From tires dumped in a ravine to a pipe spewing brown water, the Herring Bay watershed in southern Anne Arundel County is facing an increasing number of environmental threats, according to a major survey of its health by the Herring Bay Watershed Initiative.

Almost a year ago, more than 60 initiative volunteers fanned out by foot, boat, canoe and even plane along 20 miles of shoreline around the scenic waterfront town of Deale to search for fallen trees, abandoned boats, fish migration barriers and other signs of environmental distress.

They didn't have to look too hard. Though they expected to find evidence of pollution and erosion, says Bob Dickmann (BDick39202@aol.com), co-chair of the initiative, the participants were not prepared for the sheer number of problems in an area popular with boaters and tourists. Some of the Chesapeake Bay's tributaries, such as Rockhold Creek near Swamp Circle Bridge, were deemed "very pristine." But in others, notably parts of Tracys Creek northwest of Deale, volunteers found a mess of debris: soda machines, hundreds of dead trees, oil and foam on the water, a pipe spewing brown water, and a dead blue heron.

"It's a reminder of what needs to be done," Dickmann says.

The initiative's findings--including aerial photographs and charts detailing problem areas--will be released at a meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Herrington Harbour South Marina. (Parts of it are also available on the Web at www.rosehavenmaryland.com (Herring Bay Survey.) State and county officials are expected to attend the meeting, which will include a discussion of ways to combat the problems.

The survey grew out of a joint effort by the Governor's Tributary Strategies Teams and Save Our Streams, a grassroots environmental group. In part, it was designed to encourage local residents to learn more about the area they live in.

"To look at a stream in your backyard that you've looked at for years and realizing it could be a potential pollution source, it's an educational thing," says Terry Lehr, project manager for Save Our Streams.

The watershed was broken into "turfs," small pockets of land that were assigned to teams of volunteers. "Inch by inch our eyes were looking along the water and looking for anything that would be a possible problem or a real problem," says Peg Burroughs, a member of both Save Our Streams and the Tributary Strategy Team, who went out on a boat along Herring Bay with two other volunteers last fall as part of the survey. "I've been down there in a boat before, but when I went looking very carefully, it was revealing for me."

Volunteers took note of foul odors that indicated polluted water and catalogued sections of deforested land prone to erosion. They also found 16 abandoned boats, some of them partially submerged in water. Several have already been hauled out of the water, and none too soon.

"If the boats had stayed in the water longer, the fuel would have gone into bay," Dickmann says.

In the coming months, the initiative plans to recruit and organize volunteers to plant trees, pick up trash and restore and maintain the turfs. Tuesday's meeting will also set up committees to focus on such plans as reviving a Herring Bay oyster bed garden.

"We have challenges with balancing human growth and development with the environment," said Sean McGuire, coordinator of the 10 Tributary Strategies Teams. "This highlights the success stories of average residents taking action."