Brad Rogers and Brett Berkley stepped carefully on the gravel sill along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River in South Baltimore, which when covered with sandy fill will serve as the bed for 11 acres of newly constructed wetlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rogers, executive director of the nonprofit South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, has a big role in overseeing the $200 million redevelopment of 19 neighborhoods along one of the Chesapeake Bay\u2019s most neglected shorelines. He aims to double that investment in the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s a bricks-and-mortar guy by trade, but wetlands, he said, are \u201cthe first line of defense\u201d to protect those redeveloped neighborhoods against storm surge, and climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Berkley, his environmental consultant, peered out as if he could see the future. \u201cA successful restoration will depend on the construction of the sill, planting of native vegetation, and creating a gradual elevation change to support a diverse salt marsh ecosystem,\u201d he said on a late summer afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n