Hello and welcome to the Office of Environmental & Cultural Resources’ web page. Our mission is to manage, protect, and restore Anne Arundel County’s natural, historic, and cultural resources through development and application of sound resource policies, principles, and practices. It is our goal to ensure that County policies and practices concerning land use planning and land management are not only sensitive to the needs of resource conservation and protection, but are also grounded in the best scientific information available. The OECR pursues this mission in two major ways.

First, the OECR staff works closely with our partner agencies in the Land Use Core Group. We provide review and guidance on County project implementation and policy development where potential exists for the normal business practices of these agencies to affect the County’s natural and cultural resources. We work to eliminate or reduce these impacts so that resource protection is balanced with the necessity of executing projects that will maintain and improve the quality of life of County residents. 

Second, OECR initiates special studies, projects, and assessments to document and monitor the current condition of our County’s natural and historic resources. Resource inventory is a critical step in understanding what resources need protection, how best to protect them, and how to restore degraded areas where past impacts have occurred. We use a variety of approaches to accomplish these activities. For example, The Watershed Management Program develops, operates, and maintains a 
Watershed Management Tool The tool serves to aid the County and its stakeholders in Watershed 
Management & Master Planning. OECR is currently developing a Watershed Management Tool to assist in watershed master planning. In addition, we perform evaluation and assessments of historic sites, document our archeological resources, and monitor non-tidal stream water quality.

Finally, we are also responsible for administration of specific programs that work to protect important County resources. These include The Watershed Management Program, the Ecological Resource Program, and the Historic & Archaeological Resource Program. These programs are responsible for various research/development and regulatory tasks including administering the National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Permit (NPDES-MS4), Critical Area compliance, historic, and archaeological site review prior to development, and forest resource protection. OECR staff are also very involved in regional, State, and Federal programs that address the Chesapeake Bay watershed and its’ resources. We represent the County on the Maryland Tributary Strategies Teams, participate in the States Coastal and Watershed Resources Advisory Committee, and are involved in several Chesapeake Bay Program workgroup tasked with developing a means to meet the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement goals.

We welcome your comments and suggestions on how to make our web site serve you better. Please contact us at (410) 222-7441 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or email the OECR Planning Administrator with your comments. 

Thanks for visiting our web page!  Please come back again soon.