Galena Pollinator Habitat

About the Program
The Galena Pollinator Habitat is located near the Bayer facility in Galena, Maryland. The project, Native Biodiversity and Pollinator Meadow at Turner Creek, is establishing a native pollinator meadow in a one-half acre old field where a previous attempt at establishing a meadow had failed. Two employees and several partners carry out different activities to plan, implement and maintain the project.

Practices and Impacts

• The primary employee who initiated the project plans and coordinates with partners and conducts outreach, planting and monitoring. Another employee helps with planting and outreach.
• Local ecotypes of plants were selected for planting where possible.
• The primary employee managing the project monitors the site several times annually during the growing season. Native and non-native plants are identified, and the percent of each species is recorded.
• The number of species recorded has doubled since the project started, while the number of native species has nearly tripled.
• Species that did not do well are identified, and seeds of those species are reordered for future planting.
• State and county government agencies were contacted for assistance with advanced planning, important technical advice and support.
• The site is owned by a local land conservancy that also hosts environmental education. A future plan is environmental education visits to the project area.
• A field day for the community was hosted at the site to talk about the importance of pollinators and biodiversity.