BERLIN — Residents and visitors are invited to join the Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT) at 1 p.m. on Jan. 1 at Assateague Island State Park for the 35th Annual Ilia Fehrer/Judy Johnson New Year’s Day Beach Walk.
This year’s walk launches the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Assateague Island National Seashore. ACT’s founders, as part of what was then called The Committee to Preserve Assateague Island, played an instrumental role in protecting the island from development and advocating for its protection as a federal park.
This year’s walk will again be led by former National Park Service Ranger Chris Seymour.
“The hike will still continue its traditional beach walk parts, but this time introduce them differently, from the back of the primary dune, inner dune, shrub/thicket. maritime forest, freshwater marsh, upper/lower salt marsh zones, describing each zone as its own ‘island’ for both wildlife/plant value, and that they offer unique experiences for humans that sit there a spell and absorb the sights and sounds of that particular zone,” Seymour said.