America's network of trails is soon to be about a mile longer with the addition of a wetlands trail from the town of North Beach, in Calvert County, to the community of Rose Haven in Anne Arundel County.

The bi-county trail will run from the old water works in North Beach, continuing north along the edge of the marshland and behind Rose Haven to Herrington Harbour South.

The area is lush with Virginia creeper, rumox and salt meadow cord grass. Eagle, osprey, great blue heron, whistling swans and many bird species also call the marshlands home.

Much of the land is owned by Steuart Chaney of Herrington, but the plan, like the trail, comes from North Beach, whose mayor, Mark Frazer, calls it his "special project."

"My special project is the North Beach Nature and Historic Center at the northwest end of town. It's on this beautiful point of land that to the east has a view of the Bay and of what should be a thriving and healthy wetlands. I envision it as a study center for this region, giving tributary teams and watershed task forces a place where they can headquarter. Where children and adults can come and learn as they walk along this trail," Frazer told Bay Weekly.

North Beach Town Hall buzzed as citizens from Holland Point and Rose Haven joined with Frazer, Sen. Thomas V. (Mike) Miller, Del. George Owings, III and Chaney at a public meeting on the trail last month.

"We have the support of Anne Arundel and Calvert counties as well as the state of Maryland," said Frazer. "But we need community support," he told his interested audience.

At the Calvert-Arundel line, as throughout Chesapeake Country, citizens today expect to be at the table when plans affecting their communities are drawn. Rose Haven and Holland Point, for example, successfully pressed for a waterfront park, bought with public Open Space money, on land Chaney had intended to develop.

"We are still reaching out for the feelings of the communities," Frazer said. "So far, indications are the trail is being received favorably by the communities involved. I've been placed on the agenda of the Rose Haven Civic Association's upcoming [July 12] meeting, where I hope to gain more support."

"I think there is support here," said Tom Gill of Rose Haven, where citizens had "worked closely" on early trail plans. "As I understand it, it won't cost us anything. They expect federal funding, then state and county."

Another neighbor along the trail is Holland Point, Anne Arundel County's southernmost community, which follows Route 261 along the Bay — from the Calvert line at North Beach to Rose Haven.

"We haven't had much input from them. As it stands now, the trail bypasses their community. A spur trail would be needed to connect them to the trail," Frazer said.

The current proposal starts the trail, but will not finish it.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources suggests a paved pathway, which is popular among new multi-purpose trails, but others prefer a boardwalk. Miller and Owings want to extend the trail path into the wetlands at various spoints so visitors can get closer into the environment.

Meanwhile, at the Calvert County Anne Arundel County line, the wetlands surrounding Frazer's special project are getting some much-needed attention.

"The wetlands are dying," Frazer told Bay Weekly. "We've got 440 acres being fed by that one clogged artery under the bridge you cross entering North Beach Park" on Route 261.

Revitalizing that marsh will take reengineering the flow of Baywater into the marsh so that tidal flows nourish a brackish environment. Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers have agreed to that project.

Down the road in Chesapeake Beach, another trail is in the works, according to Bruce Wahl, who is heading a town committee to hack out plans for a trail from Fishing Creek along the abandoned Chesapeake Bay Railway right-of-way. Envisioned is a 10-foot wide wooden boardwalk — with four-foot railings on either side — accessible by bicycles, pedestrians and even wheelchairs.