Jun 4, 2009 4:15 pm US/Eastern
Inmates Plant Seeds To Stop Erosion On MD Island
COACHES ISLAND, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Some Maryland inmates are using their time to help the environment and themselves.
CBS
Doing time doesn't always mean sitting in a cell.
Alex DeMetrick found an island in the Chesapeake with prison inmates using their time to help the bay, and themselves.
Coaches Island lies off the Talbot County Coast and like a lot of Chesapeake Islands, water is chewing away at it. On Coaches Island, prison inmates are making a stand against erosion.
Stopping erosion is something they never imagined doing when they were first locked up.
"It's that the truth. But it's really added years onto my life, after problems with alcohol. It's really helpful," said John McCulskey, inmate.
The program started last fall when inmates harvested the seeds and spent the winter and spring cultivating them in a greenhouse behind bars in Hagerstown.
Experts lay out which plants go where, so the sand will stay anchored; and correctional officers direct the crew.
Those selected for this work are nearing the end of their prison time. Matching inmate labor with environmental jobs are growing.
Whether planting tens of thousands of trees along streams, or securing a beach one plant at a time, it's all to help the environment. It especially helps, if the experience and the plants take root.
Besides bay grasses, the Maryland Correctional Enterprise program has put inmates to work on everything from restoring oysters to bear-proofing campgrounds.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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