{"id":36201,"date":"2022-06-06T13:55:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T17:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=36201"},"modified":"2022-06-06T13:50:29","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T17:50:29","slug":"secretarys-message-june-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/06\/06\/secretarys-message-june-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary\u2019s Message \u2013 June 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By Land and Water, Maryland is Ready for the Summer<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 363px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51855050119_0b80dfe69a.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of two people fly fishing in a stream\" width=\"353\" height=\"236\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fly-fishing at Morgan Run Natural Environment Area, Carroll County. Photo by Patrick Siebert, Maryland State House<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">June is Great Outdoors Month and we hope to see you out enjoying Maryland\u2019s natural spaces, including our vast system of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/publiclands\/Pages\/parkmap.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">state parks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/forests\/Pages\/mdforests.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">forests<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and of course the state\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/boating\/Pages\/water-access\/boatramps.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">world-renowned waterways<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is peak season for one of Maryland\u2019s favorite pastimes, fishing, from the cold streams and rivers of Western Maryland to the Atlantic surf. If you want to try your hand at fishing in Maryland before deciding on getting your license, you can enjoy one of our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/05\/26\/three-license-free-fishing-days-scheduled-for-2022\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">license-free fishing days in June and July<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; and if you already know the joys of fishing in our waters, bring a friend!\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And while you are out there, you can help fight the northern snakehead, an invasive predator threatening to destroy the ecosystems of our waters. In the Chesapeake Bay and Blackwater River, DNR is conducting a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/05\/24\/tagging-study-offers-money-for-harvesting-northern-snakeheads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">new tagging program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in which tagged northern snakehead caught and harvested from now until 2024 could be rewarded with a gift card of $10 or $200 depending on the tag. You can help protect our waters and be rewarded for it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With warmer weather, Maryland\u2019s boating season is also in full swing. We <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/05\/26\/maryland-urges-waterway-safety-as-boating-season-hits-full-throttle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">experienced fewer boating accidents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> last year than the year before. Unfortunately this year, there have already been several tragic incidents on our waterways since Memorial Day weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft \" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/7912\/46193085924_bb2e62c963_n.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Secretary Riccio\" width=\"195\" height=\"256\" \/>With that in mind, we want to remind all residents and visitors to safely enjoy Maryland\u2019s unique destinations and summer activities while putting safety first. Please remember to click it \u2013 your seat belt and your life jacket \u2013 and never drive impaired whether you are behind the wheel of a car or a boat. Let\u2019s all do our part to ensure the safety of our friends, families, and loved ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last but certainly not least, I offer my personal thanks to the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) for their incredible work protecting our lands, our waterways, and our citizens. NRP recently held their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/05\/19\/maryland-natural-resources-police-award-officers-for-achievement\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">annual award ceremony <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to recognize the many achievements of our conservation law enforcement officers in 2021. Each recognition was well-deserved and exemplified service above and beyond the call of duty. Please join me in congratulating our officers for their public service!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Pages\/DNR_Secretary.aspx\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Land and Water, Maryland is Ready for the Summer June is Great Outdoors Month and we hope to see you out enjoying Maryland\u2019s natural spaces, including our vast system of state parks and forests, and of course the state\u2019s world-renowned waterways.\u00a0 This is peak season for one of Maryland\u2019s favorite pastimes, fishing, from the<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/06\/06\/secretarys-message-june-2022\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,3171,11,1965,4998,3172,23,12,14,33,13],"tags":[3736,5044,4035,4975,3785,5000],"class_list":["post-36201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-boating","category-fisheries","category-maryland-forest-service","category-hiking","category-hunting","category-land","category-parks","category-nrp-news","category-the-bay","category-wildlife","tag-boating-safety","tag-fishing","tag-jeannie-haddaway-riccio","tag-maryland-natural-resources-police","tag-northern-snakeheads","tag-outdoor-recreation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36201"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36207,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36201\/revisions\/36207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}