Chapman Forest On the Potomac, near the Nation's Capital — expansive, unspoiled nature and history —

Unexpectedly juxtaposed nature can delight visitors to Chapman Forest. Prickly pear cactus are found in sandy soils only yards from swampy wetlands. A less obvious, but much more significant surprise is the collection of startlingly disjunct plants and wood snails. Termed 'disjunct' because they ordinarily reside hundreds of miles up the Potomac, in limestone rich regions, these displaced plants and animals find receptive conditions only in the rare shell-marl ravine forest, where they thrive on soils sweetened, as if with lime, by primeval shells dating back nearly to the lost dinosaurs.

Here too are shells of our own era, also in danger of disappearing. These belong to freshwater mussels deemed state-rare and of national concern. They are scattered along the Potomac shore and occur where Mattawoman Creek receives waters from Chapman Forest. Of these mussels, Mattawoman's Alewife Floater hints at another noteworthy side to Chapman Forest. Through it threads one of the most productive small streams for spawning Alewife and Blueback Herring in the entire Potomac drainage. Remnants of these once plentiful migratory (or anadromous) fish swim into the Forest during spring spawning runs and hence connect it to waters as remote as the Gulf of Maine, where it is believed some adult Alewives return, via the Chesapeake and Atlantic, to spend their summers. Chapman Forest's offspring mature downstream in tidal Mattawoman Creek, one of the most celebrated anadromous fish nursery grounds in the Chesapeake Bay system. In a twist of environmental history, Chapman Forest, replete with its spawning stream, also testifies to the severely depleted stocks of our migratory fish, for its Potomac shore was once the site of the Chapmans' vibrant herring and shad fishery. For two centuries such fisheries up and down the Potomac River presented a gauntlet to returning spawning runs. No longer. The stocks of these far migrating fish have collapsed and the remnants, like shades among submersed shadows, serve as haunting reminders of once what was.

Far flung connections are also made by other migrants in the form of neotropical birds. Chapman Forest's unusually large size--of southern Maryland's state lands, only Cedarville State Forest is larger--and relatively intact condition make it a haven for many forest-interior-dwellers, including those that winter in tropical climes. These declining migratory avians require large forests in order to breed free from the predation that abounds at edges of the fragmented woods that increasingly characterize our world. About a dozen interior-dwellers are known to be here, from neotropical migrants like parula warblers to pileated woodpeckers. Additions are certain to be discovered once more thorough surveys are conducted.

Many other birds occur, of course. An aquatic theme leavens the assemblage, with ospreys, green and great blue herons, Louisiana waterthrushes, wood ducks, and many others frequenting either the interior or the Potomac riparian habitats. With an abundance of aged trees along the Potomac, Chapman Forest is ideal for bald eagles, which nest here. It is a rare afternoon when one does not see them silently soaring, their white trim shouting, within the view from Mt. Aventine. The wild turkey, loser to the eagle as national bird, is also present. Its secretive habits hide from view a knee-high bearing and trailing tail like some regal train, but the floor of the Forest is frequently marked by its scratching.

Chapman Forest witnesses important migrations on a scale much smaller than those that inform the woods of Maine waters or tropical forests. Amphibians, born as larvae or tadpoles in the many vernal pools and wetlands, metamorphize to adulthood and then, through nocturnal wanderings, infuse deeply the surrounding woods. There, depending on their tribe, they find refuge and food among moist leaf litter, decaying logs, or branches and trees. Green and Grey tree frogs, Wood Frogs, American Toads, and the charming but elusively burrowing Spotted Salamander are a few examples that can be found many hundreds of yards from their birth waters. Unlike the skinny and use-bruised stream-valley parks that narrowly occasion some of our floodplains, Chapman Forest offers truer habitat to these humble creatures, whose brethren are declining at an alarming pace throughout the planet.

What remains to be discovered and learned from Chapman Forest? Much. Mammals, insects, and reptiles have received even less attention than the animals recounted so far. Is the state imperiled Rainbow Snake, reported here half a century ago, still present? Might endangered tiger beetles join their cousins that presently patrol the Potomac shoreÕs sands? How many more disjuncts might there be? And what of the ecological interactions between these displaced inhabitants of the Allegheny Plateau and the residents of their adopted inner Coastal Plain? Might bobcats, reported for Stump Neck near Mattawoman's mouth, eventually find their way to Chapman Forest if much of it is declared Wildlands, as the Governor recommended when it was purchased?

Thanks to Jim Long for the information and words on this page.