Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services

Sustainability

Topics At A Glance

• Oysters 
• Trees 

Oysters

• Inmates all across Maryland have had a hand in replenishing the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
• Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE) inmates have made more than 9,000 cages for oyster spat, which allow the young oysters protection in the waterways.

• Both inmates behind the fence (Hagerstown) and pre-release inmates (Eastern Pre-release Unit) have made the oyster spat cages, providing needed jobs and skills for both of these groups.
• During summer 2011 inmates from the Southern Maryland Pre-Release Unit cleaned 500 bushels of loose oyster shell, cut 69,000 ft of shell bag material and filled 17,250 bags of shells thru July 1.
• Thanks largely to this unique DPSCS-DNR partnership, 25 million spat were planted in the St. Mary’s Co. Sanctuary and Charles Co. Reserve in the Wicomico River during FY10.

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Chesapeake Bay Grasses

• Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE) inmates contributed to the growth, harvesting and planting of 38,720 shrubs and shoreline grasses on Poplar Island in May of 2011.

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Trees

• Announcing a partnership with Governor O’Malley’s Smart Green and Growing and Marylanders Plant Trees initiatives in 2008, DPSCS pledged that inmates would plant one million trees in four years.
• The One Millionth tree was planted in May 2011 at Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary with Governor O’Malley.

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