Bay Journal

It’s Time To Put More Focus on Watershed’s Healthy Streams

A view of the Nanticoke River and it’s countless winding tributaries. Photo by Matt Rath/Chesapeake Bay Program.Most people understand, intuitively, that the ability to clean up the Chesapeake Bay is dependent on what we accomplish in its 64,000-square-mile watershed. The watershed is the primary focus for the improvements (best management practices) that make up the …

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How can we diversify participation in Bay restoration efforts?

For more than 40 years, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay has been dedicated to expanding citizen participation in Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration efforts. The Alliance has always believed that the ultimate key to success lies in a strong sense of stewardship among the residents and visitors to this watershed. Indeed, success will require a …

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Don’t Underestimate the Power of Citizen Stewardship

I love the phrase, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” Peter Levine, who wrote a book of the same name on civic renewal, cites the origin of this phrase in the poetry of June Jordan. It has been used in discussion of both the civil rights and environmental movements. There are some parallels. …

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Working to Build a Watershed of Environmental Stewards

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Project Clean Stream returns on April 2nd to kick off its 13th year of helping residents across the Chesapeake watershed become stewards of their local streams and rivers. What began Baltimore in 2002 as a small local stream cleanup, Project Clean Stream has grown into the largest regional volunteer …

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Keeping the Mighty Oaks

As spring finally arrived with its much-anticipated warmth and vibrant color, our oaks, the grand statesmen of our eastern deciduous forests, again waited patiently to break dormancy. It is as if they somehow understand their significance while choosing to remain wise and humble. Oaks (genus Quercus) have served a prominent role in our landscape for …

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Small woodlots are a big deal to the Chesapeake’s restoration

The commencement of spring is always a significant moment in our Chesapeake forests. Buds swell, ready to break dormancy and add the first of the year’s growth to the canopy while green hues begin to emerge from the forest floor. It is also significant for forest enthusiasts who, themselves, are breaking from the wintertime’s stupor. …

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It’s everyone’s business to help restore the Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay’s health is inextricably linked to our own, and our collective impact on the land and streams of the Bay’s watershed has been tremendous. We can try to point our fingers at one segment of society or another but the difficult truth is, if we live and do business here, we are likely …

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Planning Your Legacy

“A society grows great when old men (and women) plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” I ran across this Greek proverb a while back. Although it has broader societal implications for sure, as a tree enthusiast, I can’t help narrowly interpreting it for the work we in the conservation community …

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Everyone needs to participate for an environmentally just Bay

The idea of watershed stewardship — local citizens engaged in restoration — has never gotten enough credit as a means to achieving a healthy Chesapeake. Since the infancy of Bay restoration, the issues of habitat degradation, poor water quality and unsustainable fisheries, as well as forming the policies to address them, have drawn the attention …

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Bagging the Plastic in Our Urban Streams!

[imageframe link=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/29388462@N06/23225422080/” ] Volunteers cleaning trash during Project Clean Stream cleanup in 2008. Photo courtesy of Kim Hairston.We were knee-deep in a small, murky stream in Richmond, Virginia, and our trash bags were prematurely heavy. Barely ten meters from our starting point at a road culvert, our bags contained countless food wrappers, Styrofoam cups, cans …

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