Secretary’s Message – We Are Opening More Doors to Maryland Natural Spaces

Secretary Josh Kurtz leads Gov. Wes Moore and Comptroller Brooke Lierman on a 2024 tour of what is now Holly Beach Natural Resources Management Area. Maryland DNR photo.

When I was appointed Secretary of Natural Resources in 2023, I made clear that we would follow through on Gov. Wes Moore’s promise to expand access for all to Maryland’s nature spaces and outdoor recreation. 

Since then we have opened several new parks and areas that provide access to Maryland’s natural beauty along with its profound history–and there is much more to come.

Last July, the Forest Service opened Margraff Plantation Trails opened inside Savage River State Forest, with six miles of newly-constructed trails. This includes four brand-new mountain bike trails in Savage River State Forest, including the first adaptive mountain bike trail on state forestlands. Other adaptive trails have been created or expanded at several Maryland State Parks around the state.

Earlier in the year, the Maryland Park Service accepted the donation of two acres of land, including a historic African-American cemetery at the Revolutionary War-era Catoctin Furnace and added it to Cunningham Falls State Park. DNR and partners are working to develop a conservation and preservation management plan for a trail extension to the site.

In May, we celebrated the dedication of Freedman’s State Park in Montgomery Count, which encompasses 1,000 acres of land once owned and farmed by Enoch George and Harriet Howard, and their descendants, who shaped the Civil Rights Movement in Maryland.  

In July, we will begin the public rollout of Wetipquin Creek State Park, the first Maryland State Park in Wicomico County, comprising about 445 acres of land along Wetipquin Creek. This bucolic and historic site will conserve and foster an appreciation of the natural resources of Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore. We are still in the planning process and will work with local residents as we prepare to open this new park next year. 

Later this year, we will open Savage Highlands State Park, a former privately-owned lodge that the Department of Natural Resources purchased to expand Park Service amenities in Western Maryland. This represents an exciting new type of public amenity in our portfolio because it features a grand lodge, cabin, and yurts, while providing access to vast swaths of forests, trails, fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing in Savage River State Forest.

In the fall, we will present more details about the long-awaited access for Wills Mountain State Park, a scenic stretch of land in Allegany County next to Cumberland that’s been officially inaccessible to the public for decades.  

We are also working diligently to expand access to Holly Beach Natural Resources Management Area, a 293-acre waterfront property in Anne Arundel County where visitors can view sensitive natural areas next to the Chesapeake Bay and sweeping views of the Bay Bridge. Already, we have opened the area for hunting opportunities. We’ve also secured funding to build a new pier at the site that will significantly expand the ability of education groups and boaters to access Holly Beach from the water.

To meet our goal of opening these new facilities, I thank the Moore-Miller Administration for their unwavering support, and the Maryland General Assembly for the Great Maryland Outdoors Act and other legislation that provided direction and some much-needed resources to accomplish our mission. I also want to thank the men and women of DNR who are turning this vision of greater access into reality. 

Josh Kurtz is Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.