{"id":37181,"date":"2022-10-06T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=37181"},"modified":"2022-10-06T11:45:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T15:45:03","slug":"secretarys-message-october-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/10\/06\/secretarys-message-october-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary\u2019s Message – October 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find an October Treat in Maryland\u2019s Outdoor Spaces<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Photo by Patrick Siebert, Maryland State House<\/p><\/div>\n

October is a time when the natural world puts on a spectacular show; and outdoor activities in Maryland provide a great opportunity to enjoy it! It is an ideal time to visit the public lands throughout our beautiful state. Lieutenant Governor Boyd K. Rutherford and I recently joined a group of veterans and staff from the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs <\/span>for a wellness hike at Patuxent River Natural Resource Management Area in Hughesville. The hike was organized to raise awareness for suicide prevention and the new <\/span>Veterans Crisis Line<\/span><\/a>, which can be accessed by dialing 988 (then pressing 1) or texting 838255.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, DNR participated again this year in Maryland\u2019s multi-agency <\/span>Walktober<\/span><\/a> campaign to highlight the health benefits of walking – our official state exercise – and to remind everyone of the responsibility we share regarding pedestrian safety on our roads and in our recreational areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You too can take a hike and support a cause, all while enjoying the beauty of autumn. Be sure to follow how the changing leaves are developing throughout the state all season with our weekly <\/span>Fall Foliage Report<\/span><\/a> so you don\u2019t miss it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with walking and hiking, there are plenty of other reasons to get outside right now. As the water temperatures continue cooling, <\/span>the Maryland Department of Natural Resource (DNR) <\/span>fall trout stocking program<\/span><\/a> is beginning in rivers, creeks, and ponds near you so, making it a great time to try your hand at fishing!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And in this month of the<\/span> Hunter\u2019s Moon<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>many of our most popular hunting seasons have started or will soon be underway, including small game, wild turkey,<\/span> migratory birds<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>deer<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, Maryland continues to grow our portfolio of world-class events and outdoor recreation opportunities such as the internationally acclaimed <\/span>Maryland 5* at Fair Hill<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>United States Powerboat Show<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While these are seasonal things to do, our state\u2019s beautiful landscapes, and diverse array of plant and wildlife species can be enjoyed year-round. There is no better showcase for our natural wonder than the <\/span>annual <\/span>Maryland Natural Resource Photo Contest<\/span><\/a>. I congratulate all of the participants and winners for 2022, particularly our Grand Prize winner David Terao of Silver Spring for his incredibly<\/span> detailed photograph of a tiny jumping spider<\/span><\/a> emerging from a flower. And thank you to everyone who voted for the fan favorite, <\/span>Fiddleheads and Ferns<\/span><\/a> by Jack Turner, chosen by our Facebook followers. Be sure to take your camera with you this fall and enter next year\u2019s contest!<\/span><\/p>\n

You can enjoy these photos in our 2023 Maryland Natural Resource Calendar, which will be available at<\/span> DNR\u2019s online store<\/span><\/a> in the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you enjoy these photos and that they inspire you to enjoy Maryland\u2019s outdoor spaces in all four seasons. Thank you for supporting DNR’s mission!<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio<\/span><\/i><\/a> is Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find an October Treat in Maryland\u2019s Outdoor Spaces October is a time when the natural world puts on a spectacular show; and outdoor activities in Maryland provide a great opportunity to enjoy it! It is an ideal time to visit the public lands throughout our beautiful state. Lieutenant Governor Boyd K. Rutherford and I recently  Read the Rest…<\/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":[4861,5310,4035,5109,5316],"class_list":["post-37181","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-boyd-k-rutherford","tag-fall-foliage-report","tag-jeannie-haddaway-riccio","tag-veterans","tag-walktober"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37181","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=37181"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37200,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37181\/revisions\/37200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}