Celebrating National Prevention Week: Recognizing Garrett County Health Department’s Health Education & Outreach Unit

May 16, 2025

National Prevention Week is May 11-17, 2025, when people across the United States come together to raise awareness about substance misuse prevention and positive mental health resources.

The Garrett County Health Department’s Health Education & Outreach Unit has a long history of committed efforts to address both substance misuse and implement other forms of prevention, ranging from safety to positive parent-child relationships and everything in between. This unit contributes greatly to preventing health issues, promoting positive health behaviors, and protecting public health in Garrett County.

“Prevention services and programs have a tremendous benefit on the children and individuals they serve, even if the results aren’t always immediate,” said Chelsie Dever, Director of Health Education & Outreach. “Our prevention team does truly amazing work in the community and is so passionate about the work that they do. During National Prevention Week, we celebrate and recognize the dedication they show to Garrett County to help residents live longer, healthier lives in the service of public health.”

For more information about the Garrett County Health Department’s Health Education & Outreach Unit, including programs available to the public, please visit https://garretthealth.org/health-education-outreach/ or call 301-334-7730.

Cutline: Pictured are staff from the Garrett County Health Department’s Health Education & Outreach Unit.

More information about staff, including names and specialties, is available on the unit’s new website at https://livehealthygc.com/our-team/.

Swiftwater Operations Complete; Damage Assessments Underway

May 16, 2025

Quilt Raffle to Benefit the Friendsville Library

May 16, 2025

The latest quilt made by the Friendsville Library Quilters was unveiled as part of a special program held during April’s National Library Week. This beautiful quilt titled “Sunflowers Afield” is the 19th quilt made by the group, which will be raffled off to benefit the Friendsville Branch of the Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County.

This queen-sized hand-made quilt features a glorious display of sunflowers with lovely natural hues of yellow, orange, blue, green, and brown.

“I had the privilege of watching these ladies transform tiny pieces of fabric into an intricate array of sunflowers. It’s always remarkable to see what goes into creating these lovely quilts. These ladies do fantastic work and we are so appreciative of the support and dedication they give to the Library,” said Melissa Custer, Friendsville Branch Manager.

Pictured in the photo are members of the quilters group, from left to right: (seated) Ina Hicks and Mimi Demaree, Louise Lawrence, Sheila Convis, Glenna Hoecker, Mary Frazee, and Michele Liston. Not present for the photo were Jennifer Pletta and Kate Tichnell.

Tickets are on sale for $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00. They can be purchased from any member of the quilters group, Ruth Enlow Library (Friendsville & Oakland locations), Friendsville Pharmacy, Friendsville Post Office, Little Sandy’s Restaurant (Sand Flat Road location), and Four Seasons Stitchery (Grantsville).

The drawing will be held on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

Garrett College to Honor Skylstad as Professor Emeritus

May 14, 2025

Peter Skylstad was a biologist before he was out of elementary school.

“I grew up in the Chihuahuan desert of West Texas,” recalled Skylstad. “My sister [Julie Ison] and I would spend all summer catching reptiles and amphibians and studying them. I credit our parents [the late Larry Skylstad and Peter’s 93-year-old mother Ann], who were both educators, for giving us the freedom to explore the world around us.”

That training certainly didn’t hurt Skylstad, who joined the Navy in 1973 and then, as a civilian, spent 10 years as an industrial glazier before earning a B.S. in Physical Geography and a M.S. in Biology at Texas Tech University.

Skylstad taught courses and labs for several years at Texas Tech until eventually landing at Garrett College, spending more than two decades as a faculty member in the Natural Resources & Wildlife Technology program. His contributions to the College are being honored Saturday morning at this year’s 10:30 a.m. commencement exercises with the awarding of professor emeritus status.

“I never would have believed that someday I would be professor emeritus. It’s completely unexpected,” said Skylstad, whose honor was unanimously recommended by the Garrett College faculty and unanimously approved by the Garrett College Board of Trustees.

Skylstad, who retired in 2021, said he feels fortunate to have had “more than 30 years to actually have the privilege to be in a classroom with the next generation.”

“I think, next to being a good parent, teaching is the second-most-important job on the planet,” said Skylstad. “There are no doctors, no engineers, no scientists, no lawyers, not even any politicians, without teachers.

“The opportunity to get in the classroom and actually make a difference in the future is such an honor,” added Skylstad. “It’s the opportunity to cast ripples in time.”

Professor Kevin Dodge, who has spent more than three decades leading the NRWT program, said Skylstad was the catalyst for bringing key technology to the program.

“Peter’s experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology transformed the NRWT program,” said Dodge. “He was able to fill in the missing pieces in the curriculum, leading it to become the outstanding technical major it is today.”

“It wasn’t very common, especially for a biologist or other natural resources professionals, to have that experience,” said Skylstad, whose GIS and GPS skills helped him obtain a Garrett College faculty position in 2000. “The College was looking to find someone with a fairly strong background in GIS and other geospatial technology.”

Skylstad also developed a course – Neotropical Natural History (BIO 250) – that he taught during winter sessions in study-abroad trips at biological field stations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. His first study-abroad trip in 2006 included two future biological superstars, Justin DeVault and Amo Oliverio. DeVault now works with All-Star Ecology, an environmental consulting firm, and Oliverio succeeded Skylstad as an NRWT faculty member.

“I took Justin and Amo and 10 other students on that first trip,” recalled Skylstad. “Justin was already an excellent but uncredentialed herpetologist, and Amo was very good with birds.

“I told them, ‘If you guys will make sure you’re knowledgeable about neotropical birds and mammals [Amo], and reptiles and amphibians [Justin], I’ll hire you as field assistants,” continued Skylstad. “Those two guys, even after they graduated, they came back every winter to help me teach that course – for 10 years. They are both outstanding instructors.”

Skylstad’s impact at Garrett College wasn’t limited to the classroom. During his GC career, he secured 21 grants totaling nearly $700,000 to conduct research on several topics, including the impact of acid mine drainage on wetlands in the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River – a designated American Heritage River – and the mitigation of those impacts.

“Over 80 students worked on those projects, gaining invaluable field experience and earning paychecks while doing so,” said Dodge. “Those grants had an incredible impact on the education, careers, and lives of those students.”

Skylstad, meanwhile, said Dodge “set the standard for being invested in his students, both inside and outside the classroom. Kevin is a master educator. I did my best to emulate him in many ways.”

“Kevin is also the most knowledgeable naturalist I’ve ever met, and I consider it an honor to have worked with this amazing man for more than 20 years,” added Skylstad.

Skylstad said being a 21st-century faculty member was both rewarding and daunting.

“My primary goal as an educator was to prepare the next generation and help them develop the tools, including critical thinking, so they can deal with the unique nature of what’s coming,” said Skylstad.

“We’re preparing the next generation to inherit a world that’s going to be like no other world in human history,” observed Skylstad. “We’re on the cusp of one of those moments some futurists call a Black Swan or Singularity period.

“We can see that happening right now – things are changing very fast,” continued Skylstad. “That said, I believe the faculty at GC is extremely competent and well prepared to lead students into that exciting future.”

Skylstad said Garrett College is perfectly situated to educate today’s students interested in natural resources and wildlife.

“There are so many benefits for a rural college program like NRWT,” said Skylstad. “A lot of that has to do with the personal nature of the interaction between professors, staff, and their students. It takes a village – they’re not just numbers; we know their names, we see them in the hall, and we even have meals together on many occasions.

“In the NRWT program, we spend countless hours outdoors with our students in the expansive forests, lakes, and rivers that dominate the environment in Garrett County,” noted Skylstad. “It is a perfect natural resources and wildlife classroom.”

Skylstad noted a report he saw on the Return on Investment (ROI) in education for society at large.

“For every dollar our society invests in education, our society will receive seven dollars in return,” said Skylstad, who lives on a farm just north of Accident with his wife, Carolyn, and their two Rhodesian Ridgebacks. “If only we could get a 700 percent return on retirement savings! Education is, by far, the most enriching investment a society can make.”

Route 40 Elementary Closed May 14 Due to High Water and Evacuation

May 14, 2025

Due to high water issues and the voluntary evacuation in place, Route 40 Elementary will be closed today, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Buses that serve the Route 40 District will not operate today – buses 12, 15, 20, 19, 84, 11, and 68. Additionally, bus 34 will not run the Savage River portion of its route. Route 40 staff are to report to Grantsville Elementary today.

The Garrett County Health Department Goes Green for Mental Health Awareness Month!

May 14, 2025

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year’s message in Maryland is “Mental Health is Health.” May 4th-10th is also designated as Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week to focus on the mental health needs of children.

“We at the Garrett County Health Department agree that mental health is critical to the overall health of everyone,” said Jennifer Hare, Garrett County Health Officer. “To reinforce this fact, and help raise mental health awareness, we are lighting up the Health Department buildings green for the entire month of May.”

The Mental Health Association of Maryland and Maryland Department of Health’s Integrated Wellness and Prevention Office are asking communities across Maryland to show their support for mental health services by not only joining the light up green movement, but also asking their citizens to wear green.

“Mental health care is an essential component involved in contributing to improved emotional, physical, social, and spiritual well-being of all Marylanders,” said Fred Polce, Director of Garrett County Behavioral Health Authority.

The local green initiative is coordinated in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month and sponsored by the Garrett County Local Behavioral Health Authority in partnership with the Garrett County Health Department.

“It’s crucial to remember that mental health affects us all, influencing how we perceive life, experience emotions, and manage challenges,” said Sadie Liller of the Garrett County Behavioral Health Authority. Throughout May, the Health Department will be participating in the green initiative to raise awareness for mental health. Sharing your mental health story at https://garretthealth.org/green/ is a simple way to show your support for the campaign and share what you personally do to prioritize your mental well-being.”

Visit https://garretthealth.org/green/ to learn more about mental health and watch stories of hope and encouragement from community members.

Cutline: Photo of the Garrett County Health Department lit up in green by April Paugh, Medical Assistance Transportation Coordinator.

Nutrient Management Update

May 13, 2025

Nutrient management planning is in full swing as farmers plan their 2025 crops and nutrient applications.

Maryland law requires all farmers grossing at least $2,500 a year or livestock producers with 8,000 pounds or more of live animal weight to follow nutrient management plans when fertilizing crops and managing animal manure.

Farmers are required to have an updated nutrient management plan before applying nutrients to their soil.

2025 Nutrient Management Plans have been written for 92 producers on 12,669 acres in Garrett County so far.

If you have questions about nutrient management or are in need of a nutrient management plan for your operation, email or call Andrea at auphold@umd.edu or 301-334-6960

Get Hooked on Blue Catfish! Comprehensive List of 2025 Blue Catfish Fishing Tournaments in Maryland

May 13, 2025

Originally published by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Maryland anglers can do their part to help the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem by catching and removing blue catfish from waterways. These nonnative fish are top predators that consume native species such as blue crabs, white perch, and menhaden. Avid anglers looking to put their skills to the test can register for tournaments and try to catch the biggest and most blue catfish in Maryland this year.

There are no fishing restrictions on blue catfish. They can grow to tremendous sizes – the 82-pound state record has stood unbroken since 2012. These tournaments provide a chance for bragging rights and to win prizes. Whether anglers are looking to stuff coolers with wild-caught Maryland seafood or compete for prize money, angling for blue catfish can be rewarding.

Below is a list of upcoming Maryland tournaments and other events that feature targeting of blue catfish and other invasive fish:

Mid-Shore Fishing Club Invasive Species Tournament – Now through December 1, 2025

Sponsored by the Mid-Shore Fishing Club of Maryland, anglers target blue catfish and Chesapeake Channa inside the boundaries of the Eastern Shore. Payouts are awarded for the most fish and the largest fish.

Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative Reel Rewards Program – Now through October 31, 2025

The Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative is a Baltimore-based nonprofit offering this new program that offers incentives for the catch of Chesapeake Channa, blue catfish, and flathead catfish in the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River.

Great Chesapeake Invasives Count – Now through March 31, 2026

Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Maryland hosts this research-backed tournament, which is free to enter and offers monthly prizes. Participants log catches through a mobile app where you can input total length, weight, and even stomach contents.

Benedict Volunteer Fire Department Annual Catfish Tournament – April 19, 2025

With proceeds benefitting a local Charles County volunteer fire department, participants should expect a day of fun, competition, and big catches. Cash prizes for the first and second heaviest fish and a five-fish stringer will be awarded in boat, kayak, and shore fishing divisions. The Benedict Bridge, which crosses the Patuxent River, is known to be a blue catfish hotspot.

Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative (EJJI) Reel Rewards Invasive Fish ‘Bounty’ Program – April 26 – July 12, 2025

Anglers can earn $30 for each invasive Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead), blue catfish, or flathead catfish they catch and remove from Baltimore Harbor.  Supports scientific research and helps protect native species. Registration is free.

Back River Restoration Committee Millers Island Land Fishing Invitational – April 26, 2025

Hosted at the West Shore Yacht Center in Essex, boats compete for thousands of dollars in guaranteed prize money, while the remaining proceeds go toward the committee’s future projects and cleanups of the Back River watershed.

Guardians of the Potomac Bowfishing Tournament – May 3 – 4, 2025

The Newburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department hosts a blue catfish and Chesapeake Channa bowfishing tournament with prizes for the heaviest fish caught for each species division. The event features door prizes, raffles, free breakfast, and an awards presentation. Fishing boundaries are between the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge and the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge.

CCA Maryland Katfish for Kids – May 10, 2025

The inaugural Katfish for Kids tournament will be held in Annapolis this May with proceeds benefitting Combos For Kids, an organization that benefits children and families in need. Children 12 and under fish for free, and adults pay a $25 donation. Weigh-ins occur at Angler’s Sport Center, and awards feature prize packs valued from $300 to $1,000.

Reel Invasion – Anacostia – June 1, 2025

Hosted jointly by the DC Department of Energy and Environment and Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, anglers can expect instruction on how to fish for invaders, how to fillet their catch, and guided river kayak tours.

Snakes On The Dundee – June 7, 2025

Now in its fourth season, Snakes On The Dundee is a free-to-enter public outreach and fishing derby event to educate on and encourage the harvest of Chesapeake Channa and blue catfish, both species introduced into Maryland and causing harm to some of its ecosystems. This event is hosted by DNR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Maryland Park Service.

Eric Altemus Memorial Catfish Tournament – June 14, 2025

Supporting a great cause, awarding cash prizes and benefitting multiple local organizations, the Eric Altemus Memorial Catfish Tournament in Chesapeake City will be a great event fun for all ages. It will be held at Safe Harbor Bohemia Vista.

Nanticoke River Invasive Fishing Derby – July 19, 2025

For the fourth consecutive year, Salisbury University Assistant Professor Noah Bressman is organizing a research-based tournament at Cherry Beach Park in Sharptown. This event features around $2,000 in prize money, while a portion of all blue catfish and Chesapeake Channa caught will be analyzed in Bressman’s lab to study their effects on the local ecosystem. Weigh-ins are followed by an awards ceremony, after which anglers are encouraged to reap the rewards of their catch.

Madness on the Marshyhope – November 1, 2025

Coastal Conservation Association Maryland’s annual catfish tournament returns for its third year out of Federalsburg Marina Park. Previous years’ tournaments have featured more than 50 anglers and nearly 200 catfish caught, totaling over 400 pounds. After awards distribution, the daily catch gets served up fish-fry style, highlighting one of the blue catfish’s best traits – its flavor. Fishing equipment and bait are provided free of charge for youth anglers, but all ages are encouraged to participate.

Fish For A Cure – November 1, 2025

This fishing tournament and fundraising challenge makes waves to fund local initiatives in cancer care, including the annual fishing tournament on the Chesapeake Bay, followed by a Shore Party in Annapolis, Maryland. The tournament includes an invasive species category.

Maryland Rod and Reef Slam – Date TBD

The Rod and Reef Sl, sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, and Coastal Conservation Association Maryland, challenges anglers to catch as many different fish as they can over restored oyster reefs in Maryland. The tournament includes an invasive species division that awards prizes for the anglers who catch the largest three-fish stringer of blue catfish, Chesapeake Channa, and/or flathead catfish. The tournament is designed to highlight the biodiversity that exists over healthy oyster reefs.

Are you sponsoring a blue catfish fishing tournament in Maryland in 2025? Reach out to us to have it listed in this piece by emailing Hunter Dortenzo at vincent.dortenzo@maryland.gov.

Photo caption: Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.

Maryland Marks 100 Years of Big Trees

May 13, 2025

Originally published by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

A hundred years ago, Maryland residents across the state set out to find big trees.

In what newspapers simply called the “Tree Contest,” the Maryland Department of Forestry and the Maryland Forestry Association solicited submissions of trees that were notable for their “size, history, or other distinguishing characteristics.” They asked Marylanders to mail in the record of the tree, a photo if they had one, and directions on how to find it.

The contest, which ran from April to July 1925, with an extended deadline due to sustained interest, drew 450 entries from every Maryland county but one. A 124-foot-tall pecan tree in Princess Anne placed first, netting its owner a $25 prize.

For John Bennett, the effects of that contest live on 100 years later in the Maryland Big Tree Program, which he co-chairs, and in the nationwide effort it helped inspire as well as the excitement for forestry it generated. Bennett said Maryland’s big trees help spread awareness for sustainable forestry—adaptive management techniques that promote the long-term health of forests, allowing both big trees and full forests to thrive.

“The main thing is to continue to have publicity toward the ultimate goal of sustainable forestry in Maryland,” Bennett said. “If people buy into the fact that trees are good, people will buy into the need to support sustainable forestry.”

The Maryland Big Tree Program continues to accept submissions for large trees and has catalogued thousands of notable trees in the state. Long part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the program now operates as a volunteer group with DNR support.

Fred Besley, Maryland’s first state forester, spearheaded the idea for a big tree champion contest to spur interest in Maryland’s trees and compile a list of the notable trees of the state. He himself was struck by Maryland’s rich forests and spent his 36 years as state forester spreading that appreciation.

“Trees are the outstanding feature of the Maryland landscape,” Besley wrote in a 1956 booklet, reflecting on the 1925 contest. “We recognize in them the highest type in the plant world. They are the largest and oldest of living things.”

To judge the trees, Besley had devised a formula that would grade trees numerically, taking into account their circumference, height, and the average spread of their crown. Besley went around the state himself, measuring trees for the contest.

The contest excluded some well-known trees, such as the Wye Oak, but helped to generate a list of trees from more than 57 species. Newspapers at the time fervently covered the contest and its entrants, including the stories of some notable trees. One white oak in Frederick County was known as the “Reno oak” because Maj.-Gen. Jesse Lee Reno, a Union army officer, reportedly died beneath it after the Battle of South Mountain during the Civil War.

“The Big Tree Contest did not end the interest in big trees in Maryland,” Besley wrote. “Rather, it presented a challenge to citizens to find bigger specimens.”

Maryland published an updated list in 1937, and shortly after, inspired by Maryland’s program and using Besley’s measurement system, the American Forestry Association started a national big tree contest in its magazine, “American Forests.”

Besley wrote proudly that Maryland “led by far all the states in the number of champion trees” in the first national counts, in 1940 and 1955.

The National Champion Tree Program continues today, now through the University of Tennessee, and Maryland had 15 national champions in the 2024 register, including a Kentucky coffeetree in Montgomery County and a devil’s walking stick in Baltimore County.

The Maryland Big Tree Program keeps a register of state champions and other significant trees, including a list of “GOAT trees” that commemorate significant trunks of past and present. The program also tracks some non-native trees that are not currently tallied nationally, such as what is likely the world’s largest known English elm in Gaithersburg (possibly planted in the 1770s) and America’s largest tree of heaven in Annapolis.

The Maryland Big Tree Program hosted a reunion this April to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the big tree list, and the program and the Maryland Forest Service are considering other ways to commemorate the anniversary, possibly with another public contest.

“We are excited to carry on the vision of Maryland’s first state forester, Fred Besley, in tapping people’s interest in and enthusiasm for Maryland’s biggest trees, and offering opportunities for further understanding of all of the benefits that trees and forests bring to the state,” Maryland’s current State Forester Anne Hairston-Strang, the director of the Maryland Forest Service, said.

Volunteers with the Big Tree program will still go out on site to measure big trees, and Bennett said it’s always moving to see the pride people have in trees, which are sometimes in their backyard, and may have been the sites of tree forts or wedding photos.

Joli McCathran, co-chair of the Big Tree Program, said there are two informal rules for encounters with champion trees.

“When you get to a champion tree, you have to touch it—you can’t just look at it,” she said. “Then you have to think about what it’s seen. I’m just fascinated by what’s happened in the life of that tree. And anytime I’m in the forest, it’s a happy time.”

The Maryland Big Tree Program accepts nominations for big trees through its website. Bennett’s booklet on the greatest of all time Maryland trees is available by email.

To celebrate this legacy and encourage exploration, the Garrett County Big Trees Tour is available as part of the region’s digital Experience Passes program. This mobile-exclusive pass is instantly delivered via text and email—no apps needed. Check in at designated big tree locations to earn points toward prizes, which can be redeemed at the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. The Big Trees Tour is active through July 2, 2025, offering a great way for both visitors and residents to connect with Garrett County’s natural beauty and history.

Photo caption: A tree on Goshen Road in Gaithersburg is believed to be the largest English elm in the world. It is one of thousands of trees documented by the Maryland Big Tree Program. Credit: Maryland Big Tree Program

The Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County Adds ReciteMe Inclusivity Tool to Website

May 13, 2025

The Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County is excited to announce the addition of a new accessibility feature to their website, www.relib.net. Recite Me is a cloud-based web accessibility assistive toolbar that allows patrons to customize the library’s website in a way that works best for them. This innovative toolbar makes the website accessible through a unique range of features, such as text-to-speech functionality, fully customizable styling, reading aids, and a translation tool with over 100 languages, including 65 text-to-speech voices, and many others. This new addition makes our website not only accessible, but usable by all, giving each patron the opportunity to experience the library’s online content to its fullest extent. Patrons can activate the Recite Me toolbar by clicking on the circular yellow icon at the top of the library’s website, to the right of the listing of library locations and social media links.

The Ruth Enlow Library serves the residents of Garrett County, Maryland, with branches in Oakland, Accident, Friendsville, Grantsville, and Kitzmiller. The library provides access to a wide range of resources, including books, digital media, educational programs, and community services.