The Howard County Conservancy

Description

Received by the Conservancy in 1993 by Ruth and Frances Brown, Mt. Pleasant is a 300-year-old farm now operated as a nature reserve and educational facility. The Gudelsky Environmental Education Center, on-site at Mt. Pleasant, is Howard County's first nature center, opening in 2005. The Conservancy, originally founded in 1990 as a private, nonprofit land trust, today has a dual mission of preserving land in Howard County and providing educational programs.

Dedicated to educating youth and adults about environmental stewardship and ecosystems, the Conservancy focuses its programs on local animal and plant life found in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Conservancy has been educating Howard County youth since 1997, and has been an Educational Partner with the Howard County Public School System since 2003.

Located on 232 acres of rolling hills, with a variety of habitats, Mt. Pleasant is ideally suited for nature study and exploration. Mt. Pleasant is home to more than 140 species of birds and other wildlife, and offers beautiful vistas of the Patapsco Valley - all just 15 minutes from Columbia. Visitors to the Conservancy can hike 4 miles of trails or participate in a number of public programs, field trips, service learning, scout activities, summer nature camps and more.