Chesapeake Bay Foundation Blog

Chesapeake News and Dos

Filling you in on the top stories of the week and letting you know how to make a difference!

  Photo by Emmy Nicklin/CBF Staff.

This week in the Watershed:  oyster success, pollution diets (TMDLs), and a schooner race

• 500 million oysters were planted in Maryland this year through the efforts of the Oyster Recovery Partnership. (Easton Star-Democrat – MD)
• The watershed-wide Chesapeake pollution “diet,” also known as the Total Maximum Daily Load, is under attack from powerful agri-chemical interests, our own Will Baker reports  (Huffington Post – D.C.)
• The Chesapeake Bay Foundation was granted permission by a federal judge to intervene on behalf of the EPA in a lawsuit challenging the agency’s authority to implement the Bay pollution “diet” (TMDL).  (Associated Press – PA)
• Growing Greener, an important Pennsylvania fund which provides money for important environmental programs around the state, is in danger of running out of money. (Williamsport Sun Gazette – PA)
• A York, PA wastewater treatment facility is turning waste into energy by installing turbines that run on captured methane gas. (WGAL – PA)
• The University of Maryland was the winner of this year’s Solar Decathlon, a biannual competition held by the Department of Energy for green housing designs.  Its “WaterShed” design was inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. (Washington Post – MD) 
• The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race began this week near Kent Island, MD. The race ends 127 miles south, near Portsmouth, VA. (The Examiner – MD)
• Volunteers in Norfolk, VA, worked to raise their community’s awareness of stormwater issues by labeling their stormwater drains to remind residents that they drain directly into local waters.  (WAVY – VA)
• Dorchester County, MD is working hard to develop its pollution “diet” plan to reduce sediment and nutrients running into the Chesapeake and its tributaries. (Delmarva Daily Times – MD)

 

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities for the Bay

October 14

• Learn more about the Chesapeake Bay “pollution diet,” or TMDL, and how it will affect Maryland. The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, MD, will host a forum from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to share information and discuss this important step in Saving the Bay. Contact Richard Romer (racebeat@aol.com, 410/257-6947) for more information. 

October 15

• See the fall foliage of the South River from the waterside. Join the South River Federation on its Second Annual Fall Kayak Sojourn in Annapolis, MD. 

October 17

• Voice your concerns over the management of the menhaden fishery at a public meeting in Heathsville, VA, at Northumberland High School. Help rebuild the population of this essential fish!
• Join Congressman John Sarbanes in Baltimore at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park at 1:30 pm to discuss his efforts to fight back against environmental deregulation and protect the Chesapeake Bay. If you’d like to attend, email brianne.Nadeau@mail.house.gov.

October 18

• Can’t make it to Heathsville? Come to Colonial Beach to voice your concerns over the management of the menhaden fishery. 

October 20

• Plant native trees and shrubs in beautiful Jefferson County, WV, near Charles Town.  Five-hundred trees will be planted along Bullskin Run on Cool Spring Farm. 

October 22

• Help install a streamside buffer of native trees alongside Conewago Creek near Hershey Meadows, PA. Please register to join the effort. 

Ongoing

• Get your hands dirty and help out TALMAR Gardens & Horticultural Center, a local nonprofit with a good mission in Parkville, MD. They need volunteers on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

 

—Adam Wickline

 

If you have an upcoming Bay-related restoration event and you need volunteers, please let us know by contacting CBF’s Community Building Manager, Adam Wickline: awickline@cbf.org. Do you enjoy working with fellow Bay Lovers to help save the Chesapeake? Become a CBF Volunteer to receive notifications about upcoming volunteer opportunities.

Chesapeake News and Dos

Filling you in on the top stories of the week and letting you know how to make a difference!

 Photo by Emmy Nicklin/CBF Staff.

This week in the Watershed:  Hypoxia returns, some much-needed funds, and good crab news 

• Another dead zone, unusual for this time of the year, has popped up in the Chesapeake as a lingering result of the Tropical Storm Lee’s flood into the Bay. (Easton Star-Democrat – MD) 
• A wastewater treatment plant in Pennsylvania is buying nutrient credits to be in compliance with pollution laws. (Center Daily Times – PA)  
• A federal grant will provide $10.9 million for Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts. (Associated Press – D.C.)
• Virginia Beach public schools will soon take their classroom lessons outdoors with a $200,000 grant in place to make environmental education part of the norm. (Public News Service – VA)
• One watershed town will look to trees to help meet the new Chesapeake Bay pollution diet goals, while beautifying the city and reducing energy use at the same time.  (Lancaster New Era – PA)
• Washington, D.C. had its stormwater discharge permit renewed, and with it some stricter pollution controls. (Washington Post – D.C.)
• Strict crab regulations set in 2008 seem to be working as the crustacean’s population continues to grow. (Washington Post – D.C.)

 

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities for the Bay

October 8

• Help clean up the Anacostia, our nation’s “forgotten river!” Join the United by Blue crew to help rehabilitate this Potomac tributary. 

October 9

• Do you care about oysters and the Bay? Participate in oyster restoration in the Annapolis area by helping the South River Federation plant oyster spat onto a sanctuary reef. 
• Join the Virginia Native Plant Society – Potowmack Chapter as it has its annual meeting, including a lecture and meadow walk by ecologist Jeff Wolinski. The meeting will take place in Green Spring Gardens (4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA) from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.. Contact Becky Super (gardentutor@gmail.com) for more details. 

October 11

• Voice your opinion on the future of menhaden, “the most important fish in the sea,” in Annapolis, Maryland. This meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is open to public comment so please attend. We need your help to let these officials know just how important this fish is to the Bay!
• Join CBF and REI for a viewing of “Gasland” in Richmond, Virginia. Clips from this documentary about hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” will be shown followed by a conversation about possible fracking in George Washington National Forest.  

October 12

• Help fortify stream buffers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania along Witmer Run by planting trees with CBF. Help stop sediment and nutrients before they get to our waterways.

October 15

• See the fall foliage of the South River from the waterside with the South River Federation on its Second Annual Fall Kayak Sojourn in Annapolis, Maryland. 

Ongoing

• Get your hands dirty and help out TALMAR Gardens & Horticultural Center, a local nonprofit with a good mission in Parkville, Maryland. They need volunteers on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

 

—Adam Wickline

 

If you have an upcoming Bay-related restoration event and you need volunteers, please let us know by contacting CBF’s Community Building Manager, Adam Wickline: awickline@cbf.org. Do you enjoy working with fellow Bay Lovers to help save the Chesapeake? Become a CBF Volunteer to receive notifications about upcoming volunteer opportunities. 

 

Chesapeake News and Dos

Filling you in on the top stories of the week and letting you know how to make a difference!

Join us this Saturday for a "Cyclist for the Bay" ride on the Mount Vernon Trail. Photo by CBF staff.

This week in the Watershed: dams, oysters, and learning outside.

• A recent report from an independent panel of experts supports the science behind the EPA’s TMDL model, also known as the Bay pollution diet. (The Capital – MD)
• Maryland high school freshmen are the first class in the state to have the new environmental literacy standard as a graduation requirement. (Salisbury Daily Times – MD)
• Congressional staffers got to see the Anacostia River restoration project firsthand during a celebration of National Estuaries Day. (Channel 8 News – D.C.)
• Experts are searching for solutions regarding the sediment building behind the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna. (WJZ News – MD)
• Once again, there will be no winter crab dredge fishery in VA this year. (Associated Press)
• Chemical containers from a warehouse in Middletown, PA made their way to the Bay during the recent flood. (Patriot News – PA)
• Some watershed restaurants that serve oysters are helping to save the iconic Chesapeake bivalve. (Associated Press)

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities for the Bay

October 1

• In northern Virginia, there will be a workshop on how to build rain gardens that help mitigate stormwater. Come find out how you can help Save the Bay with these projects!   
• Join CBF on a Cyclist for the Bay ride on the Mount Vernon Trail in northern Virginia.  It’s a great chance to get some exercise, see some great monuments, and learn more about CBF and what we do. 

October 2

• Clean up Gillies Creek in Richmond! Come help remove trash, debris, and invasive species from the stream and park. 
• Come to the Dam Jam 2011 at Cromwell Valley Park to learn firsthand about Baltimore’s drinking water reservoir and listen to some great bands for free! 

October 5

• Join the Maryland Oyster team for an oyster gardening workshop! Learn how to grow these filtering bivalves off your dock or pier! 

October 6 and 7

• Come help CBF plant a stream buffer on a farm in Carroll County, MD! Help famers protect their streams from stormwater runoff. 

October 8

• Help clean up the Anacostia, our nation’s “forgotten river!” Join the United by Blue crew to help rehabilitate this Potomac tributary. 

—Adam Wickline

 

If you have an upcoming Bay-related restoration event and you need volunteers, please let us know by contacting CBF’s Community Building Manager, Adam Wickline: awickline@cbf.org. Do you enjoy working with fellow Bay Lovers to help save the Chesapeake? Become a CBF volunteer to receive notifications about upcoming volunteer opportunities.

Chesapeake News and Dos

Filling you in on the top stories of the week and letting you know how to make a difference!

 
Photo by Tiffany Granberg/CBF Staff

This week in the Watershed: pollution diets, crab concerns, and Lee’s lingering effects

• Watermen in Maryland are concerned about Tropical Storm Lee’s affect on the remainder of this year’s crabbing season. (Easton Star-Democrat – MD)
• Even in Pennsylvania, the talk is still about the rains and what they are doing to the Chesapeake. (Wilkes-Barre Times Leader – PA)
• The Shenandoah Valley will experiment with new ways of creating energy from unlikely sources.  (Staunton News-Leader – VA)
• CBF and the Citizens for Stumpy Lake got their day in court in Virginia Beach to fight a permit allowing hundreds of forested wetlands to be filled. (Virginian-Pilot – VA)
• A new report by the Economic Policy Institutes states that new EPA rules and regulations will not kill jobs, but rather save lives. (EPI report – D.C.)
• Sewage spills in Baltimore expose the aging infrastructure used for wastewater transport and treatment, and the need for more upgrades. (Catonsville Patch.com – MD)
• The Salisbury City Council is working hard to put the Wicomico River on a “pollution diet” to clean its waters. (Daily Times – MD)

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities for the Bay

September 24

• If you live in a “critical area” in Maryland and you have questions about what you can and cannot do there, come to a talk at St. Mary’s College and learn from the experts. For more information contact: Jackie Takacs at takacs@mdsg.umd.edu or 240/393-6508
• Help clean up Bread and Cheese Creek in Dundalk, MD. Volunteers are needed to help pull out trash from this Bay tributary.
• In northern Virginia, there will be a workshop on how to build rain gardens that help mitigate stormwater. Come find out how you can help Save the Bay with these projects!   

September 25

• Join CBF in Richmond at the Lamplighter Café for a street sweep! Help clean up trash in the area and enjoy a free cup of coffee while doing so! Contact Jess Barton at jbarton@cbf.org or 804/780-1392

September 26

• Help CBF build reef balls for oyster restoration in Gloucester, VA. Involves lifting, carrying, bending, and hammering. 
• Let the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council know your thoughts on the Bay’s menhaden fishery and its precarious future. Come to Lewes, DE for a public meeting to voice your thoughts. For more information, read this article by John A. Hughes, the former secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.   

September 27

• Come out for a CBF Clean Water Breakfast in Smithfield, VA to learn more about the Bay’s “pollution diet,” and what you can do to help. 

October 1

• In northern Virginia, there will be a workshop on how to build rain gardens that help mitigate stormwater. Come find out how you can help Save the Bay with these projects!   
• Join CBF on a Cyclist for the Bay ride on the Mount Vernon Trail in northern Virginia. Great chance to get some exercise, see some great monuments, and learn more about CBF and what we do. 

 

—Adam Wickline

 

If you have an upcoming Bay-related restoration event and you need volunteers, please let us know by contacting CBF’s Community Building Manager, Adam Wickline: awickline@cbf.org. Do you enjoy working with fellow Bay Lovers to help save the Chesapeake? Become a CBF Volunteer to receive notifications about upcoming volunteer opportunities. 

 

Chesapeake News and Dos

Filling you in on the top stories of the week and letting you know how to make a difference!

 

This week in the Watershed:  Irene’s effects, oysters, and Jeff Corwin

• A new study by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science finds fewer oysters in the Chesapeake than previously thought.  (Baltimore Sun – MD)
• As the region recovers from Hurricane Irene, water utilities are finding disturbing numbers of sewage overflows from last weekend’s drenching rains.  (Washington Post Blog – DC)
• The Chesapeake Bay Trust chose 21 new Chesapeake Conservation Corps participants for the upcoming year.  (Eye on Annapolis – MD)
• West Virginian industry leaders, government representatives, and elected officials gathered on Wednesday to discuss how the Wild and Wonderful state will implement its Chesapeake Bay pollution diet.  (The Journal – WVA)
• Oyster gardeners successfully rode out Irene in Norfolk, holding on to the hope that their bivalves will continue to help clean the waters of the Bay.  (Reuters – VA)
• Volunteers helped CBF and MD DNR in the Choptank River to plant 306 reef balls seeded with oyster spat at Cook’s Point.  (Star Democrat – MD)
• Jeff Corwin joins the Whitaker Science Center on their Expedition Chesapeake, an exploratory paddle down the Susquehanna from its start in Cooperstown, NY to its end at Havre de Grace, MD.  (Patriot-News – PA)
• Six high school freshmen started their four year Chesapeake Bay fellowship at Norfolk Academy.  With the Bay in focus, the students will learn in the classroom, on research vessels, in marshes, and at private dinners with top Chesapeake experts.  (Virginian-Pilot – VA) 

 

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities for the Bay

 

September 4

• Join Chesapeake Bay Foundation volunteers and Blue Ridge Mountain Sports staff at the James River Park Reedy Creek Cleanup in Richmond.

September 10

• Attend a Save our Streams water quality workshop in Gaithersburg, MD with the Izaak Walton League.  Learn how to test water samples and collect aquatic insects and crustaceans that indicate water quality.

September 13

• Learn how to Adopt-A-Stream in the Baltimore Area.  This workshop will give you the skills to keep an eye on your local stream and what to do when you see something wrong. 

September 17

• Help clean up streams in the Conodoguinet Creek watershed in Cumberland County PA.  Contact Kurt Henry (kckhenry@comcast.net) to get involved. 

Ongoing

• Blue Water Baltimore is seeking dependable people to help lead tree plantings in the greater Baltimore area this fall.  No previous experience necessary!  In fact, this is a great way to get experience in both volunteer management and urban forestry. 
• Become a Watch-the-Wild volunteer and learn how to make observations of nature to help the Nature Abounds organization keep records and understand how our world is changing. 

 

—Adam Wickline

 

Adam is the Community Building Manager of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  He works to inform and engage people across the watershed to take part in Saving the Bay.  If you have an upcoming Bay-related restoration event and you need volunteers, please let us know.  awickline@cbf.org

 

Do you enjoy working with fellow Bay Lovers to help save the Chesapeake?  Become a CBF Volunteer to receive notifications about upcoming volunteer opportunities. 

Chesapeake News and Dos

Filling you in on the top stories of the week and letting you know how to make a difference!

 

 Photo by Annette Conniff

This week in the Watershed:  Rockfish, Beetles, and high-tech Bay Saving

• Pennsylvania stream restoration goes high tech with this Bucknell student’s creation.  Learn how on-the-ground restoration folks will get a new bird’s eye view.  (Bucknell Website - PA)
• Maryland is cracking down on illegal poaching of rockfish.  After finding 13 tons of poached fish caught by illegal gill nets, the Department of Natural Resources will impose new rules to limit the illegal practice.  (The Capital - MD)
• The federal government is making $2.4 million available for Maryland to protect the Puritan tiger beetle, an endangered insect roaming the bayside cliffs in Calvert and Cecil counties. (Baltimore Sun - MD)
• Perhaps the tide is turning?  A recent coastal clean-up in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland found less waste than in previous years. (Daily Times - MD)

 

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities in the Bay

 

August 27

• Remove invasive species on Four Mile Creek with the Four Mile Creek RIP Project in Arlington, VA.  NOTE:  Please contact Sarah Archer at sarcher@arlingtonva.us to confirm the event is still happening regardless of Irene. 

August 30

• Join the CBF Book Club in Virginia!  Each month they will choose a new book with an environmental theme and gather together to discuss. 

August 31

• Check out the Anacostia Watershed Society’s Paddling night.  From 5 to 8 pm, staff will take you out on boats onto the river to relax and enjoy the resource. 

Ongoing

• Help protect and monitor wild lupine (a rare native plant) populations!  No experience necessary and a great opportunity to get outside and make a difference. 

 

—Adam Wickline

 

Adam is the Community Building Manager of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  He works to inform and engage people across the watershed to take part in Saving the Bay.  If you have an upcoming Bay-related restoration event and you need volunteers, please let us know.  awickline@cbf.org

 

Do you enjoy working with fellow Bay Lovers to help save the Chesapeake?  Become a CBF Volunteer to receive notifications about upcoming volunteer opportunities.