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July 11, 2025

Chestertown Spy

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Washington College Earns High Flyer Status for Bird Conservation

July 10, 2025 by Washington College News Service Leave a Comment

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Washington College has successfully renewed its Bird Campus recognition from the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership, reaching the prestigious High Flyer level. The Bird Campus program recognizes two or four-year colleges and universities committed to reducing threats to birds and actively participating in avian education and research. This achievement underscores the College’s ongoing dedication to environmental stewardship, having completed over 20 action points across four key areas: Habitat, Threats to Birds, Education and Engagement, and Sustainability.

The program is an initiative of the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership, an expansion of the Bird City Maryland program that began in 2019 to encourage communities to enhance bird environments and educate the public on their contributions to a healthy community. Maryland stands out as the first state to offer a campus recognition program. Washington College initially earned its Bird Campus certification in May 2023, with significant work led by Chesapeake Conservation Corps member Fana Scott. Renewals are required every two years to ensure continued active participation. The town of Chestertown also recently received Bird City certification in October 2024.

“Getting High Flyer status as a Bird Campus from Bird City Maryland is a gratifying public recognition of the work done by Washington College to protect birds and raise awareness around what is needed for continued conservation,” said Maren Gimpel, associate director of Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory at Washington.

As part of the College’s Center for Environment & Society (CES), the Observatory’s primary research focuses on monitoring the seasonal movements of migratory birds between their breeding and wintering areas. Located on the Chester River, a few miles north of Chestertown, MD, the Bird Observatory is nestled in a waterfront refuge on Washington College’s River and Field Campus. The land serves as an important stopover habitat for shorebirds and is home to thousands of migrating and wintering ducks and geese each year.

“From installing Feather Friendly collision deterrents on our buildings to the recognition of our River and Field Campus as an Important Bird Area, to buildings and grounds using Integrated Pest Management to reduce their use of pesticides, choices are being made across our whole campus to improve our environment for birds, and the natural world as a whole so that we all can enjoy its beauty and intrinsic value,” said Gimpel.

The College’s renewed certification highlights a range of impactful initiatives:

Reducing Threats to Birds: Washington College installed Feather Friendly collision deterrents on the porch windows at Semans-Griswold Environmental Hall in 2023, with the remainder of the building treated in August 2024. The Washington College bird club is actively surveying other high-risk collision locations on campus and fundraising for additional treatments. The College also serves as the official test site for the American Bird Conservancy’s bird-safe glass testing program.

Education and Engagement: The Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory and the College’s River and Field Campus have hosted numerous lab classes, local bird club gatherings, and public education events. Faculty members incorporate avian topics into their coursework, and the Center for Environment & Society sponsors a National Audubon Christmas Bird Count each winter as a citizen science initiative.

Habitat Enhancement: The “Flyways Bench,” a functional art piece designed by Artist in Residence Deirdre Murphy, was installed at Semans-Griswold Environmental Hall. It depicts the migration of Least and Caspian Terns, both visible from the bench along the Chester River. The Washington College Campus Garden is a Bay-Wise Certified demonstration site, open to the public to explore best practices in ecological landscaping. Additionally, the entirety of the River and Field Campus was designated a MD-DC Audubon Important Bird Area in 2006, recognized for its large populations of breeding grassland birds like Northern Bobwhite Quail, and wintering/migrating species such as American Woodcock. The campus also earned points for its Tree Campus and Bee Campus certifications.

Sustainability Initiatives: Broader sustainability efforts on campus contributed to the High Flyer status, including a student-led compost team, a Back to Tap program promoting reusable water bottles, a food recovery network, and the campus’s use of integrated pest management by the buildings and grounds department.

“This recognition is a shining example of how the Center for Environment & Society’s  integrated approach to research, experiential learning, and community engagement is making a real impact,” said CES’ Lammot Du Pont Director, Valerie Imbruce. “Our goal has always been to prepare students to become thoughtful stewards of the environment while contributing solutions that improve both ecological health and quality of life. This achievement brings that model to life.”

For a comprehensive list of Washington College’s achievements as a Bird Campus, visit their page on the Bird City Maryland website. You can also learn more about sustainability efforts at Washington.

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Filed Under: Archives, Eco Homepage, Eco Lead

McCown Presented with Shorerivers Award for Environmental Stewardship

July 8, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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From left: Heidi Usilton; Ann Swanson, ShoreRivers Governing Board Member; Betsy McCown; Andrew McCown, this year’s winner of the ShoreRivers Award for Environmental Stewardship; Isabel Hardesty, Executive Director of ShoreRivers; Annie Richards, Chester Riverkeeper; and Marian Fry, Chair of ShoreRivers’ Governing Board, are pictured at the organization’s Solstice Celebration on June 28.

On June 28, Captain Andrew R. McCown was named the 2025 recipient of the ShoreRivers Award for Environmental Stewardship as part of the organization’s annual Solstice Celebration. This annual award recognizes an individual or entity in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for their transformational accomplishments as a steward of the environment.

McCown has provided environmental education and astonishment to thousands of students over nearly five decades at Echo Hill Outdoor School and played a pivotal role in forming the Chester River Association in 1986. A teacher, leader, oysterman, musician, and storyteller, he delights in seeing others find wonder in a place he holds so dear. His ability to endear students of all ages to a natural resource — from the small minnows swept into a marsh on a rising tide, to the food chain, economy, culture, and history they sustain — is a testament to the devotion and admiration he has for the Chesapeake.

“[Andrew McCown is] one of the best people I know at connecting people’s hearts to our rivers,” said ShoreRivers’ Executive Director Isabel Hardesty, who fondly noted her own time spent learning from McCown at Echo Hill 30 years ago while presenting the award. “It is because of his unparalleled ability to inspire and connect that he is the recipient of our award this year, and that he is close to all of our hearts at ShoreRivers and for people across the Chesapeake Bay.”

McCown also embodies the value of optimism ShoreRivers embraces by lifting up success stories and highlighting the abundance of life that exists in the river despite the challenges it faces.

“When I started at Echo Hill Outdoor School, which was five years old at the time, it was 1977. And in the world of environmental education there was a lot of despair… but we decided that we weren’t going to do that. That what we were going to do was promote wonder and find ways to connect people to the environment, to endear them to it,” said McCown.

As part of the presentation, McCown was given a hand-crafted, mosaic buoy adorned with salvaged and unique treasures that recognize his history and connection to the Chesapeake Bay. This bespoke piece of art was created and donated by Ann Swanson, the inaugural winner of the ShoreRivers Award for Environmental Stewardship in 2019, who is also the former executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and a current governing board member for ShoreRivers.

ShoreRivers — and more than 340 supporters in attendance at the event who provided an emotional standing ovation during the remarks — were proud to have this opportunity to recognize McCown for his lifelong pursuit to share his curiosity and reverence for the Chester River with others. Visit shorerivers.org/leadership to learn more about this award and the organization’s impact on the Eastern Shore.

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Filed Under: Archives, Eco Lead, Eco Portal Lead

Update: Friends of Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge

July 7, 2025 by James Dissette Leave a Comment

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Our advocacy efforts to protect Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in the face of ongoing staffing and budget cuts have brought a strong and unified response from local government officials, business associations and grassroots groups. The Friends of Eastern Neck thanks each and every one of you who have written letters, made calls, and spread the word about preserving this priceless environmental, recreational and economic asset for our community and our region.

Be assured that Friends groups and other champions of public lands throughout the country are working overtime, doing everything in our power to ensure the future of the National Wildlife Refuge system as a whole. In recent weeks, FOEN has made in-person presentations to the Kent County Board of Commissioners, the Rock Hall Mayor and Town Council, the Chestertown Mayor and Town Council, the Greater Rock Hall Business Association, the Kent County Tourism and Economic Development Office, State Delegate Jay Jacobs, and the Rock Hall- based Women for Democracy. Our contact with these groups and individuals has generated momentum to make a compelling case against further federal cutbacks.

We especially appreciate the unconditional support from Kent County, a crucial stakeholder in the Refuge for multiple reasons, including its public facilities on the Refuge at Bogles Wharf and Ingleside; and from Rock Hall officials, who posted a letter on the town website for residents to sign and send to our federal representatives.

FOEN has worked closely with Friends of Blackwater NWR to connect with the staff for Maryland’s two U.S. Senators, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks; and U.S. Congressman Andy Harris. Meetings are being planned for the near future.

As of now, U.S. Fish & Wildlife staffing at the Chesapeake Marshlands Complex headquarters at Blackwater NWR remains at a historic low of 11, down from 14 at the start of 2025. According to numbers obtained by Politico through a Freedom of Information Act request, USFWS ranks have dwindled by 1,316 full-time positions, or 14 percent of the workforce, since January. Numerous senior administrators, including several in our own USFWS Northeast Region, opted to take buyouts or early retirement offers in a concerted attempt to save positions in the field.

Some 3,500 of those employees are now responsible for managing more than 570 Refuges. Eastern Neck is one of many with no on-site staff, and is reliant on Blackwater-based biologists, maintenance specialists and their supervisors to make four-hour round trips to continue managing critical conservation and infrastructure needs. Further attrition and/or layoffs could result in serious harm to habitat and jeopardize public access to the Refuge. Nearly 7,500 positions have been lost to buyouts and early retirements across the Department of the Interior, part of a government-wide push to slash the federal workforce. There is currently a hiring freeze across the entire department, and further reductions in force are paused awaiting the outcome of legal action. Budget numbers for the remainder of this federal fiscal year and the next are still in flux as of this writing, but units across the DOI are bracing for significant rollbacks with potentially damaging impact.

We wish we had better news. The only way to make future messages more hopeful is for you, our members, to keep pushing back as pressures on the Refuge system continue to mount.

Please keep writing and calling your local, state and federal officials, and urge your friends and neighbors to do the same. Be specific about what Eastern Neck means to you, your family, your community, and the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

As always, we’re grateful for your hands-on volunteer work, memberships and donations that allow us to continue our partnership with US Fish & Wildlife and support Eastern Neck NWR through youth and adult educational programs, conservation efforts and the often unseen efforts required to ensure the island remains a haven for native flora and fauna and the human visitors who treasure them

For more about Friends of Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge, go here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Archives, Eco Homepage, Eco Lead

ShoreRivers Safe to Swim Weekend Report: 7/2

July 4, 2025 by ShoreRivers 1 Comment

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Along with summer swimming comes ShoreRivers Bacteria Monitoring season. It is advised that people not swim 24-48 hours after a major rain.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacterial levels at popular swimming and boating sites, providing vital information on human health risks to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers’ in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples. It makes the results of that testing public, informing people about current bacteria levels as they plan their recreational activities in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, was established in 2023 to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community. Additionally, 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and indicate where users can find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs (and the program at large) are made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working with local county officials to install more.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Notes

ShoreRivers Safe to Swim Weekend Report 6/27

June 27, 2025 by ShoreRivers Leave a Comment

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Along with summer swimming comes ShoreRivers Bacteria Monitoring season. It is advised that people not swim 24-48 hours after a major rain.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacterial levels at popular swimming and boating sites, providing vital information on human health risks to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers’ in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples. It makes the results of that testing public, informing people about current bacteria levels as they plan their recreational activities in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, was established in 2023 to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community. Additionally, 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and indicate where users can find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs (and the program at large) are made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working with local county officials to install more.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Notes

Chesapeake Conservancy Announces Susan Shingledecker as New CEO

June 25, 2025 by The Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Chesapeake Conservancy’s Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Susan Shingledecker as the organization’s new CEO, effective September 8, 2025. A seasoned nonprofit executive with deep roots in conservation and the Chesapeake region, Shingledecker previously served as Chesapeake Conservancy’s vice president and director of programs from 2017 to 2020.

“Susan’s return is a homecoming we are thrilled to celebrate,” said Chesapeake Conservancy Board Chair Stephanie Meeks. “Following a nationwide search, the Board is confident that Susan brings the strategic leadership, nonprofit management experience and deep passion for the Chesapeake Bay that this role requires. She is uniquely positioned to build on our strong foundation and guide Chesapeake Conservancy into its next chapter.”

Shingledecker most recently served as executive director of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), where she led a collaborative community of earth and climate science data professionals working to leverage the power of data to address the planet’s most significant environmental challenges. In that role, she built strong partnerships with federal and state agencies, academic institutions and private-sector technology firms and worked closely with NASA, NOAA, USGS and other key stakeholders to advance innovative, data-driven solutions.

“I’m honored to return to Chesapeake Conservancy and lead this incredible team working to protect the nation’s largest estuary and one of the most iconic and vital landscapes in the country. My five years at ESIP have given me an incredible understanding of the opportunities for data to inform our conservation work, increase our efficiency and grow our impact. I am excited to combine this experience with my past work in conservation and outdoor recreation,” said Shingledecker.

In addition to her leadership roles at ESIP and Chesapeake Conservancy, Shingledecker has held a range of influential positions throughout her career. She served as vice president of the BoatU.S., where she advocated for public access and outdoor recreation. Earlier in her career, she led renewable energy programs for the Maryland Energy Administration and served as a policy analyst with the National Governors Association.

Shingledecker has contributed her expertise to several advisory and technical committees focused on environmental stewardship and maritime policy. She served as a federal advisory committee panel member on NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel, product technical committee chair of the American Boat and Yacht Council’s Aquatic Invasive Species Product Technical Committee and served on the steering committee of the Chesapeake Bay Observing System. She holds a master of environmental management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a bachelor of arts in international studies from American University’s School of International Service.

Shingledecker resides in Severna Park, Maryland, with her husband and two sons, where they enjoy sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.

EJ Amyot will continue to serve as interim president and CEO, as well as chief operating officer, until Shingledecker officially begins her role as CEO.


Chesapeake Conservancy is the only watershed-wide organization focused on both land conservation and stream restoration to achieve a healthier Chesapeake Bay. We’re utilizing and sharing the latest groundbreaking data and technology, including artificial intelligence, to determine where to focus conservation efforts for the most impact using the least resources. We partnered to help create 248 new public access sites and permanently protect some of the Bay’s special places like Werowocomoco, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Fort Monroe National Monument, Elktonia-Carr’s Beach Heritage Park and Pissacoack along Fones Cliffs on the Rappahannock River.

www.chesapeakeconservancy.org

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Filed Under: Eco Notes

Logging Plan for Eastern Shore Forest Stirs Pushback from Residents

June 24, 2025 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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 A piece of tape dangles from a tree alongside the Blue Bike Trail in the Pocomoke State Forest. Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources is planning to cut patches of trees along the trail, stirring resistance from local conservationists. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)

Driving down Route 113 between Snow Hill and Pocomoke City, the trailhead for the Blue Bike Trail is easy to miss.

There aren’t any signs or hiking blazes, but nestled in the woods is a grassy parking area and the beginning of a 0.7-mile walking trail in the Pocomoke State Forest.

The trail may be short in length and unassuming from the roadside. Still, a commercial logging plan proposed by Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources has brought the lesser-known trail into the limelight.

The department plans to cut patches of trees from a 45-acre tract beside the trail. But a group of naturalists, birders and other community members are fighting the plan, arguing that the tract represents a rare mature forest on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with a host of benefits to people and wildlife.

As Joan Maloof, a Berlin-based conservationist who founded the nonprofit Old Growth Forest Network, studied the plan for 2025, the land in Pocomoke State Forest stood out.

“This particular one: It’s 97 years old, and it sounds like it has some big trees, mixed species,” she thought to herself. “I want to go check it out.”

The plot was established in 1927, though DNR says the trees are varying ages. Some were planted after clearing. Some grew naturally. But walking through the forest, Maloof saw something unique.

“I go check it out, and I realize: ‘Oh, my God, this is such a beautiful forest, and it’s right on a recreational trail,’” said Maloof, who is also an emeritus professor of environmental studies and biology at Salisbury University.

Maloof spearheaded an effort to send comments to DNR, pushing for two areas, totaling about 69 acres, to be removed from the logging plan, which designated some 1,700 acres for cutting and thinning.

Joan Maloof, who founded the nonprofit Old Growth Forest Network, stands along the “Blue Bike Trail” in Pocomoke State Forest. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)

The state issues logging plans each year for its state forest acreage. And with any cut, the department strives for balance, including between the needs of the ecosystem and the desire to support the local logging industry, said State Forester Anne Hairston-Strang. The department believes the cut in Pocomoke achieves that balance, she said.

“We want to save the bay. We keep a lot of our land rural,” Hairston-Strang said. “Want to keep our land rural? We need a viable rural economy, and so [there’s] this balance between our ecology, the social impacts for jobs and the economic impacts, where we’re using, what the land grows.”

The pushback about the Blue Bike Trail seems to have caught the state’s attention. The area is still on DNR’s list to be logged this year, but the state is slow-walking the cut.

“We’re not rushing into any harvest,” Hairston-Strang said. “We’re going to talk to people. If it needs to go through the work plan process again, it can. We’re not rolling any machines in.”

At the very beginning of the Blue Bike Trail, rows and rows of thin, and therefore relatively unremarkable, loblolly pines dominate the landscape on either side.

But then, the forest transforms into something altogether different. Thicker trees begin to crop up beside the trail: oaks, sassafras, beeches and more.

That’s about where hikers see the first strand of pink tape encircling a tree trunk, delineating the beginning of the proposed logging area.

“I immediately recognized that it was a special tract of forest,” said Bronwyn Betz, a Berlin resident who is also opposed to the cut. “And I know from hiking around here that sometimes that’s not the case. Sometimes you get a lot of pine, and it’s just not as ecologically valuable.”

DNR notes that the Pocomoke State Forest includes several designated “Old Growth Ecosystem Management Areas,” totaling 4,623 acres. In those places, DNR is aiming to nurture the forest and avoid cutting, with the goal of eventually bringing the tracts into “old growth” status. Five additional acres of the state forest are already considered old-growth.

The area proposed for cutting, which DNR calls the “Tarr tract,” is not in either of those designated areas, Hairston-Strang said.

“We don’t want to just provide mature habitat. We have a big commitment to it. We like our old growth. We like our big trees,” Hairston-Strang said. “We’re just looking to provide some of the other end of the age spectrum, too, because we really are seeing habitat declines.”

A wooden stake sits alongside the “Blue Bike Trail” in the Pocomoke State Forest. The Department of Natural Resources is planning to cut patches of trees along the trail. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)

A goal behind the cut is stimulating the growth of the understory, Hairston-Strang said, growing an additional habitat type in the Pocomoke forest. That’s part of the reason why DNR selected patches of the Tarr tract for cutting.

“If we just select a tree here and there, you’re probably not going to generate the kind of light levels that will really cause that understory response,” she said. “Some people will walk up to this and say, ‘Oh, it’s a clear-cut.’ And they don’t see the careful retention of some individual trees.”

Even if it is not a clear-cut, Maloof argues that the tree removal will do too much harm to the overall ecosystem — and to the public’s enjoyment of it.

“That’s not good enough. We want you to just not. It’s only 45 acres,” Maloof said. “Please listen to the people.”

She fears that DNR ceded too much to the logging industry, which may have sought to log more of the thicker trees, as opposed to the thinner loblolly pines.

DNR argues that it follows best practices for cuts. Maryland State Forests are also certified as sustainably managed through Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Hairston-Strang said.

“We pay for people to come out and criticize us every year, and we do both office and field audits, so they’re out in the field and looking at sites,” Hairston-Strang said.

The department is hoping creating clearings in the forest could also attract more deer and turkeys, since the area is a hunting location that allows disabled hunters to shoot from their vehicles using the trail, Hairston-Strang said. And that it will reduce fuel for potential wildfires.

Dave Wilson, an Eastern Shore birder who also serves on Maryland’s Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays, said he’s walked the trail since the 1990s.

“It was always really good for forest interior-dwelling species — songbirds that require large contiguous areas of woods,” said Wilson, who recently sold his 30-year-old birding trip company called Delmarva Birding Weekend.

That includes black-and-white warblers, scarlet tanagers, prothonotary warblers and more, Wilson said. But he’s also spotted other species, such as red-shouldered hawks and Eastern screech owls. He worries that if patches of trees are removed from the area, destroying certain nesting habitats, many of the beloved bird species wouldn’t return.

Wilson said that he considers the Tarr tract one of the few pieces of state-managed land on the Lower Shore that presents a good opportunity for birding.

“Most of what they manage, they just cut every 30 or 40 years for loblolly pine monoculture, and there’s really nothing living in there,” Wilson said. “It’s like a cornfield from a biodiversity standpoint, and there’s thousands of acres of that. And one of the reasons we’re up in arms about this — is because we feel like that needs to change.”

Betz said the Pocomoke State Forest is something of a “hidden gem,” compared to the more well-known Ocean City-adjacent hiking trails, such as those on Assateague Island, which hosts both state park and national park land.

She first visited the trail after it appeared on the logging plan, and quickly decided it was worth fighting for. Bright white mountain laurels bloomed among a diverse array of trees, creating a rare environment.

“I know they say they’re going to selectively cut, but when you have these beautiful mountain laurel shrubs and different things — damage is going to happen to things, no matter what they say,” Betz said.

She brought a group of young 4-H students to the trail, and a few of the students penned letters pushing back against the cut, she said.

“Many of us have grown up camping, hiking and biking in these woods. We do not want this beautiful trail to be logged,” wrote her 15-year-old son, Ewan. “There are many species that will lose their homes if this plan is not stopped.”

Betz said she hopes that DNR will not only opt against cutting along the trail, but put up signage along the roadside, so that the trail gets more use from local residents and visitors alike.

“I had a hard time finding it — and then I had a hard time finding it a second time,” she said.

Betz said she understands the desire to uplift local logging companies and mills. But the trail also has an economic value as-is, thanks to the ecotourism it’s capable of attracting — and already attracts, she said.

“You really can’t put a dollar amount on it,” Betz said. “It actually probably brings in way more money than people would think.”

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources is planning to cut patches of trees along the Blue Bike Trail in Pocomoke State Forest, stirring resistance from local conservationists. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)


by Christine Condon, Maryland Matters
June 23, 2025

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: [email protected].

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Notes

ShoreRivers Safe to Swim Weekend Report 6/17

June 20, 2025 by ShoreRivers 1 Comment

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Along with summer swimming comes ShoreRivers Bacteria Monitoring season. It is advised that people not swim 24-48 hours after a major rain.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacterial levels at popular swimming and boating sites, providing vital information on human health risks to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers’ in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples. It makes the results of that testing public, informing people about current bacteria levels as they plan their recreational activities in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, was established in 2023 to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community. Additionally, 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and indicate where users can find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs (and the program at large) are made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working with local county officials to install more.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Notes

ShoreRivers Safe to Swim Weekend Report 6/13

June 13, 2025 by ShoreRivers Leave a Comment

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Weekly Bacteria Monitoring Results | 6/13

 

Los Niveles De Bacterias De Esta Semana

Along with summer swimming comes ShoreRivers Bacteria Monitoring season. It is advised that people not swim 24-48 hours after a major rain.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacterial levels at popular swimming and boating sites, providing vital information on human health risks to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers’ in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples. It makes the results of that testing public, informing people about current bacteria levels as they plan their recreational activities in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, was established in 2023 to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community. Additionally, 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and indicate where users can find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs (and the program at large) are made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working with local county officials to install more.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Notes

Chesapeake Bay Health Downgraded To a ‘C’ in This Year’s Report Card

June 12, 2025 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Heath Kelsey of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science speaks at the release of the 2025 Chesapeake Bay report card, which gave the estuary a “C” grade. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)

Last year’s weather didn’t treat the Chesapeake Bay too kindly, if you ask Bill Dennison. “It was too wet, and then it was too dry — and always too hot,” said Dennison, the vice president for science applications at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Those conditions are part of the reason the bay got a “C” on this year’s UMCES report card, down from last year’s all-time high grade of  “C+.”

“The crops didn’t have enough water, so they were not soaking up nutrients,” Dennison said at Tuesday’s release of the report card. “So when it did rain, there were excess nutrients washing into the bay.”

A number of factors contribute to the score, including measurements of aquatic grass growth, water clarity, and harmful nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, which run off from fertilizers and sewage treatment plants, among other sources. Excess nutrents spur the growth of algae, which suck oxygen from the water as they die, creating “dead zones” that kill off underwater life.

Though this year’s score dropped, Dennison and others were quick to point out that the overall trajectory of the bay is more positive. Of 15 bay regions identified in the report only one  has seen a declining trend dating back to the 1980s: the Upper Eastern Shore, which includes the Chester River. Six regions are improving, including Baltimore’s Back and Patapsco rivers, and the rest are holding steady, said Heath Kelsey, director of the Integration and Application Network at UMCES.

Kelsey said the bay has faced “lots of development, lots of population moving in, lots more traffic and impervious surface — and climate change is adding to that, too. But nevertheless, over time, whatever we’re doing is making a difference.”

The view from the Annapolis Maritime Museum, which hosted Tuesday’s unveiling of the latest Chesapeake Bay report card. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)

 Yet bay states have fallen short of their 2014 pledges for nutrient reduction: By 2024, according to computer models, nitrogen reduction hit 59% of the goal and phosphorous reduction achieved 92% in the six states, plus Washington, D.C., in the bay watershed. They did meet other goals by that year, including reduced sediment runoff.

Early gains came, in part, from outfitting wastewater treatment plants with enhanced technology so they discharge fewer nutrients. But slowing pollution from what are known as “non-point” sources, such as stormwater runoff from cities and farm fields alike, has been more difficult.

The bay has also responded to the estimated reductions more slowly than expected. From 1985 to 1987, 26.5% of the bay’s tidal waters met water quality standards, according to ChesapeakeProgress, an online resource from the Chesapeake Bay Program. In the most recent assessment, between 2020 and 2022, 29.8% of the bay met those same standards. The numbers have declined steadily since a high point of 42.2% from 2015 to 2017.

A 2023 report from the Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee laid out some reasons for the slow improvement. Computer modeling could be overestimating nutrient reductions, the report said. It also called for increased adoption of non-point pollution reduction measures, and urged governments to consider programs that reward farmers and other landowners based on the success of conservation practices, rather than awarding funds to implement a practice, regardless of the pollution-reduction outcome.

Officials have been drafting a revised bay agreement, with new goals for the states, that could be released for public comment next month, pending a vote from a Chesapeake Bay Program committee.

‘Chaos on the hour’

Meanwhile, cuts — some proposed and others realized — to federal agencies by the Trump administration are adding fresh uncertainty to bay restoration efforts.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), who appeared via video for Tuesday’s event, said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin publicly assured him that cuts would not be proposed for the Chesapeake Bay Program, the EPA-led office that leads the bay cleanup effort.

It’s a change from Trump’s first administration, when the president repeatedly proposed cutting the Bay Program’s funding, or zeroing it out altogether, though he was denied by Congress.

“That’s good news, but we know that that’s not the only program important to the health of the bay, which is why we’ll push back against the administration’s efforts to cut other key environmental programs,” Van Hollen said.

Bill Dennison, of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, speaks at the release of the 2025 Chesapeake Bay report card. The bay got a “C” this year. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters) 

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would slash billions from the EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Agriculture, potentially hampering funding for improvements at sewage treatment plants, scientists that study bay wildlife and programs that assist farmers with conservation practices, according to a May news release from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

“It’s chaos on the hour,” Bay Foundation President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk said Tuesday. “We have seen some slightly positive news in the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program getting full funding in the president’s proposed budget, but what we’re also seeing is major cuts to NOAA and major cuts to USGS, including bedrock scientific programs.

“You can’t just pull half of those federal agencies out and expect to have results,” she said.

To Dennison, some of the biggest changes so far have been departures of senior USGS scientists, who focused on monitoring conditions in the bay watershed. Some of them opted for the early retirement plan offered by the administration in order to thin the federal bureaucracy, Dennison said.

At UMCES, officials are also concerned about Trump administration attempts to limit the amount of grant funding that universities can use for overhead, Dennison said.

“We’re doing a lot of the doomsday list-making,” he said, but added that the institution is also trying to keep a level head.

“I think it’s important not to freak out,” Dennison said. “Let’s keep our head down, doing good work. And then, when we’re really confronted with the challenge, we’ll deal with it. But for right now, what we hear is being proposed doesn’t often end up being the reality.”

Despite tough state budget conditions, Maryland officials are trying to plug holes left by the federal government, said Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz.

In remarks on Tuesday, Kurtz cited the recently passed Chesapeake Legacy Act, which will, in part, let DNR incorporate water quality data collected by community groups such as riverkeepers — potentially filling in gaps caused by federal cuts.

That bill may have been aided by its small price tag: It allocates about $500,000 for a new certification program for conservation-minded farmers.

Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz at the release of the 2025 Chesapeake Bay report card from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)

 Kurtz also cited a 2024 law, the Whole Watershed Act, which funds targeted water quality assistance for five communities.

“Where there are things that we’re going to lose, I think we are well-positioned as a state because of the strength of the partnership, to be able to keep that scientific understanding going,” Kurtz said.

A bay restoration ‘enigma’

Dennison said scientists at UMCES have been zeroing in on the Upper Shore, the only region with a declining water quality trend in the center’s report card.

He said the problem is a bit of an “enigma” in an area where a solid number of farmers are using cover crops to prevent erosion between growing seasons, and a significant amount of nutrient-laden poultry litter from area chicken houses is trucked to the Western Shore instead of being spread as fertilizer to Eastern Shore farm fields.

Scientists have a few hypotheses, including that the Upper Shore’s flat elevatio could cause the slow groundwater circulation in the area, which could be delaying observations of progress.

“We’ve put into practice some of these things that we’re seeing positive responses to elsewhere, but they’re slower on the Eastern Shore because it’s such a flat [area with] poorly drained soils. It’s just taken a while for that to happen,” Dennison said.

He said the center will host a series of workshops on the Shore later this month, in collaboration with the Delmarva Land and Litter Collaborative, focused on environmental practices in chicken houses, bringing in farmers and poultry companies.

“We don’t really understand why it’s uniquely degraded, whereas everywhere else in the bay is holding steady or improving, so we’re trying to get at that, but we’re doing it in partnership with the farming community,” Dennison said.


by Christine Condon, Maryland Matters
June 10, 2025

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: [email protected].

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Ecosystem

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