Chesapeake Bay Foundation Blog

Speak Up for the Bay Tomorrow Night

Elected and appointed officials in Richmond and Washington, D.C. are making decisions about Bay restoration right now! They need to hear from you.

Please join CBF tomorrow evening for a Chesapeake Bay Town Hall meeting in Arlington, VA. Find out about progress on Bay restoration efforts—including the President’s Executive Order and upcoming legislation in the House and Senate.

Whether you have specific questions you’d like to get answered or simply want to hear the latest updates directly from the movers-and-shakers involved, your participation will help make the point that you want promises turned into actions! For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Guest Speaker:
Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia District 8

Panel Speakers:   
Chuck Fox, EPA Senior Advisor on the Chesapeake Bay
Senator Mary Margaret Whipple, Virginia District 31
Dr. Roger Mann, Director of Research and Advisory Services, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Roy Hoagland, Vice President, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Participate in a Focus Group

Help CBF strengthen our fight for clean water. We will be holding a focus group on Thursday, October 15, in Annapolis, MD. We want to know what you think about the fight for a clean Chesapeake Bay and how we can make a bigger impact. For more information and to sign up, visit our website.

And Away Go...Candy Wrappers?...Down the Drain

Stormwater -- for some reason it's difficult for a lot of folks to make the connection between what's on their roads and lawns and what ends up in the Bay. I think a lot of people see storm drains on their streets but don't really think about them.

Well, Baltimore radio reporter Joel McCord had an excellent piece on WYPR 88.1 FM this morning that creates a clear picture of why storm drains and stormwater are keys to a clean Bay. Listen online at WYPR.org.

CBF Member Rows for Clean Water

When James Caple sent us an e-mail about his upcoming Chesapeake Bay Challenge, we were honored he selected the Chesapeake Bay Foundation fight for clean water as a focal point for his message of "raising awareness for the ecological concerns of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding watershed regions." His challenge starts tomorrow, September 18. We're happy to share his story with you here.

By James Caple of Falls Church, VA

For me, there seems to be a strange, ethereal connection between Cornwall, UK, and Ocean Rowing. About a year ago, I set off for the Cornish Coast to look at ocean rowing boats and to partake in a training ocean row sponsored by Woodvale Challenge Events in Plymouth. My intent at the time was to investigate the possibility of becoming a participant in an Ocean Rowing Race. This year, I've set my sites on rowing across the Chesapeake Bay—well, half way across anyway. On September 18th, I will launch from Reedville, VA, and row out to Tangier Island where I plan to hang out for a couple of nights. I then plan to row back into Reedville early Sunday afternoon. The synchronistic Cornish connection with this particular row is that after Captain John Smith first documented the existence of Tangier Island in 1608, settlers arrived there from Cornwall, England, nearly 12 years later. 

Another aspect of this particular row is my desire to raise awareness for the importance of the Bay and the surrounding watershed regions. As a competitive rower, I row on number of different bodies of water, including the Potomac, Occoquan, Charles, and sometimes the Schuykill, rivers. Rowers and paddlers get a good feel for the ecological state of the waters they workout and play on probably better than most people—they are closer to the water than regular boaters, and they move slower through their environment, which helps to increase awareness about smaller details around them. During my morning workouts, I've noticed that there is some great wildlife on the Potomac river; I've also noticed that the water can smell and look quite awe full at times due to sewage and other pollution being put in the water. This is a big reason that I'd like my row out to Tangier Island and back be about raising awareness for the ecological concerns of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding watershed regions. September 19th is also the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup Day, so it's a great weekend to get out and do something positive for our aquatic environments.

Smith Point Marina in Reedville, VA, and Alexandria Community Rowing have been invaluable partners in helping me implement this row, as have Allison Caple, John Clayborne, Alan Weatherley, and Brian Schexnayder.

So here's to Cornwall, Tangier Island, Ocean Rowing and the preservation and renewal of our pristine natural resources.

You can track my progress this weekend on my blog at: http://www.rowthepond.com

James Caple

If you're a boater, rower, sailor, or angler and you want to show your support for a clean Bay, we invite you to join James as a CBF Boater for the Bay. Just go to cbf.org/boaters for more information.

CBF's Will Baker on WYPR Thursday

Tune into Baltimore public radio station WYPR 88.1 FM Thursday (September 17th) at noon to hear CBF President Will Baker on the Dan Rodricks show. Will will be Mr. Rodrick’s guest and will discuss the draft Executive Order reports issued last week. Those reports outline the federal government’s new leadership for the Chesapeake and the kinds of strategies federal agencies proposed to take.

Listen Thursday or catch the podcast, then share your thoughts with us here.

In the meantime, read Will's press statement and find out more about the reports.

Grill with Emeril and CBF

This week on Planet Green's Emeril Green—blue crabs, Clagett Farm veggies and grass-fed beef and some very tasty recipes. Oh, yeah—and CBF's own Michael Heller, Rob and Carrie Vaughn, and Don Baugh. Check listings for times.

Annapolis Eco-Peeps Chesapeake Kayak Tour

Announcing a new Meetup for Annapolis Eco Peeps!

What: Chesapeake Bay Kayak Tour

When: June 28, 2009 9:30 AM

Where: (A location has not been chosen yet.)

A great way to appreciate our bay and our planet is by taking a kayak tour on Kent Island. Please join us for this fun morning of kayaking!

Adventure Crafters in Queenstown, MD offers an awesome 3 hour tour that includes kayak +paddle rental, pfd, instruction, and a snack+beverage.

$60 for adults
$55 for kids (Price is less if you bring your own kayak -- call for details.)

Please call 88-529-2563 to register.

Learn more here:
http://environment.meetup.com/285/calendar/10692402/

‘Take Me Fishing 101’ Video Series Prepares New Anglers for Outdoor Adventure

When I was a kid, my family spent summers at Long Beach Island, NJ. A true island, on our street it was three blocks wide -- one block to the beach, one block to the bay. My dad and my brother would surf fish, and the three of us would often walk down to the bay pier at the other end of the street and fish in the bay.

I haven't fished now for at least 30 years. My son got a taste of it at YMCA summer camps at Sandy Point, but I've forgotten enough that I'm not comfortable initiating a fishing trip.

Until now.

A recent post on Outdoor Central News Network's blog features an online video series by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that "walks novice anglers through everything they need to know to get started in a sport that often is seen as a gateway to the great outdoors."

View “Take Me Fishing 101″ Video Series
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/programs/gofishing/videos/

New Chesapeake Fund: "Investing in Healthy Waters"

A partnership of Forest Trends, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), and World Resources Institute, the new Chesapeake Fund offers individuals and business a new way to calculate their nitrogen footprint and reduce their impact.

The Chesapeake Fund website includes CBF's Nitrogen Calculator, tips on reducing your nitrogen footprint, and a way to offset your impact by purchasing nitrogen "credits." The Chesapeake Fund will use the money raised by the purchase of these credits - $10 per credit - for on-the-ground restoration projects in areas targeted for optimal results.

Passion for the Future

Written by Allyson Ladley Gibson, CBF Teacher Student Outreach Coordinator

Positive energy, pride, enthusiasm for conservation, and learning experience. These are the four items I would associate with the Thomas W. Pyle Middle School Chesapeake Extravaganza that I was fortunate enough to attend last week in Bethesda, MD. Every sixth grader at the school completed a student service learning project that had to do with the Chesapeake Bay. Whether they were picking up trash along a stream, creating a native plant garden, making a video or writing a book that they would use to teach first graders, the students put not only 10+ hours of their time into each project but also a little bit of themselves. I spoke with students and their families at the event and they all talked about how they really look at daily life with a trained eye now: Should I recycle that instead of throw it away?  Does my lawn really need more fertilizer? 

Even Kids Can Help Save the Chesapeake Bay! Produced by a sixth grader from Thomas Pyle Middle School

As one of three dignitaries who spoke to the crowd of over 400 students and their families, my experience at an evening dedicated to service learning and Bay education can only make me smile. The evening began with the U.S. color guard and the national anthem, a great opening element to represent the Bay’s national importance. Attorney General Doug Gansler spoke along with Jeff Lape, the head of the Chesapeake Bay Prorgram, myself, and one of the science teachers, who read a letter from Senator Barbara Mikulski. 

At the close of the speeches portion of the night, we all said how impressive this event is…but how do we get other schools to do it too?  Does the permission and spark come from the county education administrators? From the teachers? From the students? We determined that it’s a bit of everything, but the teachers would be able to most directly take it to other schools. I knew going into this event, now the third year in a row, that the teachers have participated in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's (CBF) Chesapeake Classrooms, our teacher professional development program. So I asked them if they would be interested in doing a workshop in partnership with CBF specifically about this event with the intention of sharing the creative process and the basic steps of how to execute such a HUGE and such a successfully wide-spread project. With the leadership of teachers like Margy Hall at Pyle Middle School, this fall could hold some exciting times for schools in the Bay watershed. 

Thank you to the students and teachers at Pyle Middle School for all of your hard work and for asking me to celebrate with you. It is truly exciting to see the student leaders of our Bay’s future!