Our Work

Coal Ash Debated Among 8th Graders as part of the Alliance’s RiverWise Schools Program

At the end of the summer, following the installation of the permeable pavement and rainwater harvesting sculpture at Binford Middle School in Richmond, Virginia, 8th grade science teacher, Brendan Trache approached Meredeth Dash about an idea for a project and asked if she would be willing to collaborate. Meredeth Dash, the Alliance’s Program Coordinator for …

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What’s That Conifer? (Part 1 of 2)

Conifers are important members of our forests year-round, but visually are most prominent during the winter when their evergreen leaves stand out in a sea of dormant deciduous limbs. To the untrained eye these trees may all look the same, but there is a vast amount of diversity among this ancient group of plants. Conifers …

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Tree Planting from the Christiana Boro

The Alliance’s Fall Tree Plantings: A Season in Review

Autumn is a great time to plant trees in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This fall, the Alliance with partner support and volunteers put over 2,000 trees in the ground. Read more about our work by state below. Pennsylvania The Alliance planted 14.81 acres of streamside forest buffer over six sites in Franklin, Cumberland, Lancaster, and …

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2018 Chesapeake Forest Champions Award Winners

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the US Forest Service presented the 2018 Chesapeake Forest Champion Awards at the 13th Annual Chesapeake Watershed Forum in Shepherdstown, WV, attended by over 425 restoration and protection practitioners annually to inspire and empower local action towards clean water. This year’s honorees included Matt Keefer of Pennsylvania’s DCNR …

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My First Chesapeake Watershed Forum

The 2018 Chesapeake Watershed Forum was a whirlwind of workshops, socializing, getting lost in the yellow covered forest, and learning about what brings us all together. I am a Chesapeake Conservation Corps (CCC) member at the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. This meant that I was not only helping out with some of the organization …

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Forests for the Bats, Part IV: White-Nose Syndrome

In October, bats are everywhere. Images of them, at least. The mammals typically are hibernating by Halloween, tucked away in caves and deep rock crevices. Summertime is when you will see real bats around, but if you live in the northeast or mid-Atlantic, you have likely seen dramatically less bats foraging in the summer dusk …

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Rainwater Harvesting System Doubles as a Sculpture in our Virginia Project

When students return to school at Binford Middle School on Tuesday, September 4th, they will be the first people to walk across a freshly laid entrance made of permeable pavement, thanks to Binford’s Green School Initiative. As part of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, I have been working to provide watershed education to …

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Ailanthus seedling growing through cracks in concrete in Lancaster, PA.

Tree-of-Heaven, a Devilish Invader

Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima): a tree that elicits curses and anger wherever it grows and is recognized. The non-native plant’s angelic name belies its destructive nature. It spreads prolifically by seeds and root sprouts, forming thick groves that completely dominate sunny areas within just a few years. Beneficial native plants are quickly outpaced, shaded out, and replaced …

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Red maple

The Rubrum Cunundrum

Over the vast many years that I have been interacting with our region’s forest practitioners and enthusiasts, I have observed that many of us harbor a profound and deep emotional relationship to particular species of trees. These emotions run the gamut from effusive adoration to downright animosity. Some species are almost unanimous in the passions …

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Celebrating A Dozen Chesapeake Watershed Forums

By Kate Fritz, Executive Director It always feels like returning home when I drive through the gates at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, WV. And this year was no different.   I calculated that this was the 9th Watershed Forum I had attended, and was my first as the Executive Director of …

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