Monitoring

• Working with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Delaware, research plots and studies have been conducted since 2014 on both native and invasive bees within Elk Neck State Forest.
• The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) have been conducting annual studies on invasive stink bugs within Elk Neck State Forest.
• The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) annually conducts testing for Stonefly, southern pine beetle, gypsy moth and other forest pest species within Elk Neck State Forest.
• The Conservation Fund has been working with Cecil County government as part of a DNR Community Resilience Grant determining the overall health of Cecil’s forests.
• The Maryland & DC Chapter of the Breeding Bird Atlas began identifying species within Elk Neck state Forest in March of 2020. This will be a multi-year project.
• A native Bat Survey was recently completed at two sites on Elk Neck State Forest. During late spring and summer 2019, stationary point acoustic surveys of bats were completed throughout Maryland. Survey areas and methods were based on the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) guidelines. Big brown bat or silver-haired bat (Eptesicus fuscus or Lasionycteris noctivigans) and eastern red bat or evening bat (Lasiurus borealis or Nycticeius humeralis) were both detected on Elk Neck State Forest during the survey. Click here for more information.​​