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May 29, 2023

Chestertown Spy

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Ecosystem Eco Notes

Swimmable ShoreRivers Program Returns, Expands Access to Results

May 20, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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ShoreRivers is pleased to announce that not only will its Swimmable ShoreRivers bacteria testing program begin Thursday, May 25, but that weekly results from this annual program will be available this year in both English and Spanish.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and boating sites to provide important human health risk information 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 and makes public the results of that testing to let people know about current bacteria levels as they make their plans for recreating 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.

Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards shows off one of ShoreRivers’ new informational signs at Morgnec Landing on Morgan Creek.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, has been set up to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community, and 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and show users where to find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs were made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working throughout the season with local county officials to install more. Want to see one at your favorite local landing? Reach out to your Riverkeeper about adding a site, and talk to your county officials about installing one of these free and informative signs.

Weekly results are also shared on theswimguide.org, where descriptions of testing sites have also been added in both languages.

“At ShoreRivers, we believe that access to clean water is an essential right for all of our communities,” said Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards. “It was important to us to be able to offer informational access to more of our community, and we hope to continue expanding this access in the future.”

This public service provided by ShoreRivers truly is a community effort: this summer, 61 SwimTesters will monitor 46sites on the Choptank, Miles, Wye, Chester, and Sassafras rivers; Eastern Bay; and the Bayside Creeks. Special thanks go to our generous site sponsors, who include towns, marinas, homeowner’s associations, and families.

Bacteria levels in our rivers and tributaries vary based on location, land use, and weather—making systematic, scientific analysis of local water quality vital. Major rain events are almost always connected to spikes in bacteria levels, and outgoing tides have a higher probability of carrying bacteria pollution. Potential chronic sources of bacteria include failing septic systems, overflows or leaks from wastewater treatment plants, waste from animal farms, or manure fertilizer.

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta holds water quality samples.

Also returning for the 2023 season is ShoreRivers’ Pumpout Boat, which begins running during Memorial Day weekend. The Pumpout Boat is a free service offered on the Miles and Wye rivers, that docks at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and operates from May to mid-October. With your help, this boat will help prevent more than 20,000 gallons of concentrated marine waste from entering our waters annually. To schedule a pump-out, contact Captain Jim Freeman at 410-829-4352, on VHF Channel 9, email POBCaptJim@gmail.com, or by using the form at shorerivers.org/programs/pumpout-boat.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

State of the Rivers Series Continues in May

April 29, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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More than 150 guests joined ShoreRivers at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels on Wednesday, April 26, for the kickoff event in its annual State of the Rivers series—free presentations held each spring to inform the public about the current state of our Eastern Shore waterways and what we can all do to protect and restore them.

At the St. Michaels event, ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers shared the results of their 2022 water quality testing; updates on recent agricultural, urban, and oyster restoration efforts; goals and metrics for underwater grasses, bacteria pollution, and sediment levels; and much more, with an emphasis on the Choptank, Miles, and Wye rivers, and on Eastern Bay. Upcoming events will focus on the Chester and Sassafras rivers, and the Bayside Creeks. Director of Riverkeeper Programs Matt Pluta also recognized standout volunteers Maura Bollinger and Ron Rothman with the Andy Coombs Memorial Volunteer Award for their dedication to the organization and their generous service in support of healthy waterways on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Coombs was an incredible supporter and one of the first volunteers for the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, one of the three legacy organizations that merged in 2017 to create ShoreRivers. He was instrumental in its oyster restoration efforts. Additional volunteers will be recognized throughout the series.

Matt Pluta, Choptank Riverkeeper and Director of Riverkeeper Programs at ShoreRivers (center), presents the Andy Coombs Memorial Volunteer Award to Maura Bollinger and Ron Rothman.

There’s still time to attend an upcoming State of the Rivers presentation, as the series continues Wednesday, May 3, at Cult Classic Brewing in Stevensville, with Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards and new Miles-Wye Riverkeeper Ben Ford; Thursday, May 4, at the Kent County Community Center in Worton, with Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards and Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher; Tuesday, May 9, at the Galena Fire Hall, with Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher; and concludes on Wednesday, May 10, at 447 Venue in Cambridge, with Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta.

ShoreRivers is grateful for this year’s State of the Rivers sponsors: Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay, Choptank Oyster Co., Peter & Georgeanne Pinkard, Cult Classic Brewing, Orchard Point Oysters, Ten Eyck Brewing Company, the Kent County Community Center, the Galena Volunteer Fire Department, Jeff & Beth Horstman, Happy Chicken Bakery, and Ferry Bridge House.

To learn more, visit shorerivers.org/events.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

Local Students Attend 2023 Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit

March 28, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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More than 50 students attended the second annual Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit, held Saturday, March 18, at Washington College in Chestertown. Attendees included students from Talbot, Caroline, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties, and from as far away as Annapolis and Pennsylvania.

The Summit is co-hosted by ShoreRivers as part of its work to protect and restore Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education, and Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society. It is a free event created to inspire and empower middle and high school students in taking local environmental action.

The Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit is supported by The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, IKEA, La Motte, and The Gunston School’s Chesapeake Watershed Semester.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

 

More than 50 students from across the Eastern Shore attended the second annual Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit on March 18.

High school student leaders were vital to ensuring that the Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit was presented by students, for students. From left are Van Tran, Easton High School; Addie Nicholson, Kent Island High School; Carissa Shue, ​Kent Island High School; Finnegan Merrick, ​Easton High School; Linda Gayle, Annapolis High School; and David Daniels, Jr., ​Kent County High School.

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Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

Maryland Environmental Organizations Seek Judicial Review of New Valley Proteins Wastewater Permit

February 23, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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On Friday, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth (DCPG), Friends of the Nanticoke River, ShoreRivers, and Wicomico Environmental Trust filed a legal challenge against Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) newly issued wastewater discharge permit for Valley Proteins’ animal waste rendering plant in Linkwood. 

The environmental organizations are challenging the permit due to the potential for the plant’s pollution discharges to contribute to unhealthy water quality in the Transquaking River, Higgins Mill Pond, and Chesapeake Bay. The lawsuit was filed in Dorchester County Circuit Court. 

“MDE relied on insufficient data about the Transquaking River and its watershed when issuing this permit,” said CBF’s Eastern Shore Director Alan Girard. “While the agency claims the new permit would reduce pollutants, it doesn’t ensure water quality will be protected. The amount of pollution that MDE permits Valley Proteins to release into Dorchester County waterways will continue the long-term, well-documented harm this facility is causing in the Transquaking River watershed. The agency that issued the permit under the previous Governor’s administration must be held accountable for not meeting its obligation to protect water quality as required by federal law.” 

The permit would not require Valley Proteins, now owned by Darling Ingredients, to make any significant changes to their operations for three years. It also allows the company to expand its wastewater discharge from an annual average of 150,000 gallons per day up to 575,000 gallons per day if the plant meets some slightly higher requirements for ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand, and dissolved oxygen. The plant’s previous five-year permit expired in 2006 and was not updated for 16 years, making it one of the longest administratively extended permits in the state’s history. 

Under the law, the new permit is supposed to ensure that Higgins Mill Pond and the Transquaking River are safe for swimming, fishing, and wildlife habitat. 

The water quality impairments where the plant discharges are well documented. Valley Proteins is the only point source polluter on the Transquaking River and, according to MDE documents, contributes about 40 percent of the river’s nitrogen pollution. In Higgins Mill Pond on the Transquaking, just downstream from Valley Proteins, fish kills have occurred, the water is not always safe for recreation, and aquatic life has decreased. Harmful algal blooms have been recorded in the pond, with a sign posted next to it warning residents not to touch the water. 

In September 2022, the company settled a lawsuit with ShoreRivers, DCPG, CBF, and MDE related to past violations of the prior permit. That settlement required the company to pay $540,000 in civil penalties to the state and $135,000 to the non-profit petitioners for funding water quality monitoring and restoration. It also required Valley Proteins to investigate groundwater at the site and make facility and process improvements. 

“We appreciate the efforts of the Maryland Department of the Environment to address the large volume of public comments that were received concerning the discharge from Valley Proteins. But, despite some improvements in water quality protections and discharge limits in the renewed permit, the agency appears to prioritize the interests of the operator over the health of the Transquaking River and the safety of our Eastern Shore residents,” said Matt Pluta, Director of Riverkeeper Programs at ShoreRivers. “Even with a Total Maximum Daily Load, or ‘pollution diet’ for the river issued in 2000, the Transquaking continues to show signs of degrading water quality with harmful algal blooms, high bacteria levels, and an overabundance of nutrients. Valley Proteins has spent years violating pollution controls, failing to modernize their wastewater treatment plant, and discharging unauthorized waste materials, and now is the time to chart a better path forward.” 

MDE used information from the nearby Chicamacomico River to estimate whether the Transquaking River and downstream waters could handle the pollution from Valley Proteins. Unlike the Chicamacomico, the Transquaking has an impoundment that impedes its flow and creates Higgins Mill Pond. The Valley Proteins outfall is above the pond where effluent from the plant can linger an average of nine days. This creates conditions that fuel harmful algal blooms, low oxygen dead zones, and wildlife impacts, especially in hot weather. 

“The proposed four-fold increase in wastewater discharge volume will only result in the death of the river unless the current treatment technology is brought to a much higher standard,” said Fred Pomeroy, President of the Board of Directors of Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth (DCPG), a citizens group which has been trying since 2014 to get MDE to establish strong pollution limits for the rendering plant. “MDE should not allow Valley Proteins to dump increasing volumes of polluted wastewater into the Transquaking and the Chesapeake Bay. The technology exists for the company to clean up their operation, and it is incumbent on MDE to require them to do so.”

Jay Martin, President of The Friends of the Nanticoke River, noted the group joined many other citizens in the fall of 2021 in providing written and public testimony regarding the permit for Valley Proteins.  “We are dismayed that our and others’ expressions of concern appear to have been dismissed. The effects of overwhelming nutrient pollution of the Transquaking River propagate downstream and have the potential to measurably degrade the water quality of Fishing Bay and of the Lower Nanticoke River,” Martin said.

“We’re concerned about the effect of a massive increase in the rendering plant’s discharge to groundwater, which could imperil the health of residents throughout the Lower Eastern Shore area, particularly those who rely on well water,” said Madeleine Adams, President of the Wicomico Environmental Trust. “The way we treat our water has far-reaching implications, given the interrelationship of the health of the watershed and quality of life, public health, and the economic health of the region.”  

The lawsuit seeks to remand the permit back to Maryland Department of the Environment so the agency can address deficiencies, protect water quality and communities from harm, and fully comply with the law.

Until recently, MDE inspections and enforcement activity were declining at an alarming rate.  Maryland’s new Governor has pledged $3.7 million to help MDE fill staffing vacancies and deal with an extensive backlog of administratively extended permits like the one renewed for Valley Proteins.

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 Tagged With: chesapeake bay foundation, Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

Adkins Arboretum, Shore Rivers Initiative Receives DNR Funding for Youth Education

February 15, 2023 by Adkins Arboretum Leave a Comment

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Students on a field trip to Adkins Arboretum get an up-close look at a frog. Photo: Steffi Ricketts

A partnership between Adkins Arboretum and Shore Rivers has received funding from Maryland Department of Natural Resources to provide environmental education programming for Caroline County Public Schools (CCPS) students.

The project will support the county’s second grade life science unit by engaging CCPS second-graders in a “Bees, Seeds, and Healthy Streams” field experience at the Arboretum. During the current school year, each of the nearly 500 second-graders in the county will participate in a meaningful outdoor field experience at the Arboretum, facilitated by Arboretum and ShoreRivers educators and supported by trained volunteers.

Following the field experience, the students will conduct a native plant/pollinator count in their schoolyard and plant native seed balls to improve schoolyard habitat and attract pollinators. The program also includes professional development for second grade teachers to familiarize them with the organizations’ missions, the Arboretum grounds and the “Bees, Seeds, and Healthy Streams” component of their science unit.

Originally focused solely on plants and pollinators and facilitated by the Arboretum, the program took a deeper dive when the Arboretum received a Chesapeake Bay Trust Environmental Planning grant in 2021 to partner with ShoreRivers. Combining both organizations’ missions—native plants and clean water—led to a more comprehensive field experience that has been enthusiastically received by CCPS and will serve as a model for future learning opportunities.

A 400-acre native garden and preserve, Adkins Arboretum provides exceptional experiences in nature to promote environmental stewardship.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration and education.

The Department of Natural Resources leads Maryland in securing a sustainable future for our environment, society and economy by preserving, protecting, restoring and enhancing the State’s natural resources.

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Filed Under: Food and Garden Notes Tagged With: Adkins Arboretum, local news, Shore Rivers

Registration Open for the 2023 Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit

February 3, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Registration is open for middle and high school students to attend the Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit on Saturday, March 18, 2023, from 9am–3:30pm. Hosted at Washington College in Chestertown, the Summit is a free event created to inspire and empower youth in taking local environmental action.

The day’s agenda includes a networking breakfast where students can mingle with their peers and local agencies offering volunteer and internship opportunities. Students will then follow their own self-created schedule to attend workshops led by fellow students and professionals in green careers. Sessions will dive into environmental photography, fisheries, sustainable food systems, how to engage in advocacy, engineering, and more. After lunch, students will get outside and into the community on curated excursions to experience the ways that they can make a positive impact in nature. Excursions include bird banding, a how-to workshop on hosting an invasive fishing tournament, and tours of wetlands and restoration sites among others.

Attendees celebrate youth empowerment and environmental action at the 2022 Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, March 18, 2023.

The Summit is hosted by ShoreRivers as part of its work to protect and restore Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education, and Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society. Seven incredible high school student leaders from across the Eastern Shore have been vital to ensuring that the Summit is by students, for students, with art, food, action, fun, and the environment in mind.

The Summit is free and open to the public, but youth must register to attend the event with a mentor. Mentors are adults who are responsible for up to 10 students at the Summit and can be parents, teachers, or community leaders. Groups larger than 10require a co-mentor. Mentors will receive a packet with information and a permission packet that their students’ guardians must complete. Registration is on a first come, first serve basis and closes at 4pm on March 3.  To register for the Summit, or to learn more, visit uppershoresummit.weebly.com.

The Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit is supported by The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, IKEA, and La Motte.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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 Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

ShoreRivers Urges Queen Anne’s to Protect its Critical Area by Denying Variance Request

January 31, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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On January 24, I had the opportunity to attend the Queen Anne’s County Commissioners meeting and provide comments on a petition to change current zoning ordinances to allow for the construction of a 156,000-square foot, four-story high storage facility within the Critical Area on Kent Island. My testimony was among 64 comments provided by community members and environmental organizations opposing this project, and we anxiously await the County Commissioners’ verdict at their upcoming meeting on February 14. Granting this variance request will compromise the County’s vision to “Remain a rural, agricultural, and maritime County that restores, enhances, protects, conserves, and stewards its valuable land, air, and water resources” as stated in its Comprehensive Plan.

This is, without question, the wrong location for a project of this scale and impact. The parcel in question is on the banks of the Chester River—in the sensitive Critical Area—and currently zoned for limited development. The developer purchased this land with full knowledge of the building limitations on this parcel, and now is requesting a variance in order to get around the current restrictions. Purchasing land with the intention of applying for a variance is an unfortunate trend in our Eastern Shore counties that puts unnecessary and irreparable strain on our natural resources—in this case, forest land, wetlands, and our Chester River.

Legal representation for the developers asserted at the hearing that this zoning change is allowed under Critical Area law, which is true. The developer has effectively worked within the system to pursue this business venture. However, the County Commissioners are also under no obligation to grant this variance. I wonder what the Critical Area of Kent Island would look like if every acre of growth allocation was approved? How much wetland habitat and woodland buffer would remain to beautify our shores, attract birds and fish, and protect our shorelines from sea level rise and erosion? A storage facility— four stories high on the banks of the river— is not the best use of our land or our Critical Area.

By the end of 2022 it became clear that nutrient reductions required under the Chesapeake Bay’sTotal Maximum Daily Load requirements would not be met by 2025—a huge disappointment for clean water advocates after a 30-year effort. To reverse this trend in Eastern Shore watersheds, it is not enough for counties to rely on the state’s minimum requirements; they must lean on their own comprehensive plans for guidance.

Last May, Queen Anne’s County adopted PlanQAC2022, an update to its Comprehensive Plan that, in its own words, “strengthens the County’s long-standing guiding principles, growth management, and supports creating sustainable communities consistent with the County’s vision.” Part of that support for sustainable communities included setting goals for infrastructure that will “protect our waterways (and) conserve our natural resources.” Now, less than a year later, the commissioners are facing a test of those very goals.

Statewide, ShoreRivers recommends new development in Critical Areas, such as this, be restricted to construction for government and emergency services only—not for private business like a storage facility. In fact, we recently made this exact recommendation as part of a letter to newly elected Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

ShoreRivers supports planned, thoughtful growth that fits with our rural landscape, small communities, and abundant water resources in our Eastern Shore counties. In this case we ask that the developer be held accountable to the limits of the current zoning of this land, and urge the commissioners to deny this request at their upcoming vote on February 14. I urge you to make your voice heard too: comments can be submitted ahead of the meeting to qaccommissionersandadministrator@qac.org. We hope you’ll join us in standing up for responsible development and healthy waterways in Queen Anne’s County.

Annie Richards
Chester Riverkeeper, ShoreRivers

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

ShoreRivers Calls for Summer Internship Applicants

January 28, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Adam Brown and Maegan White, 2022 summer interns, work to process submerged aquatic vegetation using ShoreRivers’ turbulator.

ShoreRivers is currently accepting applications for its Easton-based Elizabeth Brown Memorial Summer Internship.

The selected intern will gain experience in a variety of activities including restoration, water quality monitoring, outreach, enforcement, and education. They will also be trained in scientific water quality monitoring equipment and protocols, complete a Maryland boater safety certification, become familiar with handling a boat, and gain many other skills and professional experiences. The internship runs for a minimum of 10 weeks between May and August, and provides a $5,000 stipend.

Programmatic work for this internship, supported by the Elizabeth Brown Memorial Fund at ShoreRivers, will be conducted primarily in the Choptank, Miles, and Wye river watersheds, with some travel throughout the entire ShoreRivers region.

“As an intern at ShoreRivers, I got to do a little bit of everything. I helped with tree plantings, spoke with and worked alongside community volunteers, assisted with bacteria and water quality monitoring, hosted education programs, and even testified at a county commissioners meeting. There are very few other internships out there that would allow so many different experiences in one summer,” said 2022 intern Maegan White. “Interning at ShoreRivers has given me clarity and excitement to start my environmental career after graduation. I feel prepared and confident in the field, have hands-on experience, and found a new love for the area and community I have lived in for the past four years. Thanks to the incredible experiences I had with this internship, I now view Chesapeake as my home.”

Applicants should be a rising college junior or senior, or recent college graduate. Degrees in biology, environmental science, or related fields are encouraged. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Ann Frock, Office Manager, at afrock@shorerivers.org by February 17. Interviews will be conducted by Zoom in February and March and an intern will be selected and notified no later than March 15.

Applicants are encouraged to visit shorerivers.org prior to applying to learn more about the organization’s programs.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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 Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

Elementary School Students Mix Art, Science & Sturgeon

January 17, 2023 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Did you know there’s an enormous, ancient, endangered fish swimming throughout the Chesapeake Bay? If not, the third- and fourth-grade students at Choptank Elementary School have a lot to tell you!

Over the winter, students gathered with school staff and community partners to install a mural celebrating this fish—the Atlantic sturgeon—as the culmination of a yearlong project led by ShoreRivers as part of its Sturgeon Discovery Program.

Artist Shelton Hawkins and staff from ShoreRivers work with students at Choptank Elementary School to bring their designs to life in a mural highlighting the Atlantic sturgeon and other marine life.

Crystal Owens, the third-grade science and social studies teacher at Choptank Elementary, was the brains behind this project, combining the needs of the school beautification committee with a desire to amplify student voice.

“My hope is that our students and community are more aware of the amazing wildlife we have living right next to us,” Owens said. “Through our partnership with Shore Rivers, students are learning to educate their community and promote healthy living environments for animals and people alike.”

Nationally-renowned local artist Shelton Hawkins led the design and installation of the mural, compiling students’ own works of art into a large, flowing piece that now decorates the school hallways and gives everyone who walks by a lesson on what the Atlantic sturgeon looks like.

“I think it’s really cool that we took the students’ actual drawings and put them together inside our own little fish river … [I] loved the way it turned out,” Hawkins, who has primarily installed murals on basketball courts. “Seeing the kids’ [smiling] faces was the best part.”

The ShoreRivers Sturgeon Discovery program is a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience that is a part of every third-grade class in Dorchester and Talbot counties. The program was designed to support students in investigating local environmental issues like water quality, pollution and runoff, and endangered species, all through the lens of the Atlantic sturgeon. Healthy, fishable, swimmable waterways will not be possible without the next generation of clean water enthusiasts, so ShoreRivers strives to encourage in students an appreciation for our environment and a dedication to making a difference.

“Even third graders can do their part to foster healthy habitats and show support for our local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay,” said Owens of the stewardship her students demonstrate.

This project was made possible with funding from the Dorchester Center for the Arts and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Bay Watershed Education and Training program. Special thanks go to Principal Laretha Payton, Crystal Owens, Shelton Hawkins, Devon Beck, Sam Peterson, and the faculty of Choptank Elementary School for their dedication to student learning, voice, and stewardship.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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 Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

ShoreRivers Welcomes Three New Board Members

December 20, 2022 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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ShoreRivers is pleased to announce three new members of its Governing Board: Bruce Abel, Maura Bollinger, and Ron Rothman. As a grassroots nonprofit organization, the hard work and support of board members is imperative to the organization’s efforts for healthier rivers on the Eastern Shore. ShoreRivers extends deep gratitude for the wise counsel, encouragement, and vision of these exceptional community members.

Bruce Abel

Bruce Abel began his term on the ShoreRivers’ Board this summer, and is a dedicated advocate for the organization, having previously served on the Miles-Wye Advisory Board. He retired as the Sr. Vice President and COO of C.R. Daniels, Inc., and has worked with the American Lyme Disease Association and Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. Both he and his wife are active ShoreRivers volunteers, with a particular interest in oyster restoration and the Wye River.

Maura Bollinger

Maura Bollinger is not new to ShoreRivers, having already served as an active volunteer and member of the organization’s Miles-Wye Watershed Advisory Board. Now retired, her professional career began as a telecommunications lawyer before a move overseas shifted her focus to policy work around media competition and free speech.  Around 10 years ago, she and her husband moved to the Eastern Shore and began volunteering for ShoreRivers in myriad ways, from participating in Marylanders Grow Oysters to surveying submerged aquatic vegetation and everything in between.

Ron Rothman

Ron Rothman, who serves on ShoreRivers’ Choptank Advisory Board, is also an active volunteer in his retirement from a career in nonprofits and development. He spent time working for organizations in fields ranging from healthcare, to research institutes, to the arts, and he’s currently active on a number of non-profit boards, both locally and in Pennsylvania. Ron and his wife have spent 40 years enjoying the rivers and creeks of the Eastern Shore.

These three voices will bring a wealth of expertise to ShoreRivers, strengthening the organization’s robust science-based advocacy, restoration, and education efforts. See the full list of Board of Directors and Watershed Advisory Board members at ShoreRivers.org/leadership.

ShoreRivers also celebrates Bob Ingersoll, whose board term ends this year after decades of service. A river enthusiast and dedicated volunteer, Bob is always happy to share his knowledge of the river as well as his skills as a handyman. From mending oyster cages, to hanging cabinets in offices, to driving the boat for water quality testing, he exemplifies a can-do attitude and positive energy.

In addition to the Governing Board, ShoreRivers appreciates open dialogue with dedicated community member volunteers through its four Watershed Advisory Boards. Volunteers for each Watershed Advisory Board support the organization’s mission as local, grassroots ambassadors. New advisory board members who care deeply about their river and their community and are ready to volunteer their time to work for cleaner waterways are always welcome. Please contact your local Riverkeeper if that sounds like you.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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 Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Shore Rivers

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