Environmental Concerns

Concerns, Goals and Objectives

Photo by Jennifer Lockridge

Over 817 species of plant and animal life have been documented on Greenbury Point since 2020.
More than 80% are native species.
22 of the species documented appear on lists of threatened animals.
Greenbury Point is 100% within the critical area of the Chesapeake Bay.
Disturbance of land and forest buffers will profoundly impact water quality in the Bay.
Loss of habitat is the number-one cause of population decline in both plant and animal species.
Greenbury Point was home to the last known breeding colony of Northern Bobwhite Quail in Anne Arundel County.
Believed to have died out in 2012, there were 14 documentations of quails calling on Greenbury Point.
Greenbury Point is a bird watching “hot spot” in Anne Arundel County.

All data is from Greenbury Point Biodiversity Project, iNaturalist, and eBird.org

Greenbury Point Conservation Area, a peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay, faces growing development pressure:

In 2022, the Naval Academy Golf Association (NAGA) requested a sole source lease to build a second private golf course on Greenbury Point. Although Anne Arundel County submitted a competing request to preserve the land as a public park, cancelling both proposals, NAGA has continued to pursue the idea of a golf course on Greenbury Point Conservation Area.
Additionally, the Navy has proposed an RV park on the edge of the conservation area—drawing strong opposition from environmental groups and local residents.

The Friends of Greenbury Point advocate for a collaborative relationship with the U.S. Navy to protect this unique site through six core goals:

Protect and interpret Indigenous, colonial, and military history. Work to update National Register listing to reflect:

Indigenous alliances and colonial treaties
First European Settlement in Anne Arundel County which later moved across the Severn River to become Annapolis
WWI–Cold War communications and naval aviation

Remove invasive vegetation and manage native habitats as per the current Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP)
Reinstate regular wildlife monitoring (birds, butterflies, herpetofauna, etc) with local agencies and citizen science efforts
Remediate heavy metal contamination.

Implement urgent actions from the Naval Academy Resilience Plan:

Continue implementing priority natural resources management and resiliency projects as per the current guiding documents

Establish a Navy–community stewardship model
Launch and maintain a public volunteer corps for
- Trail maintenance, habitat restoration, citizen science
- Nature Center staffing and public education