The Mary­land Depart­ment of Nat­ural Resources and the Nat­ural His­tory Soci­ety of Mary­land have teamed up to con­duct a 5-year state-wide her­petol­ogy atlas, known as the Mary­land Amphib­ian and Rep­tile Atlas (MARA) or the Herp Atlas.  This study will doc­u­ment the dis­tri­b­u­tion of rep­tiles and amphib­ians through­out Mary­land.  Sev­eral local groups are par­tic­i­pat­ing and sup­port­ing MARA includ­ing Howard County’s Nat­ural Resources Divi­sion, the Howard County Bird Club and the Sierra Club of Howard County.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Many vol­un­teers are needed to search for herps (rep­tiles and amphib­ians) through­out the state.

• There will be spe­cific times and loca­tions set up for groups to search for any herps that can be found.
• You can also help by doc­u­ment­ing and report­ing herps you come across in your yard or when you are out hik­ing and exploring.
• Photo doc­u­men­ta­tion and loca­tion are required to be counted in the Atlas.  So keep those cam­eras handy!  In the case of frogs and toads, record­ings of their calls are accept­able as well.

CONTACT
Please con­tact Sue Muller to sign up to join vol­un­teer herp searches or to report your find­ings: smuller@howardcountymd.gov.

WEBSITE
For more info on the atlas visit: http://www.howardbirds.org/herpatlas/HC_MARA_Maps_shell.php