See the findings from the survey put forth by the Maryland Native Plant Coalition.
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Green Towson Alliance discovers sanitary sewer overflow below the Lake Roland Dam after heavy rains on Tuesday, January 9th
Sanitary sewage debris at a sewer “stack” and its manhole cover lying on the ground were discovered on January 10 by a volunteer from Green Towson Alliance (GTA). The overflow near the banks of the Jones Falls was reported to Blue Water Baltimore, Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) and Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Wednesday’s discovery was in the same area where GTA volunteers found a Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) in 2019. The current overflow coincides with Baltimore County Council’s pending approval of the 2023 Triennial Review of the Water […]
Continue readingProposed Changes to Baltimore County Weed Ordinance
Proposal to amend the Baltimore County Code to include “low-impact landscaping” in the list of exceptions to the county weed control ordinance. This document was presented to Baltimore County Commission on Environmental Quality by the Green Towson Alliance on September 27, 2023.
Continue readingGTA Statement on 2023 Triennial Review of the Water Supply and Sewerage Master Plan
Green Towson Alliance (GTA) and other advocates have challenged the sanitary sewage capacity in the Jones Falls Sewershed since 2016 and are convinced that raw sewage is fouling open waters while more development is being approved. A network of pipes run alongside and under our streams to carry raw sewage from our homes and businesses to treatment plants. The state of Maryland has laws that require the conveyance of this waste to be safely contained within the sanitary sewer system. But in Baltimore County’s Jones Falls watershed, the size and condition of these pipes is […]
Continue readingSTATEMENT ON WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE MASTER PLAN
2023 Triennial Review Green Towson Alliance Executive Committee September 8, 2023 INTRODUCTION As described by the Maryland Department of Planning, “each county is required to prepare, adopt, and annually maintain, a 10-year forecasted Water and Sewerage Plan to demonstrate how safe and adequate water and sewerage facilities will be provided to support planned redevelopment and new growth.” Baltimore County’s plan is due this year for its triennial review by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The plan first will be reviewed by the Baltimore County Planning Board and then referred to the County Council […]
Continue reading164 Volunteers Cleaned Out More than a Ton of Trash from Towson Streams this Spring
Volunteers from neighborhoods all over Towson helped to clean up 2,857 pounds of trash from tributaries of the Herring Run and Roland Run this spring as part of Project Clean Stream for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Every year, Green Towson Alliance organizes these cleanups in Towson, and this year, nine cleanups were held in April. These youngsters helped look for trash in the Herring Run stream in Overlook Park. GTA members Kathleen Brady (pictured) and Diane Topper led the Wiltondale Garden Club cleanup in the Wiltondale Community. Some unusual items pulled out of […]
Continue readingQuestions About Tree Care? You’re Not Alone
By Margaret Roach, New York TimesAug. 4, 2021 The biggest plants in our gardens often get the smallest share of our attention. And it’s not because trees don’t need or want attention — or because we intend to neglect them. Maybe it’s because they look so strong, holding most of their foliage overhead and not making their needs known near ground level, where we are busy paying attention to everyone else. Or maybe we just don’t have much tree-care confidence. At The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill., Julie Janoski and her Plant Clinic colleagues respond to gardeners’ and green-industry professionals’ […]
Continue readingSpending the day in Eastern Baltimore County is an exercise in undiscovered pleasures
By Carl GoldIn Marshy Point State Park I start the day very early at Hammerman Beach. Years ago, an agreement was reached to allow long distance swimmers to train outside the ropes before the beaches open for public use. My cure for Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD) begins, however, before I set foot in the water. I glance down and see fern moss near the base of the osprey nest in the parking lot. Emerald cushions with spores ready to explode with new single cell life cover the ground, inches away from asphalt. To the left […]
Continue readingAn Open Letter to First Lady Dr. Jill Biden: Please Grow Native Plants in the White House Gardens
Dear Dr. Biden: Like many Americans, we were thrilled to watch President Biden’s inauguration last week. We applaud the President’s recommitment to the Paris Climate accord and his pledge to take immediate actions to address the serious problem of climate change and its effects on the people of our country and the world. We are writing to suggest that you initiate a project to create a native plant garden at the White House and to expand any native plantings that are there already. As you probably know, Dr. Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at University of […]
Continue readingGreen Towson Alliance Executive Committee Charter
MISSION: The mission of the Executive Committee of the Green Towson Alliance shall be to coordinate the activities of the GTA so that they will effectively advance the organization’s overall mission, and to effectively represent the GTA to external individuals, organizations, and the general public. DECISION-MAKING: The Executive Committee shall consider issues in a collaborative manner, reaching decisions by consensus whenever possible, with the understanding that consensus does not mean unanimity, but rather the lack of strong opposition to a course of action favored by a large majority of committee members. In general, the Executive […]
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