Battle Creek Cypress Swamp
The BCCS Sanctuary
The Nature Conservancy purchased the wetland, which became the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary, in 1957. It was the Conservancy's first preserve in Maryland and encompasses 100 acres (40 ha) (about 1% of the 10,060-acre (40.7 km) watershed of Battle Creek). A portion of it is now open as a public park with a nature center and quarter-mile boardwalk through the swamp. Since 1977, the preserve has been leased to Calvert County and operated as a county park.
Natural history
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Cypresses, such as the bald cypress, and their relatives once covered much of the northern temperate zone. It is thought that these trees disappeared from the BCCS area during the most recent Pleistocene glaciation ("Ice Age"), but reappeared around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago as the climate warmed.
In addition to the cypress, the sanctuary protects many songbirds (prothonotary warbler, waterthrush), frogs (green frog, spring peeper) and several wildflower species (cardinal flower, jack-in-the-pulpit). Skunk cabbages emerge early each spring.
References
- ^ "Battle Creek Cypress Swamp". nps.gov. National Park Service.