved people in the United States of America.” Each person who visits the President’s House and does not learn of the realities of founding-era slavery receives a false account of this country’s history. Removal of the crucial interpretive materials strips the site of that truth and deprives the public of educational opportunities designed to be free and accessible. For Judge Rufe, the abrupt elimination of historically significant educational material is like “pulling pages out of a history book with a razor.” John Christie was for many years a senior partner in a large Washington, D.C. law firm. He specialized in anti-trust litigation and developed a keen interest in the U.S. Supreme Court about which he lectures and writes.

Run for Something Endorses Megan Outten for Wicomico County Council District 7

By CSES Staff • March 3, 2026
Last month, Megan Outten, candidate for Wicomico County Council District 7, was endorsed by Run for Something (RFS), a national organization that recruits and supports the next generation of progressive leaders for state and local office. The organization’s slate of newly endorsed candidates includes young, diverse progressives from across the country who are ready to lead in their communities. Outten said, “This campaign has always been powered by our community. By parents, teachers, small business owners, and neighbors who know we can do better. Run for Something’s endorsement affirms what we already know here in Wicomico: when everyday people step up to lead, we change what’s possible. Together, we’re building the kind of local government that plans ahead, listens first, and puts families at the center of every decision.” “Bold leaders like Megan are at the forefront of the fight for our rights and freedoms at a time when they have never faced greater threats,” said Amanda Litman, Co-Founder and President of Run for Something. “Run for Something is proud to endorse Megan Outten as part of our latest class of young leaders working to secure lasting change in their communities.” Outten’s platform is rooted in real data and shaped by direct community engagement. With Wicomico now the fastest-growing school system on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and 85% of students relying on additional resources, she points to the county’s lagging investment as a key area for action. “Strong schools lead to strong jobs, thriving industries, and healthier communities,” Outten said. “Our schools and infrastructure are at a tipping point. We need leadership that stops reacting after things break — and starts investing before they do.” About Run for Something: Amanda Litman and Ross Morales Rocketto launched RFS in January 2017 with a simple premise: to help young, diverse progressives run for state and local offices in order to build a bench for the future. RFS aims to lower the barriers to entry for these candidates by helping them with organization building, connecting them with a robust community, and providing access to the trainings they need to be successful. Since its founding, RFS has helped elect over 1,600 candidates across the country — including 43 candidates in red-to-blue seats in the 2025 election cycle. Today, RFS has the largest database of any Democratic organization, with nearly 80,000 people reaching out since November 2024 with interest in running for office. In total, over 250,000 young people from across the country have signed up to run and gained access to RFS’s resources since the organization launched — a powerful signal that a new generation is showing up to lead.

DHS is Violating a Court Order that Prohibits Warrantless Immigration Arrests in D.C., New Filing Alleges

By Liam Bowman, Capital News Service • March 3, 2026
The Trump administration is still arresting immigrants in D.C. without warrants or probable cause despite a judge’s previous ruling that the practice was unlawful, a coalition of immigrant rights groups alleges in a recent court filing. A federal judge ruled in December that the administration’s use of warrantless immigration arrests likely violated federal law and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting such arrests without probable cause. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups and four migrants who were arrested without warrants last year during President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in the capital. But federal immigration officials in D.C. are failing to comply with that order, continuing to make warrantless arrests “without the required probable cause determinations,” according to the Feb. 19 motion by plaintiffs. The lawsuit alleges immigration authorities began operating under an “arrest first, ask questions later” policy to comply with arrest quotas imposed after Trump took office last year — and started to ignore the probable cause requirements under immigration law. Click here to read the rest of the article , on the Capital News Service website. The article also details the arrest stories of the plaintiffs who were tricked, and concerns about D.C. police cooperation with immigration authorities. Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For 26 years, they have provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues of import to Marylanders.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free”

By John Christie • February 17, 2026
These are the words from Emma Lazarus’ famous 1883 sonnet “The New Colossus” inscribed on a bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. In 1990, Congress reaffirmed this vision of America by establishing the Temporary Protected Status program. TPS is designed to provide humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. In its present form, the TPS legislation gives the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security responsibility for the program. However, the legislation prescribes the kind of country conditions severe enough to warrant a designation under the statute, the specific time frame for any such designation, and the process for periodic review of a TPS designation which could culminate in termination or extension. All initial TPS designations last from six to eighteen months. Before the expiration of a designation, the statute mandates that the Secretary shall review the conditions in the foreign state to decide if the conditions for the designation continue to be met, following consultation with appropriate agencies of the government. Extension is the default; the designation “shall be extended” unless the secretary affirmatively determines that conditions are “no longer met.” ------------------------------------------------------------- A massive earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010, and precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Shortly after, then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, after consultation with the State Department, designated Haiti for TPS due to “extraordinary conditions.” Haitian nationals in the United States continuously as of January 12, 2010, could thus apply for TPS, and obtained the right to remain and work in the U.S. while Haiti maintained its TPS designation. Napolitano set the initial TPS designation for 18 months. As Haiti’s deterioration worsened, successive DHS secretaries have extended this program. Gang violence and kidnappings have spiked. In 2021, a group of assailants killed Haiti’s then-President Jovenel Moïse. In 2023, another catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti. In 2024, in response to these conditions, then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again extended and redesignated Haiti for TPS, this time effective through February 3, 2026. During the 2024 election cycle, the GOP candidate, Donald Trump clearly indicated that time had not tempered his views on Haiti, characterized by him as a “shithole country” during his first term. He stated that when elected, he would “absolutely revoke” Haiti’s TPS designation and send “them back to their country.” On December 1, 2025, Kristi Noem, DHS secretary in the second Trump administration, announced, “I just met with the president. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom, not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owned to Americans. We don’t want them, not one.” So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. Five Haitian TPS holders filed suit in federal court in Washington initially seeking an injunction against the termination of the Haitian TPS program pending the completion of the litigation. These plaintiff TPS holders are not “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, a software engineer at a national bank, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, a college economics major, and a full-time registered nurse. The case was assigned to district court judge Ana Reyes who granted the plaintiffs’ injunction request on February 2, 2026, by way of an 83-page opinion. The plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision because of hostility to non-white immigrants. According to Judge Reyes, “This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk — twelve countries up, twelve countries down.” Judge Reyes also decided that Noem’s conclusion that Haiti (a majority non-white country) faces only “merely concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm” of “suffering and staggering” humanitarian toll described in page after page of the record in the case. In Judge Reyes’ view, Noem also ignored Congress’s requirement that she review the conditions in Haiti “after consulting with appropriate agencies.” Indeed, the record indicates she did not consult other agencies at all. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here and legally so. And though Noem states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” Judge Reyes concluded Noem ignored altogether the billions that Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. The administration’s primary response in the litigation has been to assert that the TPS statute gives Secretary Noem “unbounded” discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. Yes, Judge Reyes acknowledges, the statute does grant Noem some discretion. But, in Judge Reyes’ opinion, “not unbounded discretion.” To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system; in Judge Reyes’ words, "to replace executive whim with statutory predictability.” The administration also argued that the harms to Haitian TPS holders were “speculative” if they are forced to return to Haiti. Because the State Department presently warns, “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason,” the administration asserts that harm is “speculative” only because DHS “might not” remove them. However, according to Judge Reyes, this argument fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “We don’t want them. Not one.” The public interest also favors the injunction, in the opinion of Judge Reyes. Secretary Noem complains of the strains that unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Noem’s answer is to turn 352,959 lawful TPS Haitian immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. Noem complains of strains to our economy; her answer is to turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. Noem complains of strains to our health care system. Noem’s answer is to turn the insured into the uninsured. “This approach is many things – but the public interest is not one of them,” according to Judge Reyes. The opinion of Judge Reyes concludes: “Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the law to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that. The administration has already appealed. John Christie was for many years a senior partner in a large Washington, D.C. law firm. He specialized in anti-trust litigation and developed a keen interest in the U.S. Supreme Court about which he lectures and writes.

Gov. Moore Signs Legislation to Prohibit Md. Jurisdictions from Deputizing Officers for Federal Civil Immigration Enforcement

By Office of the Governor • February 16, 2026
Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation on February 17, 2026, to prohibit State and local jurisdictions from deputizing officers for federal civil immigration enforcement activity. The law, created under SB 245/HB 444 , is effective immediately. “In Maryland, we defend Constitutional rights and Constitutional policing — and we will not allow untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable ICE agents to deputize our law enforcement officers,” Moore said. “This bill draws a clear line: we will continue to work with federal partners to hold violent offenders accountable, but we refuse to blur the lines between state and federal authority in ways that undermine the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Maryland is a community of immigrants, and that's one of our greatest strengths because this country is incomplete without each and every one of us.” “As an immigrant, this bill is deeply personal to me,” said Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller. “Immigrants make Maryland stronger every day, and our communities are safer when everyone feels protected and valued. This legislation ensures that our law enforcement resources remain focused on keeping Marylanders safe, not on actions that create fear in our neighborhoods. I thank the bill sponsors and Governor Moore for their leadership in ensuring Maryland remains a place where dignity and opportunity go hand in hand.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, established its 287(g) program to authorize local law enforcement officials to perform federal civil immigration enforcement functions under ICE’s oversight. Under SB 245/HB 444, State and local jurisdictions in Maryland are prohibited from engaging in such agreements. Any local jurisdictions with standing 287(g) agreements must terminate them immediately. The legislation does not: Authorize the release of criminals Impact State policies and practices in response to immigration detainers that are issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Prevent the State or local jurisdictions from continuing to work with the federal government on shared public safety priorities, including the removal of violent criminals who pose a risk to public safety Prevent State or local jurisdictions from continuing to notify ICE about the impending release of an individual of interest from custody or from coordinating the safe transfer of custody within constitutional limits State and local law enforcement will also maintain the ability to work with the federal government on criminal investigations and joint task forces unrelated to civil immigration enforcement. Any individual who is charged with a crime is entitled to due process and, if convicted, must serve their sentence.

Farmers Now Owe a Lot More for Health Insurance

By Sarah Boden and Drew Hawkins, Gulf States Newsroom • February 16, 2026
And now, the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that many Americans, including farmers, relied on to purchase health insurance are gone, having expired at the end of December.
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