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November 27, 2020

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

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Chesapeake Bay Foundation Hosting Oyster Pop-Up Shop In Easton November 24

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Get fresh local oysters directly from growers. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is hosting four oyster pop-up shops at various locations in Maryland in October and November including Easton..The sales are designed to benefit Maryland oyster farmers, who are facing declining sales this year due to limited restaurant openings and ongoing restaurant closures due to COVID-19.

Oyster farmers depend on restaurants for the bulk of their sales. About 90 percent of the oysters they raise are sold directly to restaurants. As the pandemic continues, CBF is working to help oyster farmers sell their product directly to consumers.

Oyster farmers purchase larvae or spat on shell and raise them into market-sized oysters in the Bay. Oyster aquaculture operations are sustainable and help ensure consumer demand for oysters can be met without depleting the wild oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.

Oysters in the Bay clarify the water and provide habitat for fish, blue crabs, and other marine life. Oyster populations in Maryland have been on a long-term decline since the late 1800s due to overfishing, pollution, and disease. Oyster aquaculture provides a way to reverse this decline while providing Marylanders with fresh, local oysters.

For instructions on how to handle and shuck oysters visit CBF’s website – www.cbf.org/join-us/more-things-you-can-do/oyster-pop-up-shops

Tuesday, Nov. 24 – Easton, Maryland

  • Pickup time and location: 4 to 6:30 p.m., Easton Point 24 Fuel, 930 Port St., Easton
  • Oyster farmer – Pirate’s Cove Oyster Co.
  • To order: Email piratescoveoysters@gmail.com before Nov. 23 at noon
  • Quantities available and price:
    • 12 count – $12
    • 24 count – $20
    • 50 count – $35
    • 100 count – $60

CBF Opposes Maryland Proposal to Limit Areas for Oyster Restoration

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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is opposing proposed changes to Maryland’s public shellfish fishery areas that would limit the ability to expand oyster farming and restoration activities in the future.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) presented the proposed policy Oct. 12 at the Oyster Advisory Commission meeting. The proposal, if approved in regulation, would establish criteria to develop new public shellfish fishery areas—Bay bottom reserved exclusively for oyster harvesting —if the area has five or more oysters per square meter of bottom.

Once a public shellfish fishery area has been established, the bottom can no longer be used for activities such as oyster restoration or oyster farming, also known as aquaculture. However, Bay bottom with strong oyster populations are among the best areas to restore oyster reefs or raise oysters as part of an aquaculture operation. This proposal could prevent reef restoration and aquaculture in large portions of Maryland’s Bay by reserving them for commercial harvest. More than 179,000 acres of Bay bottom are already designated as public shellfish fishery areas. An additional 100,000 acres or more that fall outside of these areas are also open to oyster harvest. About 6,500 acres of Bay bottom are currently being leased for oyster farming.

Environmental advocates, scientists, watermen, and seafood sellers are working together to develop recommendations for a new fishery management plan for oysters as part of a consensus process established in Maryland law in January. DNR’s proposed regulations represent a major change in oyster management that undermine the spirit of that law and the process that’s already underway. This end-around the consensus-based process ties the hands of stakeholders working to develop a shared vision for oyster management.

The proposal must still go through a public comment period and legislative review before it can be established in regulation by DNR. CBF is urging DNR to consider tabling this proposal so that it may be properly considered by the Oyster Advisory Commission members whose legislative mandate is to cooperatively develop recommendations for oyster management that increase oyster abundance and ends overfishing.

The reality is Maryland needs more oysters. Oysters filter and clarify water. Their reefs provide habitat to blue crabs, fish, and other marine life. Despite these benefits, oyster populations in the state remain at historic lows. Expanding areas for the exclusive use of harvesters that require no replanting of oysters and excluding aquaculture operators, who are required to replant areas at sustainable levels, seems highly unlikely to achieve this outcome.

CBF Maryland Fisheries Scientist Allison Colden issued the following statement about the proposal:

“This proposal undermines the process put in place by the legislature to implement actions to increase the oyster population and end overfishing. It appears to be a one-sided proposal to increase the oyster harvest at the expense of restoration and aquaculture efforts that are helping to bring Maryland’s oysters back. Making more of Maryland’s Bay bottom off-limits to restoration and aquaculture makes no sense as oyster populations are wallowing at historic lows. The state must balance the interests of the fishery with the environmental and social benefits more oysters could provide, instead of reserving the remaining oysters in Maryland waters for harvest.”

Experts from CBF and Glenstone Museum to Detail Fall Lawncare Tips

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Ditch the fertilizers and weed killers and make your lawn environmentally friendly this fall.

Join Paul Tukey, the Glenstone Museum’s Chief Sustainability Officer, and Beth McGee, Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Director of Science and Agricultural Policy, for a free live webinar at noon on Oct. 7 about how your lawncare choices affect the environment. Online registration in advance is required to join.

Tukey and McGee will discuss how to create natural landscapes using native plants that add habitat for local wildlife and reduce polluted rain runoff. By incorporating these techniques into your lawncare you can help restore the local environment and improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

“We want to show people the beauty and the benefits of having a more natural landscape,” said McGee. “We’ll be encouraging homeowners to embrace native plants, add trees, and replace swaths of turf with low maintenance groundcovers. The traditional suburban lawn, which often requires fertilizers and herbicides to maintain, is going out of style. We can help you transition into the future.”

At the webinar, Tukey and McGee will detail ways homeowners can plant native grasses, clovers and other types of ground cover to create a lush lawn composed of diverse plant species. Doing so will increase soil health, which brings back a complex ecosystem of microorganisms and enables the soil to store more water.

Lawns compose more than 3 million acres of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, meaning what happens to them affects the Bay’s health. When it rains on lawns, the water can wash away fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals that then flow into local waterways and ultimately the Bay. Removing traditional turf lawns and replanting with native plants can greatly reduce this polluted runoff.

Tukey leads sustainability efforts at Glenstone, a nearly 300-acre contemporary art museum in Montgomery County, Maryland. He is also the author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual, a book that details how to grow a gorgeous lawn free of harsh chemicals. McGee has worked for CBF for 17 years and currently leads the organization’s efforts to help farmers implement regenerative agriculture techniques that restore healthy soils and reduce water runoff.

Fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that wash away from turf lawns after rainstorms contribute to the overall pollution loads that Bay watershed states are working to clean up by 2025 under the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint goals. Once in the Bay, these pollutants can cause harmful algal blooms that cloud the water and deplete dissolved oxygen, which kills marine life, among other negative effects.

Reducing lawn pollutants is a key component of watershed-wide efforts to reach the 2025 goals. Watch the webinar Wed., Oct. 7 to see how you can make a difference.

More information about the Speakers:

Paul Tukey, Chief Sustainability Officer, Glenstone Museum

Paul Tukey came to Glenstone in 2010 as a sustainable landscape consultant and joined the museum as a full-time associate three years later to focus on all aspects of sustainability and regeneration in grounds and buildings. He is the author of the best-selling book, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, as well as hundreds of articles on many aspects of natural landscape techniques. Paul was named the first-ever Green Medal of Honor recipient from the Garden Writers of America in 2017. An avid photographer, writer and runner, he resides in Maryland with his wife and two daughters.

Beth McGee, Director of Science and Ag Policy, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Dr. Beth McGee is the Director of Science and Agricultural Policy with CBF. Beth has been at CBF since 2003 where she is the lead policy advisor and coordinator on regional water quality and agricultural initiatives. For more than 30 years, Beth has been very active in Chesapeake Bay issues, conducting research, serving on technical subcommittees and advisory groups, testifying before Congress, and helping shape the precedent-setting clean-up plan for the Chesapeake Bay. In her spare time, she likes doing anything outside—kayaking, hiking, biking.

About Glenstone

Glenstone, a museum of modern and contemporary art, is integrated into nearly 300 acres of gently rolling pasture and unspoiled woodland in Montgomery County, Maryland, less than 15 miles from the heart of Washington, DC. Established by the not-for-profit Glenstone Foundation, the museum opened in 2006 and provides a contemplative, intimate setting for experiencing iconic works of art and architecture within a natural environment.

Glenstone is open Thursdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to Glenstone is free and visits can be scheduled online at: www.glenstone.org.

CBF Launches CBF Owl, a Live Online Environmental Education Program

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This month the Chesapeake Bay Foundation launched CBF Online Watershed Learning (CBF OWL)–a new education program designed to bring CBF’s expert environmental educators live into online classrooms.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the spring, CBF’s educators have been working to transform the lessons they typically deliver to students on boats, canoes, and hiking trails for students learning remotely.

CBF OWL does this by providing schools with a team of educators who lead an online and interactive 45-minute lesson about a Chesapeake Bay environmental subject. Teachers and administrators can choose from topics such as Chesapeake Bay ecosystems, connections between land and water, forests, and oysters. The first live OWL lessons begin in classrooms throughout the Bay watershed Oct. 5.

“We’re excited to bring our educators’ passion for Chesapeake Bay science and restoration into online classrooms,” said Tom Ackerman, CBF’s Vice President of Education. “This new program gives us the ability to continue to educate students during the pandemic and we think it has greater potential as well. We hope to reach new classrooms and schools we haven’t been able to welcome into the field in the past, using technology and resources we’ve developed over the past year. This program will provide schools with a new avenue to access CBF’s experience and knowledge about the watershed.”

Virtual classroom sessions with CBF educators keep environmental education rolling during COVID-19 remote learning. Credit: CBF Staff

When a teacher signs up for an OWL class, a CBF educator will review the lesson in advance with the teacher and introduce them to CBF’s Learn Outside, Learn at Home online resources. Learn Outside, Learn at Home is a new, free library of online videos and investigations created by CBF to encourage students to examine environmental issues in their neighborhood and throughout the Bay’s watershed.

CBF Educator Kellie Fiala said she is looking forward to bringing a similar interactive education experience to students learning from home as the one she typically delivers in-person at the Merrill Center in Annapolis.

“We have always emphasized the importance of hands-on learning in our field programs,” Fiala said. “While we won’t be physically leading students into a marsh, helping them paddle a canoe, or passing out binoculars on the boat, we still plan to engage students in a way that’s similar to how we interact in the field. This new program will allow us to, quite literally, meet students where they are, which allows us to use artifacts, demonstrations, data, living organisms, and relevant discussions to connect students to their local environment.”

Teachers or administrators interested in bringing a CBF educator live into their online classrooms can reserve a date and time on CBF’s website. The program costs $50 per reservation and fee waivers are available for schools that qualify, which includes Title 1 or FARM schools. CBF uses the registration fees to support the organization’s education program.

More information about the CBF OWL program can be found at the CBF OWL website or in this Q&A with several CBF educators – Back to School with CBF Owl.

CBF Announces New VP for Environmental Protection and Restoration

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Alison Prost

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) President William C. Baker is pleased to announce that Alison Prost is CBF’s new Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration. Ms. Prost has broad experience in environmental issues, having received her Environmental Law Certificate from the University of Maryland and having worked at the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning before coming to CBF. She has been with CBF for more than 12 years, first as the Maryland Office attorney, then as the Executive Director of the Maryland Office. Prost began her career as a legal intern with CBF in 2003 before joining the staff fulltime in 2007.

“Alison Prost’s broad experience with local, state, and federal government agencies makes her an ideal choice to lead CBF’s policy, grassroots, and restoration programs,” CBF President William C. Baker said. “Alison understands the challenges the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint faces. With just five years to go it is essential that EPA and the Bay states accelerate efforts to reduce pollution.  Alison’s experience and knowledge will be crucial to restoration of this national treasure.”

The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, implemented in 2010, is unlike past state/federal voluntary agreements. It includes pollution limits, state-specific plans to achieve those limits, two-year milestones to evaluate progress, and consequences for failure. In it, the states also committed to implement the practices necessary to restore the Bay by 2025.

As Maryland Office Director, Prost led CBF’s advocacy efforts in the state that have helped increase funding for Bay restoration efforts, establish and permanently protect oyster sanctuaries, conserve forested land, and aid farmers who install environmental practices. She has also overseen CBF’s Maryland restoration work, which has included planting millions of new oysters and tens of thousands of trees during the previous decade.

“CBF is an amazing place to work,” Prost said. “It’s a team of committed staff that are at the top of their fields. I look forward to applying my experiences in Maryland throughout the watershed. In this new role, I’ll continue to fight for completing the Blueprint so that future generations can have cleaner streams, rivers, and a restored Chesapeake Bay to enjoy.”

Alison Prost resides in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

CBF and Partners Help Eastern Shore Jurisdictions Secure Grant for Environmental Improvements

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Three years ago, six jurisdictions on the Eastern Shore teamed up with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to develop a system to increase their ability to conduct Bay restoration work – and make priority environmental projects more attractive for grant funding.

In July, the new effort paid off when the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced a $300,000 grant award for projects throughout five of the jurisdictions. Property in Talbot and Queen Anne’s counties, the towns of Easton and Oxford, and the city of Cambridge will benefit from the grant, which was awarded through DNR’s Trust Fund. Salisbury, the sixth jurisdiction involved in the effort, did not receive funding through the DNR grant, but received funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to conduct a tree canopy study as part of the combined work.

The DNR grant will pay for 41 acres of trees and nine acres of meadow. About 20 acres of plantings will be in the Critical Area, land within 1,000 feet of tidal waters. These coastal areas serve as the last line of defense for filtering pollutants and stormwater before rain runoff flows into rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Ditches and swales will also receive new plantings to slow down and filter polluted runoff after it drains from roads and farm fields. Plantings scheduled to begin in September are on a fast track to be completed by December.

The award represents a major milestone for the “circuit rider” program supported by CBF Senior Regional Watershed Services Manager Tom Leigh, who worked closely with the Shore localities to identify environmental projects they needed funding to put in place. By working together, Leigh and the jurisdictions were able to use one application, one grant manager, and one contractor to apply for and plan the projects—a process that if done individually by each jurisdiction would have taken significantly more resources. This was the first time a circuit rider program like this one had been attempted anywhere in the state.

“These jurisdictions had several projects they wanted to put in the ground, but lacked the funding to do so,” Leigh said. “By working together, we were able to create efficiencies that enabled us to secure a sizable grant to plant trees, shrubs, and other vegetation that will help improve the region’s water quality long-term.”

“This is just the beginning. As Maryland works to accelerate effort to meet Bay restoration targets by 2025, public and private partners are looking at this pilot as a way to get the job done cheaply and effectively,” Leigh added. “This program enables the smaller jurisdictions to access grants that were typically being awarded to larger counties with more resources and staff at their disposal to handle the application and implementation process.”

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) provided funding to enable the creation of the partnership as well as capital to pursue opportunities such as the DNR grant. Matching contributions from the local jurisdictions, CBF, and MDE ensured the successful implementation of the circuit rider model.The new DNR grant deepens the impact of NFWF’s original investment, adding new resources that help advance locally important stormwater management goals.

The contractor working on the projects funded by the DNR grant is Delmarva Resource Conservation & Development, a locally-owned nonprofit in Cambridge, MD.

“Working directly with Tom Leigh through the circuit rider program, Queen Anne’s County was able to realize stormwater reduction goals identified in its Watershed Implementation Plan,” said Michael Wisnosky, Queen Anne’s County Director of Planning and Zoning. “Without this partnership, the funding and ability to implement these best practices on public and private lands would not have occurred within the foreseeable future. Tom’s ability to assist the County to identify specific environmental projects and to pool resources between jurisdictions has been extremely valuable, and we look forward to continued opportunities to join forces.”

“The Town of Oxford is appreciative of the work of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in support of our community water quality improvement efforts and especially grateful for our Regional Watershed Services Manager, Tom Leigh,” said Cheryl Lewis, the Town of Oxford’s Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer.  “Tom, acting as a circuit rider for multiple jurisdictions, has been instrumental in keeping us all on track, assisting us individually in defining the projects that will best serve our communities, and jointly pursuing funding for those projects.”

“We are overjoyed with the recent success of this collaboration’s application, which Tom took from an idea to a robust submittal to the DNR Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund on our behalf,” added Lewis. “The success of our multijurisdictional group is a remarkable feat, as demonstrated by the recent award from DNR, and one of which I am proud to say the Town of Oxford is a participant.”

As the grant-funded project moves to the construction phase, Leigh is working to secure other benefits, such as buying trees in bulk to reduce costs. He’ll also continue to evaluate the program’s effectiveness to determine how the projects fulfill the jurisdictions’ stormwater reduction requirements and Bay cleanup goals.

Project Details:

Queen Anne’s County

  • Lining 12 acres along Price Creek in the Blue Heron Nature reserve with a grass buffer
  • Planting trees near the entrance of the public Blue Heron Golf Course driving range
  • Planting trees and shrubs around a portion of the perimeter of Grasonville Park
  • Transforming turf grass areas in Whitemarsh Park with trees, shrubs, and meadows
  • Adding a new meadow at Batts Neck Park near a stormwater pond overflow

Talbot County

  • Adding trees and shrubs around the perimeter of Cordova Community Park
  • Expanding a riparian forest buffer near the biosolids spray irrigation facility northeast of Easton
  • Planting a newly created ditch near the recently expanded Goldsborough Neck Road with shrubbery to reduce runoff to Goldsborough Creek

Easton

  • Planting trees, shrubs, and meadows at Moton Park and RTC Park
  • Adding seven acres of new meadow next to the Easton Airport

Oxford

  • Using reclaimed sediment to create a large berm that will be graded into an outdoor amphitheater at Oxford Central Park. The area will also be planted with trees, shrubs, and meadow and new bioretention areas will be created.

Cambridge

  • Planting trees in Great Marsh Park to reduce flooding during high water events that have become more frequent

Note: Funding provided to CBF by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction program includes funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and its funding sources. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government, or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or its funding sources.

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Environmental Education Comes Home for Students During COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has launched a new online environmental learning series designed to be a resource for teachers, parents, and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, Washington, D.C., announced schools would be closed until May 15. Virginia and Pennsylvania schools are closed through the end of the school year, while Maryland’s school closure is likely to be extended.

Since the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) founding in 1967, CBF’s education work has focused on a simple motto: Learn Outside. But due to restrictions related to coronavirus, for the first time CBF has cancelled all educational field experiences this spring on CBF boats and outdoor education centers across Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.

That’s why CBF is undertaking a new effort to bring outdoor education experiences to teachers and students tasked with learning remotely. This new remote learning series, called “Learn Outside, Learn at Home,” features videos of CBF’s professional educators discussing environmental science topics from around the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The online resources are carefully crafted to align with school curriculum and state learning standards.

“These are tough times for everyone. We realize many parents are juggling work and life responsibilities while also caring for children at home due to school closures,” said Tom Ackerman, CBF’s Vice President of Education. “Meanwhile, teachers are grappling with the best ways to educate students remotely. CBF is ready to help. Several new education videos, investigations, and activities are already available and during the next several weeks we’ll add many more. They’re all designed to bring our award-winning Bay education programs into your homes and get students exploring nearby nature.”

Each video is paired with an investigation for students to complete. Students can also explore nature journaling activities to document the environment around their homes and backyards. Schools and teachers both locally‑-such as in Alexandria, VA, and Harford County, MD–as well as from as far away as Oregon are integrating the Learn Outside, Learn at Home series into remote learning efforts.

For adults restricted by stay-at-home orders, CBF is creating educational and entertaining webinars, videos, and blog posts related to news, wildlife, and the environment along local rivers and the Bay. The wide variety of topics include a webinar on dolphins in the Bay, a video and blog post on how COVID-19 is affecting oyster farmers, and an Ask an Expert video series covering topics from oysters to regenerative agriculture.

Over the next few weeks, CBF’s team of educators and scientists will continue creating new material that anyone can benefit from during the pandemic. The new videos and investigations are being compiled at cbf.org/bringhome. To get CBF’s weekly e-mail roundup of engaging new resources, subscribe to the special Save the Bay e-newsletter at cbf.org/newsletter

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CBF Expands Federal Advocacy Efforts With DC Office Expansion

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As federal threats to Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts are mounting, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is dramatically increasing its investments in federal advocacy. CBF is expanding its Federal Affairs Office with the addition of three new, experienced staff focused on promoting and defending Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts at the federal level.

In 2010, the federal government, the six states that comprise the 64,000 square-mile watershed (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia), and the District of Columbia committed to the landmark Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. The Blueprint sets enforceable limits for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution and requires the seven jurisdictions to implement programs and practices by 2025 that will ultimately result in restored water quality in local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay.

“We are at a crossroads for Bay restoration. The current Administration’s rollbacks on environmental regulations and continued attempts to reduce federal funding put the progress we have made at risk,” said CBF President William C. Baker. “Strengthening CBF’s federal presence will help galvanize and strengthen the bipartisan support that has been demonstrated for years and is even more critical now to restore this national treasure.”

Implementing the Blueprint is about more than simply reducing pollution. It will result in healthier fish and oyster populations, habitat where wildlife can thrive, and cleaner upstream ecosystems that feed into the Bay. It will also help reduce the damage caused by climate change.

A more robust operation in the nation’s capital is also an essential element of CBF’s multi-year push to empower one million diverse, new “Voices for Clean Water” to demand a restored Chesapeake Bay. Combined with the efforts of CBF and its partners to plant 10 billion oysters in the Bay and 10 million trees in Pennsylvania, inspiring one million voices for the Bay is part of our ambitious Making History campaign.

“If we succeed, the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay will be one of the largest environmental success stories in the world and an international model for watershed restoration,” said Lisa Feldt, CBF’s Vice President of Environmental Protection and Restoration. “Our expanded federal office is built on the proven success of our state offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and will take our federal work to a new level.”

CBF welcomes Federal Executive Director Jason Rano, Federal Outreach and Advocacy Manager Katie Morgan, and Washington, DC Communications Coordinator Lisa Caruso to our team. Jason, Katie, and Lisa join David Tucker, Director of Major Giving, Washington, DC, and Denise Stranko, Federal Legislative and Policy Manager, on CBF’s Federal Affairs team.

“I’m honored to lead the Federal Affairs Office at such a critical time. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress and the Administration to ensure the federal government does its part to help us meet the 2025 deadline,” said Jason Rano, CBF Federal Executive Director. “Together we can make the Chesapeake Bay cleanup the gold standard for waterway restoration and a model for environmental advocacy and education.”

The Federal Affairs team will work with the Bay states’ delegations and throughout Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, and our non-governmental partners, as well as with the District of Columbia’s Mayor and Council.

“Only together can we achieve the commitments made in the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint,” Rano added.

The new staff:

Jason Rano, Federal Executive Director. Jason brings more than 15 years of experience as a senior government relations executive and in local and national government to his new post. He joins CBF after serving as Vice President for Government Relations for the National Park Foundation and before that as Director of Government Relations for the Environmental Working Group. His accomplishments include passing and securing federal funding for the bipartisan National Park Service Centennial Act in 2016. Jason started his career on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, a longtime environmental champion.

Katie Morgan, Federal Outreach and Advocacy Manager. Katie assumes this new CBF post from the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), where she was Chesapeake Field Representative. Her responsibilities in that role included collaborating with partner organizations, grassroots advocates, and Congress on Chesapeake Bay watershed conservation projects. Prior to joining NPCA, she held several positions at the Ocean Conservancy, where she rose to the position of the Manager, Strategic Initiatives.

Lisa Caruso, Washington, DC Communications Coordinator. Lisa takes on this new role for CBF after serving as press secretary for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Clean Cars Campaign and Wildlife Trade Initiative. Prior to that, Lisa covered Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch for Congress Daily, National Journal magazine, and Bloomberg News, among other news outlets. Her beats included budget and appropriations, congressional leadership, transportation, education, immigration, and the environment.

CBF Report: The State of the Blueprint

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A new Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) report examining the state of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint found both good and bad news.  While no state is completely on track, Maryland and Virginia are close to having the programs and practices in place to restore water quality and meet the 2025 goal. Pennsylvania, however, has never met its nitrogen reduction targets and its current plan to achieve the 2025 goal is woefully inadequate, detailing only two-thirds of actions necessary to achieve its goal.

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and that is also true for the partnership working to restore water quality across the region,” CBF President William C. Baker said. “Today, unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s link is not only weak, it is broken.”

After decades of failed voluntary efforts, in 2010 the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint was developed and a deadline for full implementation was set for 2025. Experts around the world agree it is our best, and perhaps last chance for success.

The good news is that the Blueprint is working: Grasses are increasing, the dead zone is getting smaller, and blue crab populations are rebounding. But recovery is fragile. And the road to finishing the job is steep.   However, many of the practices to reduce pollution will also sequester carbon and help slow climate change.

What makes the Blueprint different than previous attempts is that it has teeth. It includes pollution limits and requires the Bay states and District of Columbia to design and implement plans to meet them. It also ensures accountability and transparency through two-year, incremental goals called milestones, and sets a goal of having the programs and practices in place by 2025 that will result in a restored Bay.  Our peer-reviewed economic analysis found that the economic benefits provided by nature in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will total $130 billion annually when the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is fully implemented.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has committed to providing oversight and enforcement of the Blueprint. If any jurisdiction fails to take the appropriate actions, EPA has said it will impose consequences. It has the authority to increase the number of farms that it regulates by extending permit coverage to smaller farms, review state-issued stormwater permits to ensure they are adequate, and condition or redirect EPA grants.

“Pennsylvania has failed to uphold its promise to reduce pollution to its surface and ground waters since the six state Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint was launched in 2009,” Baker added. “If EPA does not hold Pennsylvania accountable, CBF and others must consider legal action.”

CBF assessed Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia’s milestone progress to date and whether or not states are implementing the pollution-reduction commitments they have already made. Together, these three states are responsible for 90 percent of the pollution fouling the Bay and its rivers and streams.

Each of the states have drafted a new Clean Water Blueprint (formally known as a Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan) detailing how they will finish the job. Where we identified shortfalls, we are making recommendations on what is necessary in their new plans to achieve the goal.

To see our full report including the details of efforts to date, visit:   www.cbf.org/stateoftheblueprint

Virginia

Virginia is on track to achieve its 2025 goals, provided it accelerates efforts to reduce pollution from agricultural sources and growing urban and suburban areas, while continuing progress in the wastewater sector. Virginia has a strong roadmap for success; the key is implementation.

The Commonwealth released a strong but doable draft plan to reach the 2025 goals. However, the plan also underscores the additional work that lies ahead, especially to further reduce pollution from agriculture and stormwater. 

Virginia’s Blueprint shows exactly what actions are needed to accelerate the pace of reductions of all sources of pollution to our waters.   The plan relies on expanding existing programs that have proven successful, as well as new initiatives.

For farms, that includes keeping livestock out of all permanent streams and requiring detailed plans to reduce pollution from the vast majority of cropland. For developed areas, that includes strong support for programs that manage stormwater pollution, expanding protections for sensitive areas from development, and additional action to reduce pollution from lawn fertilizer. To address climate change, Virginia is a leader in the region by accounting for anticipated pollution increases from extreme weather.

“The State of the Blueprint report indicates overall progress in Virginia, especially by wastewater treatment plants,” said CBF’s Virginia Executive Director Rebecca Tomazin. “But a good plan is just the first step. We need to make sure that Virginia’s Blueprint remains strong, and that funding is in place to achieve these goals. Now is the time to let Virginia’s leaders know that implementing a strong Blueprint is our great opportunity to ensure clean water for future generations.”

The coming days are critical to success as Virginia finalizes its last update to its Blueprint. The public is invited to submit comments to: chesbayplan@DEQ.Virginia.gov

Maryland

Maryland is on-track to meet its overall nutrient reduction targets by 2025, due in large part to investments to upgrade sewage treatment plants, which have exceeded goals, and in farm management practices. Pollution from developed lands and septic systems continues to increase, challenging the long-term health of Maryland’s waterways.

Maryland has a long track record of investing in clean water, which has put the state on a path to reach pollution reduction goals for nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment in the third phase of its Clean Water Blueprint. The reductions will mostly be made through a combination of wastewater treatment plant upgrades and reducing pollution from agriculture.

While the Blueprint provides a path to the 2025 goals, it is short on strategies to maintain them. The plan relies on annual practices that are less cost effective and don’t provide as many benefits for our climate and our communities as permanent natural filters.

In agriculture, the Blueprint relies heavily on annual practices such as cover crops and manure transport that require significant repeated investments. The state should transition its investments to increase long-term natural filters such as forested stream buffers and grazing livestock on permanent pasture. While the state is planning to subsidize farmers to plant nearly 500,000 acres of cover crops each year, it is only committing to plant 1,200 acres of new riparian forest buffers and move 2,500 acres of crop land into pasture.

Maryland is lowering expectations to reduce runoff from urban and suburban development in the third phase of the Blueprint. The draft expects Maryland’s 10 most developed counties and Baltimore City to treat runoff from impervious surface at about half the pace required over the previous eight years. The draft cautions that the reduced pace may even be slower because new MS4 permits for these jurisdictions have not yet been finalized. The effort is not making enough progress to reduce stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces—pollution from developed areas that is continuing to grow. By 2025, stormwater is predicted to contribute more pollution to the Bay than wastewater in Maryland.

“It’s reassuring to see Maryland has developed a path to meet its pollution reduction goals by 2025,” said CBF’s Maryland Senior Scientist Doug Myers. “But the state is putting an emphasis on costly annual practices such as cover crops and street sweeping to meet the goals when it should be focusing on sustainable efforts that will reduce pollution long-term. Those efforts include converting row crops to permanent pasture, reducing stormwater runoff in our cities before it erodes streams, and creating streamside forest buffers and wetlands to absorb and treat what does run off the landscape. Bigger goals for long-term, permanent practices will reduce climate change impacts and maintain clean water beyond 2025.”

The public is invited to submit comments to: Maryland Watershed Implementation comment form

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth is signficantly behind in implementing the pollution reducing practices necessary to achieve the 2025 goals, particuarly from the agricultural and the urban/suburban stormwater sectors.

Wastewater treatment plants have met and exceeded goals and targets for making reductions by 2025. But agriculture and stormwater efforts have fallen significantly behind. While most farmers embrace conservation, a lack of financial and technical support has stifled progress. Keeping soils, nitrogen, and phosphorus on the land instead of in the water is good for soil health, farm profitability, and life downstream.

Pennsylvania’s draft Blueprint to reach the 2025 goal does not achieve the nitrogen pollution reductions necessary to meet its obligations. The draft plan would achieve roughly 22.7 million pounds of nitrogen reduction each year, or about 67 percent of the goal of achieving 34.1 million pounds.

Also, the resources to implement the plan do not currently exist. As drafted, the plan estimates the need for $486 million a year to implement it. Compared to existing resources, there is a shortfall in annual funding of nearly $257 million. Although the plan contains several proposed funding sources, none have been passed. The Administration and Legislature must act.

“Agricultural activities are the largest identified source of stream pollution. The limited success has been due to a lack of adequate technical and financial assistance to farmers,” said CBF Pennsylvania Executive Director Harry Campbell.  “Now is the time for the Commonwealth to show leadership and make the necessary investments to ensure that Blueprint goals are met.  If it does not, EPA must enforce the Blueprint and impose consequences.”

Pennsylvania has also not established a programmatic milestone accounting for growth and new sources of pollution such as population growth and conversion of forest and farmland to development.

The public is invited to submit comments to:  ecomment@pa.gov

Maryland Shellfish Aquaculture Conference on February 12

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Maryland’s oyster farming industry has expanded rapidly over the past decade bringing advances in technology and changes in regulatory policy that can be difficult to keep up with.

The Maryland Shellfish Growers Network is here to help.

On Feb. 12, the network and its partners will host the Maryland Shellfish Aquaculture Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 173 Jennifer Road in Annapolis. The event is designed to give current oyster farmers and individuals interested in starting their own businesses the latest information about government policies, marketing, and aquaculture technology.

The conference runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and registration is $35. Registration for members of the Maryland Shellfish Growers Network is free. The schedule is broken down into hour-long discussions led by industry experts, scientists, and environmental policymakers. Lunch and refreshments will be provided to attendees at no additional cost.

The event is also intended to provide networking opportunities to oysters farmers and others involved in the aquaculture industry. Oyster farming has grown exponentially in Maryland since the state overhauled aquaculture laws in 2010, which made it easier and less expensive for entrepreneurs to lease Chesapeake Bay bottom to grow oysters. A University of Maryland study found that in 2016 the industry produced about 60,000 bushels of oysters in Maryland—more than 18 times the 3,300 bushels the state’s oyster farmers produced in 2012.

“At the Maryland Shellfish Aquaculture Conference we’ll discuss the latest science for improving oyster yields, how to effectively market your product to grow sales, as well as the challenges related to ongoing conflicts between oyster farming operations, recreational boaters, and waterfront property owners,” said Allison Colden, Maryland fisheries scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation who is helping to organize the conference. “As the industry grows the Maryland Shellfish Growers Network aims to help oyster farmers keep up with the latest advances.”

Individuals interested in attending the conference should register on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s website before Feb. 5. If you need additional information, please contact Allison Colden at acolden@cbf.org or 410-268-8816.