Soldiers Delight Conservation's Year-end Wrap-up

Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc. (SDCI) enjoyed some major successes in 2024!

ZONING: On August 30 we were excited to announce that the citizens of Baltimore County were successful in opposing a request by a landowner to change the zoning of a 4.5-acre parcel adjacent to Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area from Rural Conservation to Business Major. The landowner intended to move a statewide towing business to the site, with plans to eventually expand the site to ten acres.

SDCI was opposed to any attempt to bypass the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line (URDL) which has governed development in the area for more than 50 years, and remains instrumental in protecting SDNEA. There was strong community support in opposition to the zone change, including a 1500+ signature petition circulated by community residents.

SDCI president Laura Van Scoyoc gives remarks at the CZMP community meeting August 20, 2024

SDCI’s president, Laura Van Scoyoc, testified at a community meeting August 20 as SDCI supporters packed the very large room, and the zone change was unanimously voted down by the Baltimore County Council at their quadrennial Comprehensive Zoning Map Process (CZMP) meeting on August 27.

Councilman Julius Jones, in whose district Soldiers Delight NEA lies, said it was the most active turnout he had ever seen on any issue in his more than ten years in office. We are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic backing we received from the community in support of our opposition to the zone change.

Master Naturalist and volunteer Natalie Snyder, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife & Heritage Service outreach specialist Edwin Guevara, SDCI Vice President Lynell Tobler, WH&S seasonal naturalist Ben Giraldo, and SDCI Board President Laura Van Scoyoc arrived early to set up the booth, staffed the two-hour National Night Out event, and then took it all down and carted it away afterward. Bravo to such dedicated board members and volunteers!

OUTREACH: SDCI enjoyed successful outreach this year,  including staffing a display at the Owings Mills New Town Community Association’s annual National Night Out event on August 6, our group’s eleventh year to be invited to participate. Because many residents in the Owings Mills New Town community live in homes adjacent to Soldiers Delight NEA, we consider the annual NNO event a critical opportunity to implore neighboring residents to purchase only native plants with which to landscape their yards. The seeds from common but invasive ornamentals, groundcovers and landscape specimens, several of which were displayed at our SDCI booth, are eaten (and later expelled) by birds, caught in animal fur, and carried on the wind out of neighborhood yards and into Soldiers Delight NEA and other wildlands, where they sprout and spread with abandon, crowding out irreplaceable native flora.

USGS geologist Will Vincett gave a presentation September 26, during Maryland Science Week, on the significance of serpentine bedrock, an important feature of SDNEA, to the placement of Maryland’s seismograph at Soldiers Delight NEA.

SCIENCE WEEK: Soldiers Delight NEA was featured during Maryland Science Week in September, when the secretary of Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, Joshua Kurtz, was scheduled to pay a visit to SDNEA in order to highlight the geological and botanical significance of the habitat. SDCI was there to give presentations on how SDCI was instrumental in getting the land originally set aside as a preserve in the 1950s, as well as a history of our organization and its goals for the future.

INVASIVES CONTROL: In other highlights of 2024, SDCI once again funded the salary of a dedicated invasives technician for Soldiers Delight, recorded footage of various events for future video presentations to be posted on the group’s website, and made progress on forthcoming updates to scientific papers published by the board’s ecologist, Dr. R. Wayne Tyndall.

Holding a piece of Indiangrass, Wayne Tyndall, retired DNR state restoration ecologist and current board member of SDCI, stands in the Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

Most important to highlight this year, however, are ongoing, multi-year herbivory studies, conducted by Dr. Tyndall, which add to knowledge built up year after year for more than 15 years to provide critical insight into how well conservation restoration management of the Soldiers Delight habitat is going. This crucial data is instrumental in guiding Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and the Wildlife & Heritage Service in managing Soldiers Delight’s deer population, all thanks to scientific study conducted by SDCI board member Wayne Tyndall.

DONATIONS: Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc. (SDCI) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit group, formed in 1959, whose mission is to educate the public about Soldiers Delight and to conserve and restore its rare and endangered ecosystem for future generations. We serve as the “Friends” group for the Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area in Owings Mills, Maryland, the most significant biodiversity site on any of Maryland’s State lands: it provides habitat for more than 30 rare plant and animal species, including several that occur nowhere else in Maryland.

A Natural Environment Area (NEA) is a “unit of the State Park system which is an area, ... of significant natural attraction or unique geological feature.” Soldiers Delight, as the largest remaining serpentine barrens ecosystem on the East Coast, qualifies easily. However, Soldiers Delight is more than just an NEA; it is also a State Wildlands, a designation that can only be granted by the Maryland General Assembly. Such a designation grants protections that are Maryland’s equivalent of the Federal Wilderness designation. Management activities within a Wildlands are directed at protecting or enhancing its wilderness characteristics.

Laura Van Scoyoc, left, and Lynell Tobler, are the president and vice president, respectively, of SDCI. Though they both have demanding, fulltime jobs, they've made it their mission to devote as much of their off-time as possible to help conserve Soldiers Delight for future generations.

As a group dedicated to preserving and conserving this unique habitat, SDCI meets regularly to strategize ways to improve opportunities for Soldiers Delight’s rare and endangered species to thrive. In addition to supporting Serpentine Ecosystem Restoration Program (SERP) events in winter, we provide funding for invasive species control during summer, staff outreach displays at community events to educate the public about Soldiers Delight all year long, and take every opportunity possible to teach residents about the importance of using native plants in landscaping in order to protect and support native habitats everywhere.

Our donors, sponsors and concession sales are an integral part of our continued success in carrying out our mission and helping the Soldiers Delight habitat thrive. This year we received notable donations from the following generous donors:

Donna Shoemaker
Wachs Family Giving Fund
Owings Mills New Town Community Association
Horticultural Society of Maryland
Franklin Garden Club

To these and other donors to Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc., your generosity in 2024 has been the cornerstone of Soldier Delight Conservation, Inc.’s efforts to preserve and protect one of Maryland’s most unique ecosystems. Your donations have empowered us to continue vital conservation projects, safeguard endangered habitats, and educate future generations about the importance of environmental stewardship.

Thanks to your support, we've made meaningful progress in restoring native grasslands, protecting rare flora and fauna, and ensuring that the beauty of Soldiers Delight remains for years to come. Your commitment to this cause inspires us daily, and we are profoundly grateful for your partnership in this critical mission. Together, we are making a lasting difference. Thank you for standing with us.