WALDORF — Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP), Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) and the Wildlife Conservation Enforcement Fund, Inc. (WCEF) have partnered to broaden Maryland’s conservation enforcement capabilities.
Pepco has donated $16,000 to the WCEF to purchase two new All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and two new trailers to transport the ATVs and donated them to NRP. The ATVs will enable NRP to increase patrols in isolated and remote areas including wooded areas that have few accessible roads and properties designated as a power line right-of-way. The trailers will enable the ATVs to be transported to these areas.
These locations can be considered sensitive, especially concerning increased vigilance and Homeland Security. Now NRP officers can traverse these areas with greater ease and cover ground more efficiently during routine patrols. The ATVs will also assist in search and rescue operations in these same areas. The ATVs will be stationed in Area 3, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel and Area 4, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s.
Pepco and Conectiv merged in 2002 and are now subsidiaries of Pepco Holdings, Inc. Pepco delivers electricity to more than 725,000 homes and businesses in the District of Columbia and its Maryland suburbs. WCEF was formed to assist the NRP officers acquire additional support equipment needed to fight poaching and protect lives and property in Maryland.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) is an enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources. With an authorized strength of 285 officers and a dedicated staff of civilian and volunteer personnel, the Natural Resources Police provide a variety of services in addition to conservation and boating law enforcement duties throughout the State of Maryland. These services include homeland security, search and rescue, emergency medical services, education, information and communications services on a round the clock basis. NRP is the only police force aside from the Maryland State Police that has statewide jurisdiction.
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The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 446,000 acres of public lands and 18,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 11 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov