CHRIS SWARTH was Director of the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary from 1989 thru 2012. The Sanctuary, located in Southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, consists of 1,600 acres of tidal freshwater wetlands (one of the largest on the East Coast), forests, meadows and fields along the Patuxent River.
Chris became one of our authors without his knowledge. As a retirement gift, his friends made a book from his writings over the years. He’s written many articles for Marsh Notes, the quarterly publication of the Sanctuary. A Long Look at Jug Bay contains 23 years of his articles, covering the wildlife, habitats and stewardship of Jug Bay.
Success at the Sanctuary can be described in many ways. Chris has stated it best:
Accomplishments and successes are achieved in unusual ways at Jug Bay. Perhaps success is the amazement a visitor experiences when a Bald Eagle is spied flying low overhead or the wonder in the face of a child who touches a snake for the first time. Maybe it’s watching volunteers learn and grow and even take on complex challenges without a road map to follow… I’ve come to realize that the Sanctuary is much more than a place just for wildlife.