Patapsco Valley State Park, a long-standing partner with Towson University, was honored on Saturday, April 9, 2022 with a Green Community Leadership Award from Howard County for their Mobile Visitors Center.
The Green Community Leadership Awards recognizes groups and organizations that demonstrate efforts, projects or programs that help protect Howard County’s natural environment and preserve its resources. In order to educate Patapsco Valley State Park visitors about water quality and pollution, river and bay knowledge, and appreciation, benefits and methods for reducing plastic disposables, the Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park created a mobile visitor center. Utilizing the onboard Wi-Fi, park rangers and naturalists are able to share web-based information such as iNaturalist, a web application that maps and shares biodiversity observations around the world, showing Patapsco based flora and fauna.
“The contributions of these organizations to our community is significant,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “Actions taken by our award winners reinforces that there is a role everyone can play to preserve and protect our environment. We appreciate and applaud the dedication of the many businesses and organizations that make Howard County a leader in tackling the effects of climate change.”
The Mobile Visitors Center was funded, partly, due to collaborative efforts with Towson University’s GIVE (Grantwriting in Valued Environments) program. Towson University’s Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, Matthew Durington, was honored to participate in the celebration and was joined by Congressman John Sarbanes, Peter Franchot, Maryland Comptroller, and Calvin Ball, County Executive of Howard County.
