ANNOUNCER: This program is made by MPT to enrich the diverse communities throughout our state and is made possible by the generous support of our members.

Thank you!

NARRATOR: Coming up... (uh, uh, uh, uh) Birders with a purpose, (whoaaa) Securing a future for Maryland's rare turtles... (water rippling) And, adventure on the precipice, next!

Outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

(upbeat music) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ DARA WILSON: It's like a hunt, because it's clearly there.

Oh, my god, is that it?

Is that it?

Oh, my god, that's it.

Do you see it?

Do you see it on that branch?

NARRATOR: This breezy May morning, birder, Dara Wilson, and her trusty companion, Murphy, watch and listen from her parents' backyard in Silver Spring.

DARA: There's an app that allows you to hold...

If you hold up your phone and there's a bird sound going off, it'll match the call or the song.

It'll essentially tell you what you're listening to.

I hope you can hear that.

That "Doo, doo, doo, doo," that's a Great Crested Flycatcher.

NARRATOR: Here, she photographs her avian visitors, documenting the many species drawn in by the promise of a free lunch.

A Great Crested Flycatcher... A Bluejay... A White Breated Nuthatch... DARA: It took me a while to like to start calling myself a birder, but it was only until I had a very full circle moment, where it's like, "Wow, I understand how they move through the world."

And it just let me see it in a whole different way.

NARRATOR: Whether, on land or on the water, at one of her favorite local birding haunts, secluded Scott's Cove, along the Patuxent River in Prince George's County.

DARA: I came here, because I wanted to see some birds that you'll typically see on the water.

So, I'm looking for some Belted Kingfishers.

I'm looking for some, some osprey, waterbirds.

NARRATOR: She's also on the lookout for Red-winged Blackbirds, a lovely feathered creature with a distinct voice and flair.

They're the theme bird for this year's Black Birders Week.

DARA: This bird, I think, speaks to like the Black experience of like...style.

This is a very stylish bird, and we, as Black people, we're pretty stylish, I must say, I'm a little biased with that.

NARRATOR: An annual initiative that celebrates and encourages Black nature enthusiasts, Black Birders Week is the brainchild of the Black AF in STEM Collective, of which Dara is the co-chair.

It was established in May of 2020, in response to an incident that played out on social media and in international news.

CHRISTIAN COOPER: Please don't come close to me.

Please don't come close to me.

NARRATOR: On the same day as George Floyd's murder in Minnesota, a Black man was birding in New York Central Park, when a white woman called the police on him.

CHRISTIAN: Please call the cops.

AMY COOPER: I'm going to tell them there's an African-American man threatening my life.

CHRISTIAN: Please tell them whatever you like.

DARA: I have so many feelings about that.

The biggest one I feel is gratitude.

Black people, like myself included, we've been complaining about systemic injustices and like oppression.

It's one thing to say it, but to finally see it.

And that's what that opportunity did, it brought a face to this movement.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: On a balmy Sunday morning in June, multiple generations of birders converge on this College Park parking garage, for the annual Black Birders Week Bird Walk.

Their excitement is palpable... WOMAN IN GARAGE: I haven't seen the female... NARRATOR: ...as they prepare to make the short trek to Lake Artemesia, the manmade 38-acre reservoir.

MARIA ELENA MONTERO: Oh, they have Baltimore oriole on here, but not the orchard oriole.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's amazing to see them dive.

NARRATOR: Avid birder, Maria Elena Montero, has come to the Bird Walk all three years.

This year, she's a leader.

MARIA: He's almost at the end of that branch.

WOMAN: The one with the leaves on it?

MARIA: I'm excited that there are more people, more birders of color, more outdoor enthusiasts of color, encouraging other people of color to be out.

NARRATOR: Located along the Atlantic Flyway, Lake Artemesia offers an important stopover habitat for migrating birds.

According to Tykee James, Co-Chair of Black Birders Week, in the DMV.

TYKEE JAMES: So, in the Atlantic Flyaway, we get to host a lot of birds that go into trees, like warblers, a lot of insect eating birds.

We're getting a lot of great migration, a lot of great biodiversity.

NARRATOR: An advocate for equitable access to nature, Tykee believes the outdoors and, by association, birding provides an opportunity to connect to parts of his own ancestry.

TYKEE: We can think about how Harriet Tubman used the sound of the barred owl to signal times to go or times to stop or times to shut up.

Think about how we hear a barred owl today.

That present moment with it is you know, being a part of that history.

NARRATOR: But birding doesn't just link these watchers to the past.

It also offers the promise of building a brighter future.

It's bird banding day at South Baltimore's Masonville Cove, an urban wildlife refuge on the banks of the Patapsco River.

MIKE HUDSON: Wing is 52.

He's very recognizable, because he has no tail.

He lost his tail.

NARRATOR: For weeks, these scientists and citizen scientists alike have been busy tagging and identifying migrating birds.

DR. ELA-SITA CARPENTER: Once, we get it out of the nets, we usually then place it in a bag, just to kind of minimize the stress again, especially with some birds that are a bit more screamy and get stressed out more than others.

So...definitely, get to see their personalities up close.

NARRATOR: Dr. Ela-Sita Carpenter is an urban wildlife biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

A passionate birder herself, she studies how wildlife interacts with public spaces and people.

Today, the team retrieves the birds from nets, measures them, and checks them for encounters with predators before placing a small metal ID band on them, collecting data that will offer researchers a better understanding of bird life here in the city.

DR. ELA-SITA: It took a surprising amount of time for me to realize that there's a lot of wildlife and nature here in cities, and that it's worth studying, and that it matters and that it's really important, because so many people live in cities that that's a prime place to focus you know, efforts on connecting people with nature or reconnecting people with nature.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: In all, 270 species have made contact with banding stations across the city.

Ela-Sita herself has helped to identify about 30 species.

DR. ELA-SITA: Things are going wrong with bird species.

That means that there's stuff that could be going wrong with us, especially in urban spaces.

It's kind of a measure of like how well we're taking care of the world we live in.

(whoaaa) NARRATOR: And by getting local communities up close and personal with wildlife, these banding exercises, like Black Birders Week, help amplify the important message that nature is everywhere and for everyone.

NARRATOR: Here, we are now, several years later, just really showcasing the variety of Black identities in outdoor spaces and outdoor professions, and it's a beautiful thing to be a part of and it's a beautiful thing to witness.

♪ ♪ (music fades out) (somber music) ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Perched on a patch of moss, in a nondescript wet meadow in Carroll County, North America's tiniest turtle basks peacefully in the sun, the very picture of a carefree existence, but looks can be deceiving.

It is mid-May, and a team of volunteers, led by Department of Natural Resources biologist, Beth Schlimm, sets up shop in the middle of this muddy clearing, a unique type of wetland that's home to an equally unique species, the diminutive bog turtle.

BETH SCHLIMM: Make sure you hug that shrub line, because it was nice and wet last time we were here.

If you find a turtle, call and I'll be there with a bucket in a minute or two.

We're here at one of our long-term monitoring bog turtle sites today, to do an updated population survey.

NARRATOR: Traversing the wetland is no easy task, but the reward is well worth it.

VOLUNTEER: Quick find.

BETH: So, this individual was on the surface, so we'll note that it was basking in the open and surrounded by low grass and dead vegetation.

We flag the locations of all of our turtles, so at the end of the day, we can get them back to the exact location where they were found.

NARRATOR: Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1997, these pint-sized reptiles have been monitored here in Maryland since the seventies, largely through surveys like this one.

BETH: We typically do a walkthrough survey, just to kind of see who we can find on the surface before we start digging around in the mud, looking for turtles that haven't quite made it up to bask yet.

VOLUNTEER #2: And so, it begins.

NARRATOR: This latter process, appropriately dubbed muddling.

BETH: Bog turtles require these open canopy wetlands, so they need shallow water.

They spend a lot of time burrowed down in the mud, but really, the most important things are the wetland is wet throughout the year.

And they really need an open canopy structure.

Loss of wetland habitat for bog turtles is largely due to development and fragmentation within the landscape surrounding those wetlands.

NARRATOR: As development encroaches, the hydrology of the landscape changes, the muck dries up, and the turtles disappear.

But judging by the number of turtles in buckets today, this particular site remains suitably soggy.

VOLUNTEER: Two, three, four years old.

BETH: So, we're going to go ahead and get the weight and some shell measurements.

NARRATOR: They also mark the shells of first time captures, in order to keep track of who's who and who's new.

BETH: So, when we come back in you know, three or four years, we will hopefully be recapturing a lot of the same individuals, and so, we get information on longevity.

We catch new turtles hopefully every time, so we get an idea of reproduction rate for this site.

The general trend across the range is that populations are declining.

NARRATOR: And stronghold sites like this one owe their health to active management.

(hum of weed whacker) Several months later, the loud whine of weed whackers interrupts an otherwise tranquil July morning.

(hum of weed whacker) Beth and her crew are visiting a wetland threatened, not by highways or houses, but by plants.

BETH: We're specifically focusing on the cattail in the wetland.

It can grow dense enough that it creates shady conditions that just aren't conducive to the bog turtles that live here.

Historically, there would've been natural disturbance that would've maintained the open canopy structure of these wetlands, and that would've been you know, grazing from animals or beaver coming through.

Those disturbances are not as common on the landscape anymore.

NARRATOR: So, they're filling in for mother nature, cutting the cattails and applying herbicide directly to the stems.

BETH: There's not a lot of overspray and really, little to no collateral damage.

NARRATOR: Besides habitat loss, predation also takes a toll, by hungry raccoons and foxes and by people...poachers.

BETH: The bog turtle is a highly prized species when it comes to the black market trade for turtles.

NARRATOR: And they aren't the only native species at risk.

KAT MANTZOURIS: Many turtles around the eastern United States can be heavily poached.

The more rare, the more beautiful, charismatic, the more wanted they are all over the world.

NARRATOR: These wood turtles were rescued from illegal captivity in New York and, now, reside at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Kat Mantzouris is the zoo's conservation programs manager.

KAT: Wood turtles are a native turtle to the northern area of the United States, primarily found in mountainous forest areas with streams.

There's genetic testing that can be done, so that you can locate where a turtle is from.

So, the genetic testing was done, and it turns out these turtles were from Maryland.

NARRATOR: Due to health concerns, they can't be re-released, but here at the zoo, they have an important part to play in wood turtle conservation, as the proud parents of a new generation.

KAT: So, since there were five female turtles, that presented an opportunity to do some breeding.

NARRATOR: And while, the adults lounge atop their lunch, the hatchlings are in wilderness survival training.

KAT: So, we always make sure to feed the hatchling turtles, live insects, live invertebrates, because that's what they're going to encounter in the wild.

NARRATOR: They're also subject to regular weigh-ins.

BETH: I'm taking their weights, just to see how they're growing and how big they have gotten.

We're aiming for them to be a little over a hundred grams before they can be released.

KAT: So once the turtles hit that milestone, they'll have a transmitter attached...and then, we will release them basically into the wild.

NARRATOR: It's a conservation technique called head starting.

In this case, a collaboration between the zoo, the Department of Natural Resources.

WOMAN #2: I'm just giving him a little dunk.

NARRATOR: And the Susquehannock Wildlife Society, headed up by Scott McDaniel, who has been monitoring today's release site for years.

SCOTT MCDANIEL: And we found that it really could use some help.

The turtles are still here, but we're not seeing a lot of younger individuals.

We're seeing a lot of older individuals, so this is not our solution to solving all the problems that we have with this population.

But our hope is that it will buy us time.

NARRATOR: Today, the crew is releasing three turtles into this stream.

It might not seem like much, but when it comes to turtle conservation, the mantra is simple.

SCOTT: Every turtle matters, so every turtle that gets hit by a car, every turtle that gets poached, every turtle that gets eaten by a predator, can make a huge impact.

On the reverse side of that, every turtle we add back into the population, that's already raised up to a healthy size, that we know has a good chance at surviving into the future, really does boost the potential for this population to persist into the future.

NARRATOR: The turtles get a quick dunk to acclimate to the local water source, before being released on dry land.

But thanks to the transmitters, it's not goodbye.

It's, see you later.

SCOTT: The radio allows us to track them and be able to check on them frequently and monitor them through the years, to see how they do.

NARRATOR: Meaning, the work doesn't stop here, but for the wood turtle, as for their tiny mud loving cousins, salvation from the many dangers of the modern world will require just that, work.

SCOTT: These species have been on planet earth for millions of years, and how sad would it be, if the last several decades of human existence and development in these areas was enough to cause the extinction of the species?

This is the conservation that we talk about, using the best research we have and implementing it and trying to give these animals a better shot.

(music fades out) (soothing music) ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Beside this massive natural rock formation, known as the King and Queen Seat, Mark Kochte convenes a small group of amateur adventurers, as they prep for the day's activity, top rope rock climbing at the aptly named Rocks State Park in Harford County.

MARK: There's a lot of climbing to be done here.

There are climbs here that are beginner rated to climbs that are for the advanced climber.

NARRATOR: But just getting started here can be a challenge, even for an experienced party like this one.

CLIMBER: Let's do this, Jim.

MARK: Getting to most of the climbs is not straightforward.

You have to go through technical terrain to get to the ledges where you have to set the anchors and then, some technical terrain to get to the base of the rock, in order to climb some of the main walls.

NARRATOR: They use specialized gear, like hexes and camming devices as safety anchors.

MARK: These are various shaped pieces that get wedged into a crack, in such a manner that they won't pull out.

NARRATOR: From there, webbing and lines clip into carabiners and lead to the edge, and the climbing rope.

MARK: Someone new to rock climbing needs to know that you can get hurt doing it.

All the gear we use, for safety, is to try and mitigate that as much as possible, but there's no guarantee that you're going to be 100 percent safe.

NARRATOR: With three ropes set, the team can access multiple routes, up 80 feet of this exposed rock face, commonly known as the Breakaway Vertical Wall.

Each path, a different puzzle climbers seek to solve.

MARK: Follow the crack up left or step onto the face right.

NARRATOR: Sometimes, with a little guidance from those below.

MARK: On the face right, that's the way to go.

NARRATOR: An experienced climber in the gym, this was Emilya's first outdoor ascent.

CLIMBER: Is that your first outdoor climb?

EMILYA: Yes.

SPEAKER: First outdoor climb.

EMILYA: Yay.

That was so fun.

MARK: There's a lot of different reasons why people climb.

Honestly, a lot of people have told me they do it because they have a fear of heights and they want to try and get over that.

NARRATOR: Whatever the motivation, every top rope attempt involves two people, the climber who ties in before hitting the wall, threading rope through their harness, checking and double checking all is secure.

MARK: You may climb.

NARRATOR: And the belayer, who collects excess slack.

MARK: Belayer's the safety person.

The rope goes from the climber, who's tied in, to the anchors, and then, back down to the belayer.

As the climber goes up, the safety person's pulling the rope down and running it through a friction device.

The rope will go through there.

If the climber falls, (groans) the belayer, who has the other end of the rope, can just bend it around and it locks itself off.

The climber then is prevented from falling any further and getting hurt.

When I first started climbing, I had no desire at all to go climbing, and friends dragged me into it and scared me witless, is the nicest way I can say it.

I kept thinking the climbing part was cool, but the height thing sucked.

And that was back in the 1980s, and here I am now, climbing everywhere I can.

NARRATOR: Including all over the state.

In fact, Mark or Indy to his friends wrote the book on climbing in Maryland, featuring more than 30 sites.

MARK: Maryland is vastly differentiated in its geology across the state, from here at Rocks State Park out to Fork Run in far Western Maryland.

Almost every area has a different bedding plan of geology that extrudes itself, and you can climb at.

So, you get a completely different experience at all these different crags.

(rushing water) ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Melissa Rojas leads a small group through the forest at one of those places, Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County.

MELISSA ROJAS: So, half the fun is getting here.

NARRATOR: Their destination, a small collection of rocks where their friends have already begun the day's activity, bouldering.

No ropes, but shorter routes, 15 to 20 feet high at most, with foam crash pads strategically placed below.

MELISSA: It's almost like, a group activity, and we take turns, we spot each other.

NARRATOR: But first, a safety lesson for the newcomers.

Instruction given in Spanish, because this gathering was organized by ¡Escala!

the climbing club Melissa founded in 2021.

MELISSA: ¡Escala!

's mission is to make climbing linguistically and culturally accessible to Latino Spanish speakers and establish a community, so that folks, if they're interested in climbing, they know that there's a community of folks that looks just like them, literally speaks their language, and can really just kind of you know, show them the ropes.

NARRATOR: Today's group includes people living throughout the region, a mix of first, second, and third generation immigrants from eight countries, primarily in Latin America.

MELISSA: I started climbing, because I had a really stressful job and I just wanted to move more.

And so, I started climbing, and I realized the feeling that I got was something I'd never felt before.

What I was really unprepared for was just the mental aspect of it.

So that's really why I climbed.

CLIMBER #2: Having space like this with people that all share a similar language, and you know it's just really, really wonderful.

And it's made climbing a lot more fun and enjoyable for me.

(background chatter) NARRATOR: Whether, offering verbal encouragement.

CLIMBER #2: No puedo!

NARRATOR: Or physically breaking a fall, members of ¡Escala!

serve their community in many ways.

MELISSA: Part of it is just us being here and being present to show, both people in and out of the Latino community, that they can be here too and that they belong here.

It's often the case that folks get bit by the climbing bug, and so, once you start climbing, you kind of just want to keep pushing to the next level.

NARRATOR: Back at Rocks State Park, that next level can sometimes leave you hanging 50 feet in the air.

Success may not come easily, but Indy and his squad know that's part of climbing's charm, challenging yourself to rise to new personal heights and accomplishments.

MARK: There's dangers out there, but there's also a lot of enjoyment that you can get out of it.

NARRATOR: And of course, the only way forward is up.

♪ ♪ (music fades out) ♪ ♪ To stream episodes of Outdoors Maryland , visit mpt.org.

And don't forget to follow us on social media.

(owl hoots) Learn more about Maryland's diverse natural resources at dnr.maryland.gov, or download the official mobile app.

♪ ♪