Masonville Cove Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership

At Masonville, federal organizations, state organizations, non-profits, and community groups have come together to restore an incredible piece of land for the benefit of local wildlife and the surrounding community.

Masonville was designated in 2007 as a placement site for sediment removed from the Baltimore shipping channels. With that designation came numerous benefits for the community, centering around restoring waterfront access in the previously polluted site. In order to accomplish these changes, the Port of Baltimore partnered with Living Classrooms Foundation and the National Aquarium to help engage the surrounding communities. Thus began the partnership of these organizations, which together with Maryland Environmental Service, continue to work to restore Masonville Cove for the benefit of local communities and wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service became an additional partner in 2013 when Masonville Cove was designated the nation's first Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership. Urban Wildlife Refuges are sites that are in close proximity to major metropolitan areas. Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnerships are urban refuges where "the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Community, and Partners come together to promote conservation."

Today the proof of Masonville Cove's success as a refuge partnership is in the numbers: the Cove is consistently named one of the top birding spots in the state, and provides rich education experiences for thousands of students and visitors.