Chesapeake Bay Foundation Blog

President Proposes Almost $24 Million in Cuts for Bay Region

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.

Take the Polar Bear Plunge and Fight Global Warming

On December 8, CBF's president, Will Baker, will join hundreds of others across the country and take the Chesapeake Climate Action Network's third annual Polar Bear Plunge into the fridgid waters of Chesapeake Bay. Won't you join him?

CCAN's annual polar bear plunge draws prominent elected officials and journalists and allows us to dramatically communicate the dire threat to our planet’s environment – and to the Chesapeake Bay. We have one planet and it has a fever, and we need clean energy solutions now.

Join Will and other CBFers at this event and fundraiser. It all begins at 11 am on Saturday, Dec. 8th on the beach at CBF's Merrill Center headquarters in Annapolis. CCAN will have heated tents on the beach plus hot chocolate and donuts and even a trio of polar bears who sing rap songs for the Earth. It’s fun for the whole family for a cause that couldn’t be more vital.

Can't get to Annapolis? Check CCAN's Keep Winter Cold website for a plunge near you.

Register online at keepwintercold.org

And, again, keep in mind that this is also a fundraiser for CCAN and their work to fight global warming, such as the campaign to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act here in Maryland. Participants are simply asked to get their friends and family members to give pledges to sponsor their plunge. It’s easy, and CCAN will take care of all the details.

Report Bad Water Quality

1.866.666.9260
Write that number down.

The news this summer has been dismal. Three-hundred-thousand fish dead in Mattox Creek off the Potomac River in July. Twenty thousand in Weems Creek in June. A six-mile-long algal bloom in the Potomac.

We want to know more about what's going on in our rivers and Bay, and we need your help to do it.

If you see or hear about something troubling on the water —like an algal bloom, fish kill, or "crab jubilee"—inform the proper authorities and call CBF'S Bad Water Strike Force Hotline at 1.866.666.9260.

When you call, you'll be asked for some basic information, including:

• Where and when did the event happen?
• What did the water look like?
• Were there dead fish? If so, how many, what kind, big or small?
• What were the weather conditions?
• Have you or can you take a picture of the event?
• Have you contacted the appropriate state agency?

At the end of the summer, CBF will use your data to develop a report on bad water events in the region.  We will share the report with government officials and urge them to support funding for Bay restoration. We'll also share the report with you.

Delmarva Blue Crab Festival

Thanks to ShoreThings for this info: The 1st Annual Delmarva Blue Crab Festival is scheduled to take place August 10th-12th in Milton, DE. The sponsors of the event include local print, radio and television media companies along with beverage suppliers and several recognizable business names. The festival will designate a portion of its proceeds for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

American Indian, Bay Issues Featured in New Novel

Released on May 15 by Cashel and Kells Publishing, "Herons Poynte: A Novel of the Chesapeake" is the story of a young Choptank Indian named David who travels to the bay in search of his ancestral land. The novel's strong undercurrent of environmentalism emerges when David discovers the land is now owned by a polluting local steel mill. The subsequent conflict between David and the owner of the mill represents what author George Callaghan calls the contemporary struggle to restore the health of the Chesapeake.

Callaghan's novel highlights environmental issues that have recently reached the attention of state legislators. Still, "Herons Poynte" is about more than the environment. The book also aims to address the issue of American Indian entitlement in the United States, a theme that actually emerges in the narrative well before any discussion of sustainability.

"Herons Poynte: A Novel of the Chesapeake" by George Callaghan is stocked by the Salisbury University Bookstore and other independent bookstores on the Eastern Shore, in Ocean City and in Callaghan's hometown of Annapolis. It can also be purchased online at www.HeronsPoynte.com. (from The Daily Times)

Calling all Chesapeake Bay Anglers: Reward -- Striped bass wearing green tags

Biologists want to study the striped bass they tagged earlier to see whether the striped bass have gotten sicker, healthier or stayed the same. The results could guide Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) officials in responding to mycobacteriosis, a mysterious wasting disease that now infects more than half the Chesapeake Bay's striped bass. The tags include a toll-free number to call.

Anglers get $5 for calling in a catch, or $20 if they keep the fish on ice for scientists to retrieve.  (from WMDT- 45)

Events this Week

3/6 -- Hampton Roads Shell Bagging, Gloucester, VA
3/8 -- VoiCeS Adult Education Program, Frederick, MD
3/8 -- Energy Film Festival and Lecture Series, Film: Earth to America, Salisbury, MD
3/10 -- Hampton Roads Green Breakfast, Flowering Wetlands Plants, Norfolk, VA
3/10 -- VoiCes Adult Bay Education Program, Cambridge, MD

Other things we've heard about:

Sip a Green Drink at this happy hour with others who share your passion for the environment.

• Monday 3/5
  Baltimore, MD -- 6:00 - 8:00 at Bluehouse
• Tuesday 3/6
  Annapolis, MD -- 5:30 - 7:30 at Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company
  Lancaster, PA -- 6:00 - 8:00 at the Lancaster Brewing Company
• Wednesday 3/7
  Dover, DE -- 4:30 at the Lobby House

3/7 -- Speak out about Annapolis -- Share your two cents with City of Annapolis and the Comprehensive Plan Citizen Advisory Committee at this community forum on planning. 5 - 9 pm at Bates Middle School.

3/8 -- Trace John Smith's Route with Susan Schmidt as she recounts tales from her book, Landfall along the Chesapeake, Annapolis Maritime Museum, 7pm

If you have any relevant events in your neck of the woods that you'd like to share with your Chesapeake Bay neighbors, let us know.

Lewes Public Library to host changing Chesapeake series

Everyone knows that the region is changing because of human activity – people see it around them every day. But what kind of impact are these changes having on the animal and plant life of the area? How do they affect the families and people who live in and love the area? What is the region’s past and what is its future?

The Lewes Public Library explores these questions and others through a Delmarva Discussions reading series "The Chesapeake Bay: End of an Era." Books will include "Maryland's Eastern Shore" by John Wennersten, "Done Crabbin'" by Gilbert Byron, "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson, "Bay Country" by Tom Horton, and "Entailed Hat" by George Alfred Townsend. Find out more at www.leweslibrary.org or on the Delmarva Discussions webpage. (Cape Gazette)

Wetlands' future depends on education

If you're looking for a good article about the importance of wetlands and the challenges they are facing in the Chesapeake Bay watershed this article from The Daily Times is a must-read.

What have we been doing for 19 years?

An article in today's Washington Post includes the following quote from J. Charles Fox, a former head of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources about efforts over the past 19 years to clean up the Chesapeake Bay:

"We have done a truly tremendous job of defining the problem, and we have done a truly tremendous job of defining the solution. But we have not yet succeeded in actually implementing the solution."

National and local legislators throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed will be tackling tough questions during this session. Keep David Fahrenthold's article in mind when the time comes to decide what efforts need your support.

More from the Washington Post:

• A picture is worth a thousand words. What will you do to protect the beauty of the Bay?
• Staggering amounts of work and funding are still needed.

National River Cleanup Week

American Rivers and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters have set National River Cleanup Week for June 2-10, 2007. Organize a cleanup or find a cleanup near you.