During the week, Tim Staines helps his clients improve their websites for better positioning in search engines. But last weekend, Tim left the World Wide Web at home to venture into a much different world--the remote islands around the Chesapeake Bay's Tangier Island and home to CBF's Port Isobel and Fox Island education centers. Find out more about his trip to this "magical place" at Tim Staines' Weblog.
Back in March, Travis Deale, a student at Christopher Newport University, shared his experience working with CBF during spring break. I just found out that students from the University of Maryland who participated created a video of their experiences, which placed second in a U of MD video contest. Great job guys! Check out the video here.
And you thought he was dead! Yes,it's true, the man who explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago has announced his candidacy for President*.
Here's his campaign video to prove it:
He is running on a platform to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and waterways nationwide. Smith made his announcement yesterday from his campaign headquarters at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Phillip Merrill Center in Annapolis.
"My vision is for a clean and restored Chesapeake Bay, with abundant fish, crabs, and oysters, a region with healthy farms and a vibrant seafood economy, just like in the old days," the red-bearded explorer said.
"But I stand not just for a clean Chesapeake Bay; I stand for clean rivers and streams all across America. For if we can clean up the Chesapeake Bay—and working together we bloody well can—we can clean up every stream, river, and bay in this country. We can make the Chesapeake a model for restoration success, for the rest of the nation and for the rest of the world."
You can find out more -- and sign a petition -- at www.votethebay.org
More videos coming soon!
Now, a word from our attorneys:
* The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protecting the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams. It does not endorse candidates. CBF is running a fictional candidate, Captain John Smith, to elevate the Bay and clean water in the presidential election.
One of the biggest questions surrounding Maryland's new 2010 Trust Fund, created this year to help restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay, is how the $25 million allotment will be distributed. Yesterday, Gov. O'Malley announced a new competitive process that lets local governments, community groups, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and private enterprises to apply for grants from the fund.
What do you think? Is the new process an improvement over business-as-usual?
Chesapeake Bay-area farmers who need help to incorporate methods of reducing nutrient pollution from their farms could get that help from the Federal Farm Bill. But it's not a done deal. Watch this story from WJZ-TV to see what's at stake, then join us in contacting your representatives in Congress to urge them to support the farm bill.
by Ann Jennings, Virginia Executive Director, CBF
following is an excerpt from Jennings' recent OpEd article. Read the full article on dailypress.com.
The Chesapeake's treasured blue crabs, having declined by 70 percent over the past two decades, are poised dangerously below a level of abundance beyond which the population is seriously threatened. These are scary times for the blue crab.
The governors of Maryland and Virginia recently called for a one-third reduction in harvests of female crabs. Science indicates that reducing crab harvests will result in a greater abundance of blue crabs, and that the population will respond very quickly to such actions. Unfortunately, the men and women who make their living by bringing those delicious blue crabs to our dinner tables will see their incomes drop. It's a gross oversimplification, but consider what you would do if you were told by your boss that your annual income would drop by 34 percent effective immediately. These are scary times for the crabber.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation applauds the governors for taking this bold action and committing to partner, as perhaps never before, on the regulations necessary to reduce crab harvests. However, we are concerned about the impact of these regulations on watermen communities, particularly those on Tangier and Smith Islands, where crabbing has been part of the culture for centuries and whose watermen have limited options for alternative incomes.
CBF therefore has offered both states alternative approaches to harvest reductions that attempt to spread the burden equally among various sectors of the crab industry. Furthermore, we share the frustrations expressed by the Virginia Waterman's Association in numerous newspaper articles. While Virginia takes bold action to reduce crab harvests, the underlying problem facing crabs remains unsolved with no complete solutions even in sight. Ultimately, we must restore the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay if we are to sustain a robust crab population and robust crab fishery. Read the full article on dailypress.com.
The Starbucks Foundation, whose mission is "to create opportunities for youth to learn, serve & grow their natural potential to reinvent the world," has made a generous $50,000 grant to support CBF's Student Leadership efforts, providing a huge funding boost for the program.
In addition, from now through June 3rd, bring your own travel mug when you buy a drink at Starbucks and they'll donate 10-cents to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Watch history in action as three boats, each a unique modern interpretation of the vessel Captain John Smith used to explore the Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago, race around Annapolis Harbor on Saturday, May 3 at high noon. Who got it right? The boat built by the Reedville Fishermen's Museum, Deltaville Maritime Museum, or Sultana Projects in Chestertown?
The race is part of the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival and celebrates Bay sailing history and the creation of the new Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
Admission is free. For more information, visit the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival website http://www.mdmhf.org/view.asp?id=526&page=32732
Photo by Raynell Smith, Deltaville Maritime Museum Director, last August when the Shallops met in Deltaville.
Teen Alex Elliott of NizamFilms sent us this video. Music video and educational video rolled into one. I wonder if teachers could use it in the classroom?
click on images to enlarge
Now that March has come and gone and we’re into April, there’s quite a bit of progress to report. The first three guitars are now finished, and work is well underway on the other three.
Ladies’ Night: inlayed onto the Peruvian Walnut backed guitar, depicts female crabs foraging through eelgrass.
Heron Sunset: inlayed onto the Brazilian Kingwood backed guitar, depicts a setting sun silhouetting a great blue heron, with a close-up on the neck of another heron among the cattails.
The Fisherman: inlayed onto the Quilted Sapele backed guitar, depicts an osprey coming in to capture a fish for its dinner.
Stars and Stripers: the fourth guitar underway, places the viewer within a school of striped bass and has a starfish sitting at the bottom. All this sits below the Francis Scott Key nun buoy on the headstock. This buoy is located in the Patapsco river mouth and commemorates the location of the British ship that held Francis Scott Key when he composed the Star Spangled Banner.
The Duke and Duchess: the fifth guitar underway, shows a pair of woodland ducks in marsh grass.
I should have the artwork for the sixth guitar shortly.
The first three guitars headed to the Newport Miami Guitar Festival to be displayed with many other custom guitars from April 11 to 13. They will be coming back after the show and all six will be displayed at Appalachian Bluegrass in Catonsville as completed until the Chesapeake Bay Guitar Project Festival there on May 17. This local festival will not only have the guitars on display for sale, but there will be staff from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation present, supporting the event, as well as live music (we’re hoping for some original works that speak to the Bay) and refreshments. More information can be obtained from Emory at Appalachian Bluegrass (410-744-1144) or on his website (www.appalachianbluegrass.com).
Dave MacCubbin
You can catch Will Baker's interview with Kojo Nnamdi here. Note: The Chesapeake Bay segment is the last one of the hour, so when you open your audio player, advance to the 39:58 mark (click on image for larger view).
Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, will join host Kojo Nnamdi at noon today on "The Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta" on WAMU 88.5FM in Washington D.C.
From Kojo's website -- "Politicians love to talk about cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. But every political season, it seems that bold talk rarely translates into bold actions. (On today's show) we consider the politics of pollution in our region."
If you can't listen on the radio, the podcast should be available about an hour after the show ends.
Over spring break a handful of students from Christopher Newport University and Virginia Wesleyan College decided to forgo Daytona Beach and spend their vacations helping CBF restore Virginia's oyster population. The Virginian-Pilot has a great story about the endeavor. One student, Travis Deale, also sent us this personal journal entry.
"Taking the time to volunteer for CBF during my spring break was very rewarding. It gave me some hands-on experience in field biology and also was a very good time. As a biology student who one day wants to work in field research, this was something that I really looked forward to and enjoyed. It was nice to do something productive over break. I fully support what the CBF is doing in trying to save the bay and I am glad i could help. The experience itself was fun, so it didn't seem too much like work to me because I was having fun and wanted to do it. I hope to work with the CBF again soon."
Travis Deale
CNU '09
Travis, we hope to work with you again soon, too!
Here's a podcast about a great new group called the Maryland Grazer's Network, a mentoring program for farmers interested in selling locally-grown, grass-fed meat directly to consumers. Network leader Michael Heller, farm manager for CBF's Clagett Farm, has pulled together a "dream team" of farmers who will provide others with advice on Bay-friendly, rotational grazing practices and marketing. Listen and share it with your friends, and come on back to share your thoughts. 
Other links you might find interesting:
Once again, the Bush Administration is proposing to reduce federal funding for pollution reduction, species preservation, and habitat restoration in the Bay region. This year the proposed decrease is almost 24 million dollars.
With only three years to go to meet the 2010 goals for the Bay, this is a step backwards, just when the Bay states have been stepping forward with unprecedented programs and funding to reduce pollution.
However, there is still opportunity to turn around the President’s proposed cuts. Congress frequently makes significant changes to the President’s proposal before it takes final action. This is where you can help.
Right now and through the middle of this month, your locally elected U.S. Senators and Representative are developing their own list of priority requests for consideration by the all-important Appropriations Committees. These requests are often even more important than the President’s.
You can encourage your elected officials to reverse the trend set by this President and fight for increasing, not decreasing, federal help for the restoration of the Bay and the streams that feed it.
The Bay needs your help. Click here to write to your Senators and Representative to let them know you care.
Put a big red circle around the date March 5 on your calendar.
The Clean Water Network has declared March 5 as National Clean Water Phone Congress Day. The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to act this year on what could be the most important clean water legislation in 35 years: The Clean Water Restoration Act (H.R. 2421).
This bipartisian bill is needed now to ensure that all of the nation's streams, headwater tributaries, wetlands and other waters remain protected from pollution by the federal Clean Water Act. It will reaffirm that the Clean Water Act was intended to protect all of the waters of the United States, from big rivers to small streams, and from the Great Lakes to remote wetlands.
So limber up those fingers and and call your U.S. Representative between 9am and 6pm EST. Tell him/herto support clean water by getting behind the Clean Water Restoration Act (H.R. 2421). For more information about the bill and how to contact your representative, download this message from CWN.
If you live near Annapolis, you'll want to limber up those legs and walk or ride to Lawyer's Mall (across from the State House) to Rally with O'Malley for green jobs and a clean energy future. Join Governor O'Mally, the Alliance for Global Warming Solutions, CBF, and others at 10am on March 5 to thank the Gov. for his support of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008 and to stand with him in asking the General Assembly to pass this bill!
The Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative (MARI) recently celebrated its one year anniversary. During MARI’s first year, the coalition of more than 50 conservation, businesses, and government partners successfully raised more than $1.4 million to support the creation and monitoring of artificial reefs for fish habitat throughout Maryland’s waters.
“Creating fish habitat not only helps to restore the Chesapeake Bay, but also benefits recreational opportunities and our local economy,” said Bill Goldsborough, Maryland Artificial Reef Committee Chairman and Chesapeake Bay Foundation Fisheries Program Director.
Individuals can help with reef projects across the State by “buying a ton” via a tax-deductible donation to the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative. The Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative was created in early 2007 to raise funds to facilitate development of marine habitat enhancement projects. For more information visit www.ccamd.org/MARI/MARI_home.htm.
As the Maryland General Assembly meets to debate new, stricter regulations on Chesapeake Bay waterfront development, Maryland Public Television (MPT) will air a new program that examines Maryland’s Critical Area Law.
"Weary Shoreline," a documentary about the failure to enforce Maryland's Critical Area law, airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday night. For a preview of the show, check out Tim Wheeler's post on the Baltimore Sun's News & Environment blog.
One prime example of the Critical Area law's "death by one thousand cuts" is back in the news. Just last week, David Clickner, owner of Dobbins Island, resurrected plans to build a 4,500-square-foot home, septic system, and road on the island--plans which violate Maryland's Critical Area law but which Clickner has received variance approvals for from the state.
Fervent discussion over HB 1253—set for General Assembly debate February 28 (the day after Weary Shoreline’s premiere)—is expected. Among several proposed changes to this controversial law, the bill mandates that new development (including houses, outbuildings, decks, patios, driveways, landscaping and swimming pools) be even farther away from the bay shoreline than the current 100 feet. Instead, the inner Critical Areas shoreline buffer would be expanded from 100 feet to 300 feet.
February is well under way, and we’ve made quite a bit of progress on the Chesapeake Bay guitars. Craig has been working on the inlays for the first two necks. The first inlay, just completed, is titled “Ladies' Night” (left) and depicts several mature female crabs, or ‘sooks,’ swimming through eelgrass. The second inlay, still under construction, (right) is titled “Heron Sunset.” This inlay shows a silhouette of a heron at sunset on the headstock and has a close-up of a heron among the cattails on the fingerboard. The guitar bodies are coming along as well. I’ve completed construction of the first two guitar bodies, and am just waiting on the completed necks to finish the guitars. The “Ladies' Night” guitar has Peruvian Walnut back and sides, and a Sitka spruce top. The guitar bindings are flamed Western maple. The “Heron Sunset” guitar has Brazilian kingwood back and sides, and a Sitka spruce top. The guitar bindings are ebony. Craig has designed the inlays for the next two guitar necks. The first is titled “The Fisherman” and depicts an osprey catching a fish. The other, titled “Future Matters,” shows a male seahorse, indigenous to the Chesapeake Bay, giving birth to baby seahorses. We should have some photos of these in the next month. We have set the date for the guitar festival for May 17, 2008. It will be held at Emory’s store, the Appalachian Bluegrass Shoppe, in Catonsville, from 12-4pm. There will be a number of guitarists featured at the festival, and we’re hoping for some original songs related to the Chesapeake Bay to be performed. More information about the event will be included in the Spring 2008 edition of CBF’s “Save the Bay” magazine. If anyone has any questions about the project or the guitars, please contact Emory at Appalachian Bluegrass. His contact information can be found on his website www.appalachianbluegrass.com. It’s back to building, but I’ll continue to post the project progress, passing on our status and any news.
David MacCubbin |
Due to icy conditions, the panel discussion I mentioned Tuesday has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 26. Same time, same place.
Pennsylvania newspapers are filled with articles about municipalities who are frustrated about the costs of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. The cleanup is federally mandated--but unfunded, and if a 2010 deadline for meeting these mandatory water quality standards isn't met, the federal government could come down harder with even stricter standards. But local jurisdictions don't know how they're going to come up with the hundreds of millions of dollars it will take to comply. CBF has joined the call for the Rendell administration to provide funds to municipalities struggling to meet sewage treatment upgrade requirements.
If you live near Harrisburg, you might want to attend tonight's panel discussion on the Chesapeake Bay cleanup and its effects on sewage bills. The discussion will be held from 5 - 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn West, 5401 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg. Panel participants include Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection; John Brosius, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association; and Scott Wyland, lawyer for the Capital Region Council of Governments.
Mimi Boseman is one of about 300 oyster gardeners in Hampton Roads, Virginia. WVEC reporter David Allen spoke with her recently about her efforts. Check out the video on WVEC's website.
by guest blogger Tommy Leggett, oyster fisheries scientist in CBF's Virginia office.
The Maryland Oyster Advisory Commission recently supported the concept of boosting Maryland’s oyster fishery using aquaculture. The fact that the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population and fishery is hitting rock bottom is old news. The good news is that aquaculture can produce oysters for market and keep watermen on the water, all while the oysters are in the Bay providing habitat and filtering the water.
I was a commercial fisherman in Virginia for nearly 20 years and every fishery I participated in seemed to be going south. I would switch from one fishery to the other in order to make a living. The final frontier for me was patent tonging for hard clams, and I wasn’t long figuring out that that fishery would not last. Sure enough, there are only about 25 clammers left in Virginia who are actively working full time in the fishery.
In the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to listen to several seminars sponsored by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science on oyster aquaculture. The idea intrigued me, and before long I was investing a small amount of capital in oyster seed and grow-out gear. I also tried growing a few clams with my goal being to eventually get out of the wild fishery and direct all of my efforts in the shellfish aquaculture industry.
I was well on my way to becoming a successful full-time shellfish grower when I had the opportunity to go to work for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) doing environmental education and oyster restoration. For the last 8 years now, I have been operating an oyster farm for CBF and have produced nearly 6 million adult cultchless oysters (grown from spat independent of a substrate, as opposed to spat on shell, which we also grow at CBF) that were planted for restoration but could have been sold. We are now working with the oyster industry to demonstrate the feasibility of spat on shell production by watermen and large growers for the market production of oysters. Meanwhile, I still have my own small oyster farm (separate from my work with CBF) and grow approximately 100,000 oysters per year for sale to local and out-of-state restaurants.
The return on investment isn’t too shabby, either. Consider the following two alternatives, each of which nets $1,250:
Virginia has long been practicing oyster aquaculture, first on private leases where leaseholders would purchase wild oyster seed, and later with the use of cages, bags and trays, using hatchery-produced seed to grow oysters for the half-shell trade. Historically, Virginia has produced more oysters from private leases than from its public oyster grounds, demonstrating that the private sector is better suited than state government to produce oysters for commercial harvest. (Oyster production on private grounds started in the mid-1800s.)
Could oyster farming one day be viable in Maryland? I think so. Of course, some major changes would have to occur. The laws and regulations governing leasing Bay bottom would have to be updated, and a more streamlined permitting process would have to be developed. But I think what’s most important is that our watermen remain key players in the industry. Yes, they would have to adapt to a business that is more like farming than harvesting a wild resource. These changes may be significant, but they are not impossible to overcome.
For those of us who work the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, oysters are in our blood, and it would be a great thing to see more watermen once again be able to pass the fruits of their labor on to future generations.
I believe the future is bright for oyster aquaculture. It requires some adjustments in the thinking of watermen, but the fact is, oyster farming will keep watermen on the water producing Chesapeake Bay oysters. Our Bay has changed over the centuries and it continues to change. Watermen should consider changing as well if they want to continue working on the Bay. Will it be easy? Of course not, but nothing worth having ever comes easy, whether it be 15,000 wild-caught oysters or 5000 oysters grown in cages.
Think about it!
Maryland’s newly-formed Oyster Advisory Commission (OAC) yesterday released its first report with initial recommendations about how the state should be managing its oyster resources.
You might not guess it, but this is exciting stuff. I know, I know… another commission, another report… and where are the oysters? What’s going to be different this time??
Well, for starters, the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and his team did a great job of naming new—but knowledgeable—faces to the commission. I'm not just saying this because CBF Maryland Executive Director, Kim Coble, is a member of the team. Everyone seems to be very committed to seeing the issues through fresh eyes and seeking new solutions.
The report's findings, recommendations, and even the vision statement are only preliminary, because the oyster Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)* isn't due out until this spring. That will provide more comprehensive information for the commission.
But—preliminarily—the OAC is recognizing some key things. One, that there is a difference between restoring oysters for their ecological value (that is, planting them onto sanctuaries where they can provide filtration and habitat value), and restoring the oyster industry (that is, keeping our watermen working). Both are laudable goals, but they are two very different things.
Two, the OAC found that to date, federal and state oyster funding has primarily been used to support industry restoration, with less than a quarter of the funding supporting ecological restoration. This is clearly out of balance since one of the reasons we want to bring back the oyster population is to improve the health of the Bay.
Moving forward, the Commission advocates ramping up the scale of ecological restoration, while helping the oyster industry transition into farming native oysters (aquaculture). Throughout the world aquaculture has proven to be more profitable and self-sustaining than harvesting wild oysters. In fact, we only have to look as far as Virginia to see that some of their watermen have transitioned to aquaculture and are doing nicely. And while creating a profitable industry, those oyster farms are providing some water filtration benefits to the Bay.
Let’s get in on that!
*The state/federal environmental impact statement regarding native and non-native oysters in the Chesapeake has been a long time coming, but it is considered the most comprehensive analysis to date of the oyster situation in the Chesapeake Bay.
Stephanie Reynolds is CBF's Maryland oyster restoration scientist.
written by B. L. Lang, author of the novel "Saint Clements Bay"
As a young girl in the 1950’s, I spent most summers at my grandmother’s cottage in southern Maryland. The place, primitive in a charming sort of way with an ivy-covered outhouse tucked away at the edge of the pines, was perched on a bluff overlooking Saint Clements Bay down at the mouth of the Potomac River. That bay and the river are important bodies of water flowing into the treasure that is the Chesapeake. Through the years, I’ve been pestered by vivid memories of the water, murky and brackish as the salt mixed with the fresh, but supporting plentiful blue crabs, beds of rich sea grasses, oysters, and adventure. Inspired by my own history, an inescapable love of the Chesapeake and the Saint Mary’s County area, I wrote Saint Clements Bay: A Novel of Remembrance. It’s a sweet story of a time gone by, a little history, some rather quirky characters, and a “near as can be remembered” account of my grandmother’s remarkable life and family, many of whom are native to the County.
The Chesapeake needs all of us to pitch in however we can to bring it back to health and bounty—that’s why I have pledged one third of profits from the sale of the book to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. When it comes to working hard to ensure the improved status of the Chesapeake, no organization does more and is more effective than CBF. They provide education, activism, expertise, and more, to get the job done. We’ve made an initial donation to CBF and, with the help of new readers we hope to keep contributing for a long time to come. The book can be purchased at the publisher’s website, www.plangentpress.com where you can also read reviews and more, or on Amazon. Watch for author signings in the area later this spring.
If you have a question or comments on the book, you can email me through the publisher’s site. I’d love to hear your own stories about the Bay—send me a note!
B. L. Lang, Author
We can't thank Ms. Lang enough for her generousity. The magic of it is that she is just one of thousands of others who have similar memories of the bountiful Bay in earlier days. We would like to hear your stories, too. Won't you please share them in our Comments section?
Excerpt of a Baltimore Sun Op/ed written by Kim Coble, Executive Director of CBF's Maryland Office.
When citizens want to change how the government protects the environment, they generally work toward changing legislation, regulations or government leaders. Rarely do people think about judges.
But they should.
Maryland's judges are thoughtful people whose primary experience is with criminal and business law. But they are often unaware or insufficiently educated about the environment and the laws meant to protect it. Too often, these judges do not have a fundamental understanding of the complexity and importance of our natural resources...Lacking a larger understanding, they can be overly sympathetic to claims that protecting our water, air and land should be subordinate to an individual's property rights...As a result, in recent years, we have seen cases in which the legislature had to go back and rewrite legislation to repair damage done to environmental laws through misinterpretation by the court system.
...The courts and other judicial institutions (as well as many local planning offices) have chosen to ignore the cumulative impact of the next shopping center, apartment complex or industrial park. Each case is reviewed independently, and thus the courts look only at the impact of just this "one" case: One parking lot. One gazebo. One bed of underwater grasses destroyed. One wetland lost.
It's an argument developers routinely deliver, with amazing success. But the cumulative effects of these "ones" is death by a thousand cuts for our environment, our rivers and streams, and our bay.
...Sadly, the cost of mounting a legal challenge to each case is beyond the financial ability of most citizens. And special-interest organizations, willing to act on behalf of concerned individuals, are rarely even allowed to appear because of an overly narrow interpretation of who has "standing" - that is, who has the right to appear before the board or court.
...Judges who respect our natural resources and the common good, who have a demonstrated record of protecting the public interest, can help preserve and restore the land, air and water that belong to all citizens.
Maryland has good environmental laws. They could be stronger, but even the strongest and most well-crafted laws are only as good as those who enforce them.
Read the complete Op/Ed here...and recommend it when you're done.
My kids bring their interim reports home from school this Friday, and I'm expecting to see a few low grades working their way a bit higher. I'm trying to get my son and daughter to understand that everything counts. Falling behind in the routine, like not turning in homework assignments, will torpedo their grades as surely as if they didn't prepare for a test. And not preparing for tests, regardless of how well they think they already know the subject matter, will inevitably come back to bite them.
Unfortunately, another report came home today, and the grades didn't improve. CBF released its annual State of the Bay report, an index of 13 indicators of the Bay's health. This year the Bay brought home a disappointing grade of "D." Not a single indicator improved from last year, and three dropped still further. If my son brought that report card home he'd lose Playstation privileges for a month.
It's not just the grade. If my son or daughter is getting low grades because they are having difficulty with the subject I know that's something we can work on together. But if the grades reflect work that just isn't being done or effort that just isn't being exerted, that's unacceptable.
That's what makes this year's State of the Bay report so frustrating—it doesn't reflect a lack of skill, it reflects a lack of will.
At a press conference this morning, CBF President Will Baker put it this way:
"The Chesapeake Bay Program has been acclaimed as a model federal/state partnership. Unfortunately, the federal participation has been a model of failure under this administration. While our governors and legislators at the state and federal level have achieved important victories in recent years, the Bush Administration has made no contribution toward the pollution reduction goals in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement. In fact, they have issued regulations that allow coal fired power plants to continue to spew mercury and nitrogen when this should have been prohibited under the Clean Air Act long ago. And while the states have increased funding to improve sewage treatment, President Bush has cut funding."
Science has given us the plan we need to turn things around. Our elected officials need to act on it.
On Wednesday, the Chesapeake Executive Council will meet to evaluate the state of the Bay. We are asking them to publicly announce timetables for the programs they will implement to complete their commitments. Will they chose to continue the politics of postponement or will they take action to save the Bay?
I recently toured a crab picking house on the eastern shore of VA where watermen drop off fresh catches of blue crabs. As I was waiting in the office several customers arrived with small coolers to collect crabmeat. It made me think of the crabcakes my mom and aunt used to make when I was kid. Fried or broiled, I loved them. Unfortunately, picking houses like these (and the crabcakes I ate as a kid) are declining in number, in part due to the import of crabmeat from outside the Chesapeake. Evidence of this can be seen at seafood restaurants around the region that have on their menu "Maryland Style" crabcakes. Be assured, the style has to do with how they are breaded and seasoned and not where the meat comes from.
I am concerned that imported crabmeat, among other combining factors, is unfairly placing our local crab industry at risk. I am certain that we can "Save the Bay." However, I want to work towards saving our crabbing economy as well. It's an industry that produces signifcant revenue and jobs and should not be outsourced. So when I go to restaurants I ask the waiter, "What does it mean by Maryland-Style?" You'd be surprised how many servers have no idea where the meat comes from. I then try and order something locally caught, if available.
And the next time I go to the eastern shore I am taking a cooler and visiting that crabhouse. Then maybe I will invite my Mom over for dinner. Crabcakes will be on the menu.
Joe Lerch is a senior land planner in CBF's Virginia office.
You deserve a Million Thank You's!!!
Click here for YOUR Thank You!
Last night in a marathon session, the Maryland General Assembly ended its three-week special session by earmarking $50 million per year to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. The funds will be used to reduce pollution and bring the State closer to meeting its 2010 Bay-restoration commitments.
The legislature adopted the House's plan, which will fund the cleanup efforts through the existing motor fuel tax and the car rental tax. No new taxes were created for this fund.
As anyone following the Green Fund issue can attest, it's been a tough road. We couldn't have done it without the thousands of concerned citizens who baked crab cookies, sent postcards, and made phone calls to their elected leaders to let them know clean water is a critical issue they want to see addressed.
Del. Maggie MacIntosh, who sponsored the House Bill, has been an incredible advocate for our Bay. CBF thanks her, the rest of the General Assembly, and Governor O'Malley and his administration for passing this legislation. We look forward to working with them in the upcoming session on the next step—legislation to ensure the funds are used effectively and efficiently to get the Bay off of the federal "dirty waters" list.
