Chesapeake Bay Foundation Blog

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.

CBF Sanctuary Garden Open House

Come visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's (CBF) Sanctuary Garden at our headquarters in Annapolis, MD. This special open house will include a native seed propagation demonstration and an opportunity to purchase hard-to-find native plants.

The event will be held Saturday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To register and for directions, please contact Sheila Gallagher at Sheila.Gallagher22@comcast.net or call 410-867-0113.

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.

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/

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! 

CBF on WYPR Today at Noon

Today at noon (until 1:00) on Midday with Dan Rodericks on WYPR radio, former Baltimore Sun editorial writer Karen Hostler will be interviewing CBF Litigation Director Jon Mueller and Senior Scientist Beth McGee and at least one representative from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) on the Sparrows Point steel mill, which has been discharging toxic chemicals into the air and water for years. Author and former Baltimore Sun reporter Mark Reutter, who has written extensively about Sparrows Point, will be on the show as well.

On Friday, May 29, 2009, CBF and Baltimore Harbor Harborkeeper notified EPA, MDE, and the current and former owners of the Sparrows Point steel plant of our intention to sue them in federal court to force a clean-up of pollution flowing from the plant site, to conduct an adequate assessment of risks to human health and the nearby ecology, and to address other violations of the law.

Gearing Up for the Season's Best Beach Party

Things here are really starting to gear up for next week's big fete! Our fourth annual "Bands in the Sand" beach party is next Saturday, June 13th.

Here at CBF we work hard -- but we sure know how to put on a party! BITS, as we call it in the office, is great beach party with excellent food, drinks, live music, and a live art auction. This year enjoy the wicked reggae of S.T.O.R.M. and dance to the rollin' rock of Misspent Youth. Misspent Youth's mix of classic and modern rock is more my style, but I checked out S.T.O.R.M.'s website and their video "Hola, Hola" hooked me, hooked me.

One of the (many) fun things about Bands in the Sand is you don't need to drive there. Have a boat? You can anchor off the beach and we'll ferry you in. 

Tickets are $100 each and proceeds support CBF's education, restoration, and advocacy programs.

You can check out pictures from last year's party on CBF's website. Then get some friends together, order your tickets, and prepare to leave your shoes at the dock and chill out on the beach! 

We hope you can join us!

Volunteer's Rain Garden Project Reflects a Sunny Outlook for the Bay

CBF volunteer Eileen Catte has heard from plenty of people who are convinced that there's no way to revive the Chesapeake Bay. But she has proof there is. Check out the story in today's Annapolis Capital about how Catte's honors project at Anne Arundel Community College is making a difference. 

Clean Water for a Change

The original title of this post was "Miles to Go Before I Sleep." That's virtual miles, via Google Maps, but it's still exhausting. I've been mapping the Chesapeake Bay watershed for hours, and I'm still not finished.

We asked members to send us bottles of water from their local river or stream and tell us about the quality of their waterways. We'll be taking the bottles with us to the Chesapeake Executive Council meeting tomorrow, May 12, to show our region's leaders that we all deserve "Clean Water for a Change." Check our website for more info.

I'm mapping out the locations of the hundreds of bottles and comments we've received.

We've heard from folks all over the watershed, from as far west as Monterey, VA, up to Stephen Foster Lake in northern PA and down to the mouth of the Bay at Norfolk, VA. Here are a few excerpts. Check out the rest on our map. And follow us on Twitter (#ecmeeting) as we follow the Executive Council meeting from Mount Vernon Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

I live on the Patapsco River in Anne Arundel County between Rock and Bodkin Points. Slag, coal and coke from Sparrows Point routinely wash up on our shores, as does trash from upstream. And that's just the pollutants we CAN see! 

I live on the Chesapeake and every day, I walk on the beach. I see the debris along the tide line...everything from construction materials to landscaping fabric...devastating to our ecosystem and something must be done to control this human carelessness!

The Piankatank River is free from industrial pollution but there are many irresponsible boaters. Gas spills, harmful cleaners, and not following "no wake" regulations has taken a toll on the health of this river.

When I first moved here, 16 years ago, there were native Brook trout in Beaver Creek. Now the developers are here & the Trout, along with the farms, are gone. Beaver Creek makes its now-degraded contribution the the Chesapeake.

We live in Glebe Heights between Mayo and Edgewater in Anne Arundel Co.  We love to swim in the South River but we are afraid most of the time due to the fact that every time our dog has gotten in the water he has ended up at the Vet w/ a severe skin condition.

The Shamokin Creek is polluted with acid mine drainage.  There are over 60 discharges throughout the watershed, with each discharge having unique properties.  Iron, manganese, aluminum, sulphur and low pH are found in unacceptable levels.

Share your waterway story and I'll add it to the map.