30 24 PAGE PAGE in Pennsylvania in practices sustainable 2O PAGE
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PAGE 12 PAGE waterways repair to trees removing question residents local environmentalists, Some
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2020 October ber 7 ber 30 ume Num Vol CONTENTS
NEWS EDITOR’S NOTE 7 Congress extends Bay Program, related efforts 8 Campaign touts Chesapeake National Recreation Area Understanding uncertainty 9 11 Anacostia sites to chosen for cleanup If there is one thing I am certain of, it is that, after 10 Manokin River oyster project put on ‘aggressive’ timetable decades of effort, we still know too little about too 11 Switchgrass growing in popularity for conservation much related to the Bay. As Whitney Pipkin reports in this issue, shad in the James River are 12 Stream restoration techniques draw pushback not recovering after decades of work. There seem to be lots of reasons 15 EPA hit with lawsuits over Chesapeake Bay cleanup but there is a lot of uncertainty as to how much each impacts the fish; 18 Nutrient trends different from what you think – or not probably all need to be addressed, but few of them are. Water samples from the Choptank River Likewise, Tim Wheeler reports on the effectiveness of stream await examination. What they reveal 20 Safe swimming and fishing in Baltimore Harbor? restoration. It’s one of the more widespread — and costly — practices about nutrient trends in the water may 23 Battles continue in MD over forest conservation used to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution. But after decades of differ from what is expected, highlighting 24 Black farmers embrace African practices as empowering the uncertainty created when comparing implementation, it’s still unclear how effective they are in different monitoring and modeling results. See 26 James River shad face upriver battle for comeback settings or whether some techniques are better than others. article on page 18. 28 Shadows of a bustling past haunt Appomattox’s quiet shores It is, in fact, unclear whether many of the actions taken to curb nutrient runoff will have their desired effect on the Bay. Certainly TRAVEL discharges from the wastewater plants have been substantially reduced. 30 Fall in love with Ricketts Glen State Park in PA But the impacts of other actions sprinkled across the Bay’s 64,000-square-mile watershed, from stream buffers to cover crops, are 32 Dave Harp’s Chesapeake: ‘Where Land & Water Meet” harder to measure, and slower to produce results — and likely perform very differently from place to place. While the Bay Program’s compute FORUM model asserts that those actions are driving nutrient levels down, or 38 It’s time to reward Bay cleanup performance will do so eventually, actual water quality monitoring has long pro- 39 Environmental justice: Equal footing in all decision-making duced a more nuanced picture. 40 Match assumptions with results As I report in this issue, a recent U.S. Geological Survey study based on monitoring data didn’t detect any nitrogen reductions from | Engineering with beavers CORRECTIONS 41 Chesapeake Born farmlands during the 20-year span it examined, though it did find The article, Costs clog efforts to QUIZZES | EVENTS | RESOURCES downward trends from the developed lands. prevent sewage overflows in the What does that mean? As the saying goes, “All models are wrong. 42 Bulletin Board | Volunteer | Events | Programs | Resources Some are useful.” But comparing and understanding results from dif- August Bay Journal said the Con- 45 Chesapeake Challenge | Chesapeake blowfish ferent models, and the factors that drive them, can help better under- estoga River is no longer impaired stand what the actual trends are and reduce uncertainty. for aquatic life. Nearly 40 of its 62 COLUMNS Questions about the effectiveness of issues as divergent as shad recov- miles are no longer impaired for 46 Steward’s Corner | The 15th Chesapeake Watershed Forum ery, stream restoration and the effectiveness of Bay cleanup efforts have that use but there are still 22 miles 47 On the Wing | Black vultures: Nature’s cleaning service been around — and reported on in the Bay Journal — for decades. impaired for aquatic life, mainly due 48 Bay Naturalist | Wild brook trout Although progress has been made, the region has, too often, under- to agricultural practices. invested in trying to reduce that uncertainty. The failure to do so could An incorrect credit was given for lead to widespread disappointment if restoration actions do not provide anticipated results. the photo of the brook floater in That’s also something I am pretty certain about. the September Bay Naturalist. The photo is courtesy of the U.S. Fish — Karl Blankenship and Wildlife Service. The Bay Journal regrets the errors. SIGN UP FOR THE BAY JOURNAL OR CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS | PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY The Bay Journal is distributed FREE by Bay Journal Media, a nonprofit news organization. Check one: o New Subscription / Please choose: o Print Only o Email Newsletter Only o Both Print / Email o Change of address o Please remove me from the mailing list Please note that it may take up to two issues for changes to become effective. ON THE COVER Name:______Hollin Hills residents Barbara Southworth and Marc Shapiro Address:______flank a massive white oak, which City:______State:______Zip:______botanist Rod Simmons estimates to be about 200 years old. Nearly Email:______Phone:______80 large trees are in line to be cut OPTIONAL: Enclosed is a donation to the Bay Journal Fund for $ ______down for restoration projects on o From time to time, the Bay Journal includes a list of its supporters in the print edition. Please check here if you would like your gift to remain a pair of streams flowing through anonymous and not be recognized in the Bay Journal. their neighborhood parks. (Dave Harp) Please mail this form to: Bay Journal, P.O. Box 222, Jacobus, PA 17407-0222. bayjournal.com
2 Bay Journal October 2020 Why streamside forests matter Planting streamside forest buffers is one of the most effective actions to help reduce polluted runoff to local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Depending on their setting, forest buffers (also called riparian buffers) can remove 19–65% of 127 the nitrogen and 30–45% of the phosphorus that would otherwise reach the stream. The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Number of miles the Appomattox Agreement calls for planting buffers along 900 miles of streams a year, but progress has lagged. In 2017, the most recent year River flows in Virginia, joining the for which data is available, only 56 miles were planted. James River at Hopewell 10 Number of rivers in the Bay watershed slated for major oyster SHADE & COOLING Shade from the tree canopy replenishment by 2025 cools the water and helps prevent rapid temperature fluctuations that stress brook trout and other fish. 1,161,384 Cool, stable temperatures Plastic bottles intercepted by also promote the growth “Mr. Trashwheel” as they flowed of beneficial algae and REDUCING POLLUTION insects. toward the Baltimore Harbor Forests prevent or reduce a wide range of contaminants, like nutrients and toxics, from 21 reaching the stream Average depth in feet of the Bay and its tidal tributaries FOOD & HABITAT Leaves, branches, logs and 2,500 other woody debris that Approximate acres of tidal wetlands fall into the stream provide food and habitat for insects, found along the Anacostia River during amphibians, crustaceans the 1700s and small fish. REDUCING EROSION Roots and tree branches help prevent erosion by 285,000 stabilizing stream banks. Approximate number of adult brook trout that will be stocked in Pennsylvania streams in 2020
A stream flows through Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania. (Brian Lutz) LOOKING BACK 25 years ago 10 years ago Water access guide published 20 years ago 15 years ago Black rail population declines The Chesapeake Bay Program released an DE joins Bay cleanup effort ‘Dead zone’ hits new record According to the Center for Conservation update to its public access guide to the Bay Delaware pledged to curb its share of nutrient Monitoring showed the largest-ever area of Biology, a species of small marshland bird called and Susquehanna River. The size of a standard pollution as the region worked to clean up the anoxia — water void of oxygen — reported the black rail declined more than 75% in the highway map, the guide was a comprehensive Bay by 2010. Delaware, New York and West in the Bay. Averaged over the summer, an Chesapeake region in the last 10–20 years. The directory to more than 500 sites — including Virginia were not previously part of formal Bay estimated 5.1% of the Bay’s deepest water was a number of breeding sites dropped 80–85%. boat ramps, beaches and natural areas — in the cleanup agreements. New York and West Virginia “dead zone,” according to Bay Program data. Rising sea level was cited as one of the causes. n Bay region. n were expected to join the effort within weeks. n The previous worse year was 1993. n — Bay Journal, October 1995 — Bay Journal, October 2010 — Bay Journal, October 2000 — Bay Journal, October 2005
October 2020 Bay Journal 3 ABOUT US BAY JOURNAL NOTEBOOK
The Chesapeake Bay Journal STAFF is published by Bay Journal Karl Blankenship, Editor ([email protected]) Media, an independent nonprofit Lara Lutz, Managing Editor ([email protected]) news organization dedicated Timothy B. Wheeler, Associate Editor / Projects ([email protected]) to producing journalism that T. F. Sayles, Bay Journal News Service Editor ([email protected]) informs the public about environ- mental issues in the Chesapeake Kathleen A. Gaskell, Copy / Design Editor ([email protected]) Bay watershed. The Bay Journal Jeremy Cox, Staff Writer ([email protected]) is available in print and by email Ad Crable, Staff Writer ([email protected]) and is distributed free of charge, Whitney Pipkin, Staff Writer ([email protected]) reaching approximately 100,000 Dave Harp, Photographer ([email protected]) readers each month. The print Jacqui Caine, Marketing & Advertising Director ([email protected]) edition is published ten times a year, and bundles are available for BOARD OF DIRECTORS distribution at offices, libraries, Mary Barber, President schools, etc. Material may be Bill Eichbaum, Vice President reproduced, with permission Bay Journal writer Tim Wheeler takes notes during an interview about stream Karl Blankenship, Secretary and attribution. restoration techniques. (Dave Harp) Kim Coble, Treasurer Bay Journal Media also operates Donald Boesch the Bay Journal News Service, Don Luzzatto News coverage in the time of COVID-19 which distributes Bay Journal Mark Platts articles and op-eds about the Many people have been asking how COVID-19 has impacted work Chesapeake Bay and regional SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE at the Bay Journal. The pandemic has affected the lives of our staff, environmental issues to more like most people, both professionally and personally, and introduced than 400 newspapers in the region. Rich Batiuk | U.S. EPA Chesapeake Bay Program (retired) uncertainties for the future. But we are fortunate to have a terrific team Donald Boesch | UMD Center for Environmental Science (retired) at the Bay Journal that has continued to bring you the same level of Publication is made possible by Marji Friedrichs | Virginia Institute of Marine Science environmental news for the Chesapeake region, and we aim to keep it grants, reader donations and Marjorie Mulholland | Old Dominion University coming. advertising revenue. What changes have COVID-19 brought to news production? Well, Ray Najjar | Penn State University getting “into the field” for site visits has become harder. People are Views expressed in the Bay Journal Michael Paolisso | University of Maryland sometimes not available to meet in person, and many research and do not necessarily represent those of Kevin Sellner | Chesapeake Research Consortium/NOAA (retired) restoration projects are on hold. Luckily, many of our stories take us any funding agency, organization, Kurt Stephenson | Virginia Tech outdoors, where our reporters and photographers still wear masks and donor or advertiser. Policies on Jeremy Testa | UMD Center for Environmental Science practice social distancing. Long-distance lenses help with safe photog- editorial independence, gift Lisa Wainger | UMD Center for Environmental Science raphy, although many of our subjects’ faces are necessarily obscured by masks. acceptance and advertising are Claire Welty | University of Maryland - Baltimore available at bayjournal.com/about. Phone interviews, of course, take place on a regular basis, though the people we speak with are often scrambling to juggle a new work-life ADVERTISING balance and scheduling interviews can tricky. Our staff, located across Advertising space is available in print and online. the Bay region, has always worked from home offices that keep us close Contact Jacqui Caine at 540-903-9298 or [email protected]. to our coverage areas, so fortunately there was no central Bay Journal office closure to further disrupt our routines. Certainly, COVID-19 is bringing financial challenges to organiza- tions, businesses and households across the nation. As a nonprofit news organization, our operations depend on grants and donations from CONTACT US readers like you, and we are grateful for the enthusiastic and gener- ous support that readers been sending during this difficult time. But by mail: challenges will continue for all of us. We understand that many of our The Bay Journal | 619 Oakwood Drive | Seven Valleys, PA 17360-9395 WE’RE JUST readers have suffered financially during this pandemic but, if you are A CLICK AWAY by phone: able, please consider making a donation to the Bay Journal in the com- 717-428-2819 ing months. Thanks to you, our work continues! n Like us on FaceBook: by email: Chesapeake Bay Journal — Lara Lutz [email protected] Managing Editor Send us a Tweet: @ChesBayJournal
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4 Bay Journal October 2020 COVID-19 lowers demand for chicken litter Maryland-DC on a strategy to help the shrinking from mushroom growers marsh at Blackwater adapt to climate change. Here’s an unexpected impact of the COVID-19 Through a combination of land subsidence and pandemic on the Chesapeake: Reduced rising sea level, Blackwater has lost more than restaurant demand for mushrooms has lowered 5,000 acres of marsh since the refuge’s creation the demand for poultry litter from the region, in 1933. the Delmarva Farmer recently reported. Sea level is expected to rise another 2.5 feet Mushroom farms in northern Maryland by 2050 and 5–6 feet by 2100. and Southeast Pennsylvania use some of the Whibeck oversaw a novel restoration effort excess poultry litter from the region’s increasing begun in 2017 that involved raising the height of number of chickens to create the growing some marsh areas with a thin 4– to 6-inch layer medium for mushrooms. of sediment that was pumped from elsewhere in Transporting chicken wastes away from the refuge. areas where there is an excess is an important He also pulled together the project’s funding, technique used to curb nutrient runoff to the including more than $2 million in federal aid Chesapeake. given to recover from Superstorm Sandy. n It’s unclear how long the disruption will last, but farmers report a sharp decrease in Bay paddle boarding feat draws shipments of excess litter. “It’s affected the Biologist Matt Whitbeck received the USFWS 2020 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural big donations to oyster restoration amount of litter we haul up there dramatically, Resources for his work at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) A Maryland man has become the first person Ray Ellis, who owns one of the region’s largest Whitbeck has been honored by his peers for Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural believed to have traveled the 203-mile length of the Chesapeake Bay on a stand up paddle board. manure trucking businesses, told the paper. “It’s his leadership during efforts to reduce marsh Resources. almost cut it in half.” n Chris Hopkinson of Arnold, MD, completed the loss at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Whitbeck, supervisory wildlife biologist for journey from Havre de Grace, MD, to Fisherman’s Matt Whitbeck honored for effort to reduce Maryland’s Eastern Shore. At its virtual annual the Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Inlet, VA, in nine days. He was greeted at the marsh loss at Blackwater refuge meeting on Sept. 9, the Association of Fish and Refuge Complex, was recognized for his work U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Matt Wildlife Agencies gave him its 2020 Climate with the Conservation Fund and Audubon See BRIEFS, page 6
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Your money. Science for Citizens Our advice. FREE public webinars. Now hosted on Zoom. Sept. 29th Oyster Aquaculture: A boon, competition or A sustainable neutral for restoration and fishing Oct. 06th Striped Bass are Built for Success: Weathering future for you. pollution, climate change, & their own stripes Oct. 13th Patuxent River Research Cruises: Building For the world. on a scientific & educational legacy Oct. 20th Decades of Change in the Patuxent River and its Tributary Companions Oct. 27th Reducing Plastic Waste and Pollution Make an impact on the future. Let us connect your personal values and your financial plan with sustainable Tuesdays from 7–8 pm on Zoom Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investments. Presented as part of the Virtual Science Semester. Learn more: https://www.umces.edu/cbl/ScienceSemester Learn more about your ESG investment options: Registration Required: Call: 410-810-0800 | Visit: valliantwealth.com http://www.usmf.org/ScienceForCitizens Bruce and Mary Ellen Valliant, Registered Principals, RJFS, Inc. 110 S. Queen Street | Chestertown, MD 21620 3033 Kent Narrows Way, S., Suite 5 | Grasonville, MD 21638 Valliant Wealth Strategies is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through RJFS Advisors, Inc.
October 2020 Bay Journal 5 average through most of the summer. Director Betsy Nicholas. Monitoring in late August found 0.79 cubic Tutman was born and raised along the miles of hypoxic water — water with less than 2 Patuxent River and worked as a volunteer From page 5 parts per million of oxygen. The average for that activist on behalf of the river for more than 20 end of his grueling trip at the Atlantic Ocean time of summer is about 1 cubic mile of hypoxic years before founding the Patuxent Riverkeeper on Sept. 26 by a boat full of friends, family and water, which is off limits for most aquatic life in organization in 2004. Tutman has received many awards and supporters. Hopkinson, a 46-year-old chief the Bay. No hypoxia was observed in Virginia’s portion recognitions for his environmental work and strategy officer for a mobile communications of the Bay. serves on a variety of boards, task forces and app, used the expedition to raise money for the Also, monitoring found no anoxic water — commissions related to protecting the Patuxent Oyster Recovery Partnership, a Maryland-based water which essentially has no oxygen — in late and natural environment. He is the only African nonprofit that supports efforts to restore oyster August. American riverkeeper in the nation. reefs in the Bay. Oxygen conditions were better than average Waterkeepers Chesapeake also recognized As of the month’s end, the fundraiser had all summer, except for late July when the dead a Lower Eastern Shore community group, amassed $177,000 toward its $200,000 goal, zone was larger than normal. Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFOs a total that would cover planting 20 million The monitoring results largely match what (concentrated animal feeding operations). oysters. scientists had predicted in late spring. with its Water Warrior Award. Over the past “I am truly overwhelmed by the response to While wind, heat and other factors play a role, five years, the group has engaged a diverse the Bay Paddle,” Hopkinson said. “The most low oxygen conditions are primarily driven by community of citizens and groups to push back emotional part wasn’t finishing or any one the amount of nitrogen that enters the Bay. The against environmental injustice on the Lower stage or day. It was the amount of support and nutrient spurs algae blooms that die, sink to the Shore. encouragement from our entire community.” bottom, and are decomposed in a process that Waterkeepers Chesapeake presented their Punishing northeast winds forced a last- draws oxygen out of the water. Water Warrior Award to the group for a list of minute change in his route, switching from a This spring, the amount of nitrogen entering accomplishments that include winning zoning paddle down the Western Shore to the Eastern the Bay was 17% less than normal, largely as a ordinance changes to protect rural communities; Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman worked as a Shore. He also battled blisters, rough seas, a result of below-average river flows, which carry winning a legal case that stopped a 14-house volunteer activist on behalf of the river for more sunburn and muscle soreness. the majority of the nutrient into the Bay. n poultry CAFO; introducing the Community To donate, visit baypaddle.org. n than 20 years before founding the Patuxent Healthy Air Act to Maryland legislators; and Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman Riverkeeper organization in 2004. (Dave Harp) holding events to educate, inform and engage Chesapeake’s ‘dead zone’ smaller honored as a clean water champion area residents. n than average most of summer Waterkeepers Chesapeake honored Patuxent “Fred Tutman is truly deserving of this award The Maryland Department of Natural Riverkeeper Fred Tutman with its Waterkeeper for his dedication to bringing clean water and Resources reported that the size of the Bay’s Outstanding Win Award at a virtual gathering in environmental justice to the communities oxygen-starved “dead zone” was smaller than September. living along the Patuxent River,” said Executive
6 Bay Journal October 2020 Congress extends Bay Program, related conservation efforts Bill also continues governments, nonprofits and others. efforts to improve habitats for species such The legislation reauthorizes the Bay as black ducks and brook trout. “Legislators from both parties Gateways Network, Program for another five years at up to $92 Environmental groups praised passage of recognize the importance creates habitats program million annually. Congress had allocated the measure, which had been in the works of clean water $85 million for the current year. since last year. By Karl Blankenship The bill also reauthorizes the Chesa- Noting that outdoor activities generate and a healthy environment.” peake Gateways and Watertrails Network. millions of dollars for the region’s economy, — Jason Rano, Chesapeake Bay Foundation he U.S. House of Representatives has ap- Administered by the National Park Service, Joel Dunn, president of the Chesapeake Tproved a sweeping conservation measure the network includes more than 200 state Conservancy, said “the conservation and that provides continued support for several parks, museums and historic sites that provide restoration of the Chesapeake Bay’s waters of clean water and a healthy environment.” key Chesapeake Bay initiatives and creates access to waterways and highlight the re- and wildlife habitats is essential for our Besides the Bay-specific initiatives, the a new program to support fish and wildlife gion’s natural, historic and cultural heritage. region’s economic resilience and growth, bill reauthorizes a number of national habitat restoration efforts in the watershed. The legislation reauthorized that program and the ACE Act will greatly enhance these programs that benefit the region, including America’s Conservation Enhancement Act for five years. It received $3 million in the conservation efforts.” the North American Wetlands Conserva- provides support for two dozen conservation most recent year. Reauthorization does not A bipartisan group of lawmakers helped tion program, which helps promote wetland initiatives around the nation that were rolled guarantee future funding, but it makes craft different elements of the Bay-related restoration, and the National Fish and into a single piece of legislation and over- Congressional support more likely. portions of the legislation, including Sens. Wildlife Foundation, which oversees several whelmingly approved by the House on Oct. 1. The legislation also creates the Chesa- Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Van Hol- grant programs that support Bay initiatives. The Senate had already approved the bill peake Watershed Investments for Land- len (D-MD) and Shelley Moore Capito It also creates a National Fish Habitat without controversy, and it was expected to scape Development Program — dubbed (R-WV), and Tom Carper (D-DE) as well Partnership program to provide funding and be signed by President Trump. WILD — within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife as Reps. Elaine Luria (D-VA), Bobby Scott technical resources to local public-private The bill authorizes the continuation Service. The program is authorized to provide (D-VA) and John Sarbanes (D-MD). partnerships to conserve fish habitats. of the U.S. Environmental Protection up to $15 million annually in grants that sup- “We’re pleased to see the overwhelming The final legislation reflected some Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, which port fish and wildlife habitat projects in the and bipartisan support for the America’s compromises. For instance, it prohibits the has coordinated the state-federal Bay Bay region. This could include such things Conservation Enhancement Act,” said Jason EPA from regulating lead content in hunt- restoration effort since 1983. The program as forest buffer plantings, wetland restora- Rano, who works on federal legislation for ing and fishing gear for the next five years. supports research, helps assess cleanup tion, initiatives that improve stream health, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Legislators Some had pushed to permanently ban the progress and provides grants to states, local the removal of barriers to fish migration and from both parties recognize the importance EPA from such action. n
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October 2020 Bay Journal 7 Campaign touts Chesapeake National Recreation Area
Status could boost is the time to strike. national parks in the District of Columbia. “I believe the Chesapeake Bay is as grand “I believe the Chesapeake Bay is Joel Dunn, president and CEO of the local economy, as the Grand Canyon and as great as the as grand as the Grand Canyon and Chesapeake Conservancy, which is leading telling of Bay story Great Smokies and should be included in as great as the Great Smokies.” the charge for the park, said he landed on the a new federal-state partnership,” Maryland idea of a national recreation area after visiting By Whitney Pipkin Gov. Larry Hogan wrote in a Sept. 14 letter — MD Gov. Larry Hogan the Golden Gate National Recreation to Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen Area, one of 18 such sites in the country. hree decades of discussion about the supporting the measure. “They typically surround water bodies and TChesapeake Bay having national park The idea of a national park devoted to components of the Bay’s “story.” are structured to allow hunting, boating, status could come to fruition under a fresh the Chesapeake was floated as far back as The Park Service scoped out the possibil- fishing and traditional outdoor pursuits, campaign. 1986, when the publisher of Annapolis’ ity of a Chesapeake-focused park as part which are values that we want to support in The Chesapeake Conservancy in Septem- Capital Gazette, Philip Merrill, wrote an of a special resource study completed in the Chesapeake, too,” Dunn said. ber launched a new website promoting the opinion piece on why it would be a "good 2004. That study recommended expanding Dunn thinks this coming legislative creation of an overarching national park for idea." The National Park Service has long the Bay Gateways Network before working session is the best time for legislators to the region called the Chesapeake National had a footprint in the Bay watershed, with toward national park status. present the concept in Congress, and hav- Recreation Area, which would fall under more than 400 units located in the region, A devoted national park, though, would ing Sen. Van Hollen on the key U.S. Senate the U.S. National Park Service. The designa- including major sites such as Fort McHen- make that storytelling more cohesive, advo- Appropriations Committee doesn’t hurt. tion would not create a single park site but ry National Monument, Colonial National cates say, and could draw additional visitors The Chesapeake Bay Commission also encompass dozens of existing parks and public Historical Park and George Washington’s and dollars to the region. Virginia Gov. Ralph supports the national recreation area and lands in voluntary partnerships and provide a Birthplace National Monument located Northam, in a letter to Sens. Tim Kaine would work closely with. Van Hollen and broader framework for the ecological, cultural, close to the water. and Mark Warner, pointed to the economic Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes to advocate historical and recreational resources of the Bay. The Park Service also coordinates the benefits such an asset could bring to the state. for it during the next Congress. Creating a national park requires an act Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, which The Aug. 3 letter stated that 21 national “The COVID crisis has clearly demon- of Congress and a planning process that is a linked series of more than 100 natural, park units in Maryland, Virginia and strated that people love their parks,” Dunn can stretch out over several years. But a historic, recreational and cultural sites. Pennsylvania added more than $800 mil- said. “We’d like to capitalize on the public’s handful of leaders, including the governors Most are owned and managed by other lion to the region’s economy in 2018, in expanded use of outdoor recreation to cre- of Virginia and Maryland, think that now organizations but, together, they highlight addition to the $586 million generated by ate some lasting infrastructure.” n
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Photographer Dave Harp, Cat's Point Creek in VIrginia's Northern Neck. Photo by Leslie M. 11 Anacostia River areas to undergo $35.5 million cleanup Sites with highest PCB levels picked for initial work The interim decision is largely un- changed from an “early action” plan origi- By Timothy B. Wheeler nally unveiled in December 2019. After reviewing about 850 comments received he Anacostia River, once dubbed the The 507-page blueprint calls for dredging since then, officials say they have tweaked T“forgotten river” because of centuries of PCB-tainted sediment in some areas while it to do more dredging in the Kingman abuse and neglect, is forgotten no longer. capping others with clean sediment and Lake area to allow for safer water recreation Its toxic-laced bottom is due for an initial activated carbon granules to keep the toxic around Kingman Island a municipal park cleanup expected to cost $35.5 million under chemicals from getting back into the water. undergoing restoration. a long-anticipated plan released Sept. 30 by Tommy Wells, the DOEE’s director, said The District is fronting the funds to the District of Columbia. the plan’s release means that “District resi- launch the cleanup but is hoping to recover The District’s Department of Energy and dents can look forward to a future where at least some of the remediation costs from Environment posted an “interim record they can safely swim and fish in what was companies and federal agencies determined of decision” on its website spelling out its once a degraded urban waterway.” Officials to be responsible for the contamination. intent to dredge or cap and treat contami- say the remedial actions outlined in the Three entities — Pepco, the U.S. Navy and nated river sediments in 11 “hot spots” plan are expected to yield a 90% reduction Washington Gas — have already signed along a 9-mile stretch of the lower Anacos- in people’s risk of exposure to PCBs from consent decrees pledging to clean up pol- tia before it joins the Potomac River. eating contaminated fish. lution left behind by facilities they once Those areas have the highest levels in the That may still be years away. With more operated on the river. river of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), time needed to issue contracts and get per- Jim Foster, president and CEO of the Anacostia Jim Foster, president and CEO of the long-banned chemicals once widely used as mits, Wells said at a meeting previewing the Watershed Society, says there are another 14 Anacostia Watershed Society, welcomed coolants or insulators in electrical equip- plan that work likely won’t begin until 2023. sites on the river where toxics need to be ad- the plan but cautioned that “this isn’t the ment that are now associated with cancer District officials stress that this -in dressed. (Dave Harp) whole enchilada.” He estimated there are and other health effects. The presence of terim plan is likely to be revised as work another 14 contaminated areas this plan PCBs and other toxic metals and chemicals proceeds. Kingman Lake, an artificial waterway paralleling the Potomac that has doesn’t address. He also questioned why in the sediments make it a health risk to eat impoundment created in the 1920s, would been the focus of waterfront redevelop- the District doesn’t tackle the first 11 hot many fish caught locally or to go swim- be the first area targeted, followed by ment. The mainstem Anacostia is the third spots together, which he suggested would ming or wading. the Washington Channel, a constructed area in line for cleanup. speed cleanup and reduce costs. n
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Photographer Dave Harp, Cat's Point Creek in VIrginia's Northern Neck. Photo by Leslie M. Manokin River oyster project put on ‘aggressive’ timetable Restored area could for oyster restoration in the Manokin. The river flows from headwaters near Princess supplant Little Choptank Anne into the Chesapeake Bay on the northern end of Tangier Sound. as world’s largest After the Manokin was made a sanctuary By Jeremy Cox and closed to oyster harvests in 2010, its oyster population reached a 20-year high in he record for the world’s largest oyster 2015. Meanwhile, the number of diseased Trestoration project is poised to be broken specimens dropped by more than half, with a new $30 million project on Mary- according to a Bay Foundation analysis of land’s Eastern Shore, but some environ- state survey data. mentalists would like it to be even bigger. “That shows us it has tremendous poten- At 441 acres, the amount of restored area tial for oyster restoration,” Colden said. on the bottom of the Manokin River in She argues that the state should build Somerset County would be the most ever in a bigger buffer than the 10% called for undertaken by the state. With no projects in the plan. Two Maryland tributaries being completed on that scale anywhere have had their restoration acreage slashed else, it would also claim the world’s title. after the initial planning phase: the Little The river that currently holds that Choptank’s by 22% and the Tred Avon’s designation is the Little Choptank River by 15%. If such a portion is purged from in Dorchester County. The initial round of the Manokin, the total would fall below “seeding” of its 358 acres of oyster reefs was the minimum set by the federal agreement, completed earlier this year. Colden said. The Department of Natural Resources had Watermen strongly opposed the state’s planned to begin planting baby oysters on decision to classify the Manokin as an the Manokin’s existing reefs this summer. Jason Schwab, left, and Josh Kilby, both field technicians with the nonprofit Oyster Recovery Partner- oyster sanctuary. The move put some of the But a backlog of restoration work caused ship, sort and measure oysters tonged from the Manokin River during a bottom survey in September. state’s most productive oystering grounds by 2018’s heavy rains, then the COVID-19 (Oyster Recovery Partnership) off-limits to commercial dredges. The res- pandemic, postponed those efforts until toration project will only bolster arguments late spring or early summer next year. habitat in the 10 rivers. to make the sanctuary status permanent, The project may turn out to be not only For a reef to be considered fully restored, they say. the state’s largest, but also the quickest, the density of oysters must be at least 15 “We’re going to lose the river,” said officials say. per square meter, roughly the area of a bath Gregory Price, co-chairman of the Som- Under a federal agreement tied to the towel, across at least 30% of the reef’s total erset County Oyster Committee and a Chesapeake Bay cleanup, Maryland and surface. The preferred “target,” though, is longtime waterman. “It’s something that Virginia have vowed to replenish oyster 50 oysters. Those assessments are conduct- belongs to us, and we want to keep it.” reefs in five rivers each by 2025. In June ed six years after the restoration occurred. But watermen have a ray of hope. 2019, the Manokin became the last restora- State biologists use a formula to calculate Because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tion site in either state to be approved by how much of a river’s bottom should be hasn’t contributed funding to the Manokin the state-federal Bay program. restored based, in part, on the historic project, the state alone can decide whether “We’re going to have to undertake an ag- breadth of its oyster reefs. The formula calls to reopen the oyster grounds. It remains gressive schedule to do it because we have less for restoring at least 8% of that acreage, or protected from harvest by state law for now. time than the other tributaries,” said Chris 401 acres, in the Manokin. The state added In addition to the Manokin, Little Judy, chief of DNR’s shellfish division. a 10% buffer to that amount — in case Choptank and Tred Avon, Maryland is As they embark on the project’s final some areas aren’t up to snuff — bringing restoring oysters in Harris Creek in Talbot design stages, Judy and his colleagues are the restoration goal to the 441 acres. County and the Upper St. Mary’s River in navigating a narrow path. On one side Sonar surveys and patent tong tests in- St. Mary’s County, the lone Western Shore are watermen who worry that the project With oysters like these already reproducing in the dicate that as much as 637 acres of bottom tributary included in the plan. will fortify an existing ban on commercial Manokin, scientists are optimistic that the reef would be suitable for restoration. But ac- The second phase of seeding has been harvesting in the river. On the other are restoration will be successful. cording to Maryland’s plan for rehabilitat- completed in Harris Creek. Seeding and environmentalists who contend the restora- (Oyster Recovery Partnership) ing the oyster population in the Manokin, reef construction continue in the Tred tion area should be expanded beyond what the state lacks the time and resources to Avon. The Upper St. Mary’s, like the is currently planned. Oyster bars once dominated the Bay, restore that amount by the 2025 deadline. Manokin, is scheduled to get its first round “In a river that’s so much larger and had covering nearly a half-million acres of its DNR officials say that some waters will of seeding next year. 11,000 acres of oyster habitat in the past, bottom as late as the 1800s. But overhar- be bypassed for practical reasons. Among In the Manokin, seeding and construc- let’s make sure the scale that this hap- vesting, disease and deteriorating water them: those inhabited by underwater grass tion are set to take place 2021–22, Judy pening is on is large enough to make that quality caused the bivalve’s population to meadows, under docks, covered by aquacul- said. If necessary, a second round of ecological change,” said Allison Colden, fall to 1% or less of its historic levels. ture leases or are in or near the boat channel building will be conducted three years later a Maryland fisheries scientist with the Maryland and Virginia are both on track leading to the community of Rumbley. in 2025. That would meet the deadline, Chesapeake Bay Foundation. to restore more than 2,000 acres of oyster The Bay Foundation has long pushed barring any further delays. n
10 Bay Journal October 2020 Use of switchgrass growing in popularity for ag conservation Multiple uses that help how do you monetize soil health? There’s got to be a profit motive or it’s never going farmers turn a profit to get any traction.” elevate plant’s desirability Circle said the company is “very close” to signing contracts for two more similar in water quality projects switchgrass-to-fuel projects in the Bay watershed. By Ad Crable While silk socks and poultry bedding are the two most salient success stories, switch- ill switchgrass, a tall, resilient and grass advocates see these possible markets Wfast-growing native plant once familiar developing: cat litter; bale building blocks to pioneers, become the next cash crop for for homes; fuel pellets; cover for wild game; farmers in states in the Chesapeake Bay feed for cattle; abandoned mine reclamation;, drainage? medium for growing mushrooms; orna- In a convergence of promising develop- mentals; plantings under solar panels; and ments, a new study gives switchgrass lofty burning methane in anaerobic digesters to environmental grades and assures skeptics produce electricity on a farm scale. that it would not, like corn-based ethanol, Will Brandau, a Pennsylvania farmer, be another biofuel that replaces a food crop Switchgrass can serve as filling in the erosion formed the Association of Warm Season with questionable environmental benefits. control silt socks used at construction sites and Grass Producers four years ago with the Also, states in the Bay watershed are for bedding in poultry houses. (Top: MKB Com- idea of selling switchgrass for silt socks. calling for dramatic increases in soil– and pany / Bottom: Association of Warm Season Grass Another idea was to use switchgrass as nutrient-filtering streamside buffers in Producers) poultry bedding for both backyard chicken an effort to meet Bay restoration goals coops and large poultry operations. It by 2025. Pennsylvania, for example, has the products for pipeline projects, road professor of agricultural and biological worked. The group has 25 switchgrass pro- a goal of planting an additional 100,000 construction and other uses. engineering who worked on the study. ducers from all over the East Coast and has acres of grass buffers. With alternatives to fossil fuels ever “I like to think of our study as a call to gotten grants from groups such as Sustain- A third factor may provide yet another more important to combat climate change, action,” said Erica Smithwick, a Penn State able Agriculture Research and Education. boost for switchgrass. A new trend, called switchgrass has been proposed as a next- professor of geology who was one of the re- A prototype machine has just been finished multi-functional or “productive” buffers, generation carbon-negative biofuel. But searchers. “This can make a huge difference that poultry farmers can share to grind up allows farmers to plant profitable vegeta- environmentalists have fretted that it might if people invest in it. I think the family of switchgrass for bedding right on the farm. tion like switchgrass in streamside buffers. carry environmental baggage, like displacing advanced biofuels is a potential solution to A focus of research is to prove that there And switchgrass has been found to be good carbon-capturing forests or food production the climate crisis.” is vast underperforming farmland right habitat for wildlife and bee pollinators, or, like corn, cause runoff pollution and need But, so far, the move to make switchgrass now — not just along streams — that which are in decline. vast amounts of fertilizers and pesticides. the main source of a new biofuel nation- could provide the farmer more income A workshop led by the state-federal But in a government-supported study wide is in its infancy, hindered by cheap while reducing nutrient pollution. Chesapeake Bay Program highlighted published in the August journal of the gas prices, buy-in from policymakers and In fact, using satellite imagery, Penn State multifunctional buffers with warm-season National Academy of National Sciences, hesitant support from mainstream envi- researchers estimated that there are more grasses such as switchgrass as the best hope scientists from several universities reported ronmental groups. “Right now, there are than 500,000 acres of farmland in Pennsyl- for planting buffers on a scale large enough what they call the first “soil to tailpipe emis- not sufficient subsidies to promote biofuel vania that are currently idle or in traditional to meet Bay restoration goals. sions” study of switchgrass’ balance sheet. goals,” Richard said. crops that are not growing well because Moreover, markets for switchgrass are Researchers found that switchgrass, if One exception is in southeastern Virgin- they are in wet or flood-prone areas. When evolving, putting it to use in erosion- used in streamside buffers or as a cash crop, ia, where the Piedmont Geriatric Hospital one adds in existing buffers that could be ex- control silt socks and poultry bedding. That stores harmful carbon at a level similar to is entirely heated and cooled by the burning panded for switchgrass, or set-aside programs gives farmers economic incentives to grow trees and better than land planted with of switchgrass. To support the hospital’s like CREP, the total rises to 800,000 acres. it in buffers, set-aside land programs and other native grasses. If switchgrass takes boiler, 13 farmers in seven Virginia counties That’s a potential for 6 million tons of wet or low-performing parts of fields. off as a biofuel, it could be processed in are growing switchgrass on 3,300 acres of harvestable switchgrass worth perhaps $590 “There are major Earth-shattering refineries where carbon could be captured marginal soil or government land set-aside million annually, according to Stephanie movements in the environmental spaces and stored, making it even more viable as a programs. Surplus switchgrass is sold for silt Herbstritt of Pennsylvania’s College of Agri- right now. Switchgrass is one of them,” said significant fuel source. socks, cattle feed and other byproducts. cultural Sciences and Biological Engineering. Mike Zock of MKB Company, a Pennsyl- They also found that switchgrass, even “Our business is the conservation indus- Dan Arnett of Ernst Conservation Seeds, vania-based startup that in just two years grown as a monoculture, has much more try,” said Fred Circle, CEO of Ohio-based a Pennsylvania company that is one of the has become the biggest seller of switchgrass biodiversity than corn and supports more FDC Enterprises, which built and runs largest switchgrass seed producers in the silt socks in the eastern United States. The insects, birds and pollinators, partly the project. “The idea is to be able to do country, agreed that giving landowners a company is buying 10,000 tons of switch- because it isn’t cut and replanted every year. something on a local basis, help farms with profitable incentive to improve their land grass a year grown on farms in Pennsylva- Soil health practices were augmented by underperforming land and solve erosion environmentally could be a game changer. nia, Maryland, Virginia and several other switchgrass, and crop pests were fewer. and invasive species problems. “This is a huge win for everyone, makes states, as well as Canada. “There is evidence that switchgrass could “If we can turn that land into switch- a lot of sense and could really take things Environmental agencies in Pennsylvania, enhance biodiversity on current land- grass, all these things go away. And we are to scale while helping the Bay in a signifi- West Virginia and Ohio have approved scapes,” said Tom Richard, a Penn State improving wildlife habitat. That’s the trick, cant way.” n
October 2020 Bay Journal 11 there, you’ve got blue-stemmed goldenrod.” Stream restoration techniques Simmons, a natural resources manager with Alexandria’s Depart- ment of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, has in his spare time become an outspoken critic of many urban stream restoration projects, including one in his own municipality. draw pushback Pausing to admire a towering white oak, Simmons said, “these old- age trees are toast. It really is a crime to trash this place.” Some scientists, environmentalists, County officials say that they’re trying to repair damaged, poten- tially dangerous streams. Some disruption is inevitable, but tempo- residents question wisdom of tree removal rary, they insist. “We’re not in the business of cutting down trees to cut down trees,” By Timothy B. Wheeler said Meghan Fellows, the Hollin Hlls project manager with the county’s stormwater planning division. “We do the best we can to replace the entire stream corridor’s function,” she added, noting that uring dry weather, two little streams in Hollin Hills trickle gently plans call for replanting more trees and shrubs than are be removed. downhill, shaded by a thick canopy of oak, hickory, beech and It’s a debate playing out in many places across the Chesapeake Dtulip trees. Heavy rain can quickly turn those trickles to torrents, Bay region as urban and suburban governments increasingly turn to though. As a result, portions of both streams have eroded badly over the stream restoration projects to meet their obligations to reduce nutrient years. In places, steep gullies 12 feet deep or more have been carved into and sediment pollution fouling the Bay. the ground by runoff from roofs and pavement in this neighborhood of But critics argue that a heavy-handed approach to stream restoration glassy contemporary homes just south of Alexandria, VA. in such settings often does little if anything to restore the waterway’s Now, Fairfax County is preparing to embark on a $3.6 million project ecological health. In the process, they argue, precious patches of to re-engineer the channels of both streams. Many Hollin Hills residents riparian forest are being sacrificed in what the Chesapeake Bay welcome it, fearing that someone could be hurt falling into the gullies. Foundation’s Rob Schnabel calls a “gold rush” by local and state But some oppose the plan, arguing that it will destroy the woodsy agencies to accumulate credits toward meeting Bay restoration targets. nature of the two small community parks through which the streams It’s a complicated and passionate debate. And there isn’t enough Photo: Nearly 80 large trees like the tulip flow. Nearly 80 large trees will be removed, and vegetation along research yet to settle it. tree in the foreground are to be removed stable stretches of both waterways will be cleared to access eroding for a pair of stream restorations in Good- areas. Critics contend the fix is worse than the problem. A growing, evolving practice man and Brickelmaier parks in Hollin “Look at the diversity here,” botanist Rod Simmons said as he People have been degrading streams since colonial times by clear- Hills near Alexandria, VA. (Dave Harp) strolled through the streamside parks. “You’ve got Solomon’s seal ing trees, building dams and adding a host of other insults to the
12 Bay Journal October 2020 landscape. Natural resource managers have and the vegetation bordering it. Hilderbrand said his team’s study didn’t worked where and what hasn’t. been trying to restore them since at least Researchers with the Appalachian look specifically at how tree removal during Five years ago, in collaboration with the late 1800s, when they began putting in Laboratory of the University of Maryland restoration affected a stream’s ecology. But other state and federal agencies, the trust small dams and sills in an attempt to boost Center for Environmental Science found he noted that even if contractors replace began issuing grants to research the ef- fish habitat. that restored streams generally do achieve the cleared vegetation along the banks, fectiveness of the various techniques being One approach to stream restoration that’s more stable banks and channels, so they’re which is customary in restoration projects, employed. popular today began about 45 years ago. dumping less sediment into the water. “it’s going to take decades for those trees to The trust also helped pull agencies That’s when a former U.S. Forest Service Questions have arisen and persisted, become re-established.” together in a collective effort to gather hydrologist from Colorado, Dave Rosgen, though, about the effectiveness and With their root networks, trees help information on how past projects had developed a stream classification system durability of such projects and about the prevent stream bank erosion. They also performed, because until relatively recently and began promoting what he called “natu- trade-offs involved in removing trees and soak up rainfall, helping to keep nutrients they were monitored for only a few years ral channel design.” The technique involves vegetation. and sediment from washing off into a after completion. re-engineering the stream to create bends stream during a storm. In dry weather, they Sadie Drescher, the trust’s director of and meanders that slow down the current A lack of ‘ecological uplift’ shade the water from the sun, keeping the restoration programs, called the impact of and reconnect the stream to its floodplain In addition to reducing sediment and temperature down to help sustain fish and tree removal “a burning question. We ask to absorb storm-swollen flows. It also calls nutrient pollution, stream restoration amphibians. regulators, ‘What are the key questions that for putting woody debris in the water to projects are supposed to provide “ecological But preliminary findings of another keep you up at night?’ This was one.” support fish and aquatic insects. uplift” to degraded streams, bringing back University of Maryland study suggest that Rosgen’s method has grown into a long-lost aquatic insects and fish like trout, when streamside trees are cut down during A ‘temporary band-aid’ widespread practice nationally. Other which need cold, clear water to maintain restoration, nutrient seepage into the water Many environmentalists support stream techniques also have been developed, in- their populations. may actually increase. A review of five proj- restoration, and some watershed groups cluding one pioneered in Maryland known In reviewing 40 different projects across ects constructed since 1999 found elevated actively engage in planning and executing as regenerative stormwater conveyance. Maryland, researchers at the University nitrogen levels in groundwater downslope projects in their communities. But some That involves raising an incised stream bed of Maryland laboratory didn’t find many from where trees had been removed. environmental groups have concerns. with sand, mulch and rocks and installing ecological benefits. The number and type of Sujay Kaushal, an associate professor of The Bay Foundation recently joined a series of shallow pools and rocky riffles to aquatic insects — food for fish and key in- biogeochemistry at College Park, declined some residents of Gaithersburg, MD, in capture or slow storm-driven runoff. dicators of stream health — didn’t improve. to discuss the study’s preliminary find- questioning plans to rework 2,400 feet of To date, about 340 miles of streams According to ecologist Bob Hilderbrand, ings presented at a workshop last year. He stream through a city park, reconnecting it across the Bay watershed have been the study’s lead author, there’s evidence said he’s working with one of his graduate to a floodplain and creating 1.5 acres of wet- re-engineered by one method or another, that a stream’s ecosystem can benefit from students who did the research to complete lands in the process. The $1.8 million project according to the state-federal Chesapeake restoration if the stream wasn’t severely the analysis and write it up. would remove more than 100 large trees, Bay Program. Since 2014, Maryland has impaired to begin with. But in badly “It’s such a hot button issue that we want though plans are to replant 120, according permitted more than 600 projects and degraded urban and suburban streams, he to get all our ducks in a row first,” he said. to the city’s Department of Public Works. Virginia more than 300. added, “there’s not much evidence … that Hilderbrand’s and Kaushal’s studies “These days, site selection seems to be Most of the restored stream miles are we can bring the ecology back.” are among dozens funded by Maryland’s based more on landowners’ willingness to located on current or former farmland, but And in some cases, he said, his research Chesapeake Bay Trust. The science behind let it be done than water quality consid- a growing number are in developed areas, suggests the aquatic habitat and life in stream restoration is still relatively new, and erations,” said the Bay Foundation’s Rob done by local and state agencies to satisfy streams that have undergone restoration work practices have changed over the years, lead- regulatory requirements that they reduce actually wind up worse off than if left alone. ing to debate and uncertainty about what’s See STREAMS, page 14 stormwater pollution. Runoff from build- ings and pavement accounts for 16% of the nitrogen, 18% of the phosphorus and 24% of the sediment washing into the Bay, the Bay Program estimates. The number and scale of projects has grown over the years as states and locali- ties scramble to meet their obligations for restoring the Bay’s water quality. States and localities once anticipated doing 655 miles of stream work by 2025 but are now plan- ning to complete 900 miles by that time, Bay Program data show. The estimated total cost: $500 million. Local and state officials and restoration specialists say the goals for stream restora- tion vary from place to place, but it is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce pollution from stormwater, especially in developed areas where other options are limited. Projects are undertaken, they say, only after careful technical analysis of the Botanist Rod Simmons stands in an unnamed tributary of Paul Spring Branch. When it’s dry, this The bank is eroding beneath this stormwater outfall that stream’s condition, its range of flows, the stream in the Virginia community of Hollin Hills is no more than a trickle. But portions of it and funnels runoff from homes and pavement into a stream in number and types of fish and insects in it another nearby stream show evidence of erosion from flashy runoff during rainstorms. (Dave Harp) Goodman Park in Hollin Hills. (Dave Harp)
October 2020 Bay Journal 13 STREAMS from page 13 nutrients downstream to impair water qual- ity and fish habitat. Schnabel. Many projects, in fact, are sited “We honestly believe that 100 years on public land — particularly parks, where down the road, in 99% of the cases, these the city or county government already resource concerns wash out and you have owns the property. a better site than before restoration,” said In Baltimore, there’s pushback against Kirk Mantay, who oversaw stream restora- plans by the city’s Department of Public tions for the South River Federation, a Works to re-engineer three streams in watershed group, before becoming execu- Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park, the second tive director of the nonprofit Green Trust largest urban woodland in the United Alliance. States. Opponents say 90 large trees are to The results so far, though, are not be removed in just one project. encouraging, said the researcher, Hilder- “What we are asking the city to do is brand. The older projects he looked at what other cities like Washington, DC, and showed no more ecological recovery than Philadelphia have done,” said Jack Latti- the recently finished ones, he said. more, a board member of the park’s friends Hilderbrand said his research indicates group. “They have prioritized small green that the amount of development in a infrastructure over these large hubristic stream’s watershed controls how much manmade earth-moving projects. You get recovery can occur. That doesn’t mean people to unhook their gutters, you build some re-engineering isn’t warranted to small ponds, you actually improve neigh- reduce sediment or nutrient pollution, he borhoods rather than wrecking parks.” noted. But perhaps the criteria for judging But Baltimore officials are relying ecological uplift needs to be adjusted for heavily on stream restoration to comply badly degraded urban streams, he said, to with regulatory requirements to reduce make expectations more realistic. stormwater runoff. Though stream projects The Bay Program has taken notice of re- aren’t cheap, they’re far more cost-effective, search by Hilderbrand, Kaushal and others at least on paper, than trying to curb runoff indicating that stream restoration can have by planting trees in smaller patches or “unintended environmental consequences.” creating rain gardens. Its urban stormwater workgroup, made Rosanna LaPlante, a city public works up of regulators, restoration specialists and section chief, wrote last year that one researchers, proposed new guidelines earlier stream project would cost $84,000 per acre Botanist Rod Simmons points out New York ferns growing in Goodman Park, near one of two streams this year for evaluating stream projects. versus $221,000 per acre to build a “bio- targeted for restoration projects in the Virginia community of Hollin Hills. (Dave Harp) They recommend planners target the most retention” basin elsewhere big enough to degraded waterways and address upland capture and soak up equivalent amounts of instead of trying to re-engineer an eroding with a site chosen by the client — often a runoff as well as channel erosion. They also nutrient– and sediment-laden runoff. hillside stream channel, boulders were used budget-conscious local government — and urge the consideration of other, perhaps less To Schnabel, that’s short-sighted. He has to armor its banks against the effects of stick to the plan approved by regulators, disruptive options. been on both sides of the debate, working flashy runoff. even if they’d like to go back and tweak it. “I think there are going to be plenty of on environmental mitigation for the Mary- Denise Keehner, assistant secretary of instances where stream restoration is the Toward ‘minimalist’ restorations land State Highway Administration before the Maryland Department of the Envi- best solution for a particular site,” said Da- joining the Annapolis-based environmental Stream restoration specialists and state ronment, said her agency only approves vid Wood, coordinator of the workgroup, group. He said he’s seen some projects that and local officials involved in planning them projects where there’s evidence a stream is who’s with the nonprofit Chesapeake improved water quality, but they tended say they’re sensitive to concerns about tree degraded. Stormwater Network. “But I think there to be in rural areas, with fewer impervious removal, and there’s been a tendency recently “Stream restoration is a complex and are many sites where it’s not.” surfaces to complicate matters. toward what one called a “minimalist” challenging undertaking,” Keehner said, The workgroup’s recommendations are “When you’re jumping into a stream approach, taking down as few as possible. “and an approach that works in one place just that, Wood noted. The decisions on channel, you’re not addressing the source of “When impacts to existing forest may fail in another.” where, how or even whether to do a stream the problem,” he said. “You’re putting in a resources are unavoidable, the designers do But in at least some cases, she said, the project rest with local officials and state and temporary Band-Aid.” The problem is run- the best they can to incorporate these re- riparian forest needs to be replaced for eco- federal regulators. off, he said, and if it isn’t somehow reduced, sources into the project,” said Mitch Keiler, logical reasons. The trees that have grown Meanwhile, the Bay Program has scaled all of the restoration work can be undone president of the Maryland Stream Res- up along the banks, she said, are upland back by about a third the amount of stream over time by one or several storms. toration Association. That often involves species that won’t survive once the stream is restoration that can be counted toward the Simmons, the botanist, argues that placing the roots and trunks of felled trees reconnected to its floodplain. Chesapeake’s pollution-reduction goals — removal of the tree canopy and other in the stream to provide habitat for fish, While acknowledging that there are past at least until state and local agencies can vegetation also makes a stream corridor aquatic insects and beneficial bacteria. projects they’d like to have done differently, inspect and verify that projects finished vulnerable to takeover by invasive plants. “But there are realities,” he said, “and restoration specialists say they’re confident years ago are still performing as intended. He acknowledges that erosion may need to the constructability of many projects are overall that their work will help stabilize The one point on which all sides seem to be fixed, but he contends that can be done challenged by site constraints.” Runoff eroding streams and recover from damage agree is that more research is needed, and on a more limited basis. does need to be controlled to help ensure wrought by decades of abuse. If nothing is more monitoring. As an example, he points to work at the success of restoration projects, he and done, they say, erosion will continue and “These are tough issues,” Keiler said, “and Arlington National Cemetery where, others acknowledge, but they have to work maybe worsen, dumping sediment and we’re going to have to continue to learn.” n
14 Bay Journal October 2020 EPA hit with lawsuits over Chesapeake Bay cleanup Two suits fault agency with failing to act on PA, NY for inadquate pollution-reduction plans
By Timothy B. Wheeler
aking good on threats issued months paper. Pennsylvania’s falls short on curbing Mago, three Chesapeake Bay watershed nitrogen, the most problematic nutrient, by states, the District of Columbia and Chesa- about 25%, while New York’s was around peake Bay Foundation took the U.S. Envi- 33% short. Pennsylvania’s plan also identi- ronmental Protection Agency to court Sept. fies an annual funding gap for cleanup 10 for failing to push Pennsylvania and New activities of approximately $250 million. York to do more to clean up the Bay. The EPA cited both states for those short- In their lawsuit, the attorneys general comings but hasn’t taken any action against of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the them. The lawsuits contend that the federal District of Columbia accused the EPA of government is abdicating its legal respon- shirking its responsibility under the Clean sibility by accepting clearly inadequate Water Act by letting Pennsylvania and New cleanup plans with no reasonable assurance York fall short in reducing their nutrient the two states can achieve their goals. and sediment pollution fouling the Bay. Without responding directly to the law- “This has to be a collective effort,” said suits’ core complaint, an EPA spokesman Watermen tong for oysters on Broad Creek, a tributary of Maryland’s Choptank River. The Maryland Water- Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. issued a statement defending the agency’s men’s Association is joining the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in its lawsuit against the EPA. (Dave Harp/2013) “Every state in the Chesapeake Bay water- role in the Bay cleanup. shed has to play a part, and EPA under the “EPA is fully committed to working “We’re here to enforce the agreements,” abandon their obligations,” said Anne law has to ensure that happens.” with our Bay Program partners to meet the said Karl Racine, the district’s attorney Arundel County Executive Steuart Pitt- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, joined 2025 goals,” the statement said. “We have general. “It’s not unusual at all that when man. The county has spent more than $500 by the Maryland Watermen’s Association, a taken and will continue to take appropri- parties don’t do what they’re supposed to million in the last decade on Bay protection pair of Virginia farmers and Anne Arundel ate actions under our Clean Water Act do by law, we go to court to have it enforce and restoration, officials estimate. County, MD, made similar complaints in authorities to improve Chesapeake Bay the remedy.” The Maryland Watermen’s Association a separate federal lawsuit. Both were filed water quality.” Neither Pennsylvania nor New York are also joined in the group’s lawsuit. Robert in U.S. District Court for the District The spokesman noted that in just the defendants in the lawsuits, though their al- T. Brown, Sr., the group’s president, said of Columbia, where they’re likely to be past year, the EPA and other federal agen- leged shortcomings are key issues. Deborah pollution coming down the Susquehanna consolidated into a single case. cies have supplied “nearly a half billion Klenotic, spokeswoman for the Pennsylva- River from Pennsylvania and New York are “The courts must ensure that EPA does dollars” to support Bay watershed restora- nia Department of Environmental Protec- having a devastating effect on watermen. its job,’’ Will Baker, the Bay Foundation tion efforts. The agency also has provided tion, declined to comment on the litigation, “So goes the health of the Bay, so goes president, said in a press conference with “thousands of hours” of technical assistance saying, “We remain focused on our work to [our] industry and seafood,” he said. “…We attorneys general from Maryland, Virginia to the states, it said. Those filing the law- improve water quality here in Pennsylvania need to have the EPA do its job.” and the District. suits say that’s not enough. and in the Chesapeake Bay.” Also suing are Robert Whitescarver and At issue is the EPA’s duty to enforce a “When EPA uses its bully pulpit to But Maureen Wren, a spokeswoman for Jeanne Hoffman, who raise livestock on a decade-old plan the agency drew up for tell a state that they’re failing to meet the New York Department of Environmen- farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. restoring the Bay. The plan, known as a their obligations, action follows,” said the tal Conservation, disputed assertions that “All jurisdictions need to do their fair total maximum daily load, requires each of foundation’s Baker. “We’ve seen that with the state isn’t doing its part. “New York share,” Whitescarver said. “The efforts that the Bay watershed states and the district to Pennsylvania in the past.” is fulfilling its clean water responsibilities Virginia and Maryland farmers have put do what’s needed by 2025 to reduce their The agency briefly withheld about $3 under the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and is into sustainable farming are harmed by share of pollution harming the Bay. million in federal funds from Pennsylvania a committed partner” in the federal-state EPA’s failure to require all jurisdictions to Progress has been made toward restoring five years ago to prod it toward getting its Chesapeake Bay Program, she said. meet the commitments they agreed to.” the Bay, though much remains to be done. cleanup back on track. Critics suggest the State officials now expect to meet New At least a couple of the states suing the In particular, Pennsylvania and New York EPA also could leverage state compliance York’s nitrogen reduction targets based on EPA to put the heat on Pennsylvania and have fallen far behind in meeting their by threatening to block permits that are new information about Susquehanna flows New York could find themselves on the pollution-reduction targets, especially in needed to build or expand businesses. and a change in the Bay Program’s com- receiving end of similar pressure if their curbing nutrient runoff from farmland. The litigants said they didn’t relish puter model. lawsuit succeeds. Only the district and All six Bay watershed states and the taking the EPA to court but felt they Maryland’s Anne Arundel County, West Virginia have met their 2025 goals district were required to submit plans last had no choice. They faulted the Trump which has more than 500 miles of shoreline ahead of schedule, and none of the oth- year spelling out how each would achieve administration, contending it had not on the Bay and its tributaries, joined the ers are on track to reduce nitrogen by the their 2025 goals. only abandoned the federal government’s foundation in its lawsuit. needed amount. Most of the plans indicate that states will role as enforcer of the Bay TMDL but had “Anne Arundel County residents have “If any of the Bay states fall significantly have to increase efforts to unprecedented threatened the cleanup further by rolling invested far too much in the Chesapeake short in implementation, CBF will call on levels. But Pennsylvania’s and New York’s back or weakening federal environmental Bay restoration effort to watch from the EPA to take action,” Baker said. n plans don’t even achieve their goals on regulations. sidelines as upstream states and the EPA
October 2020 Bay Journal 15 Norfolk races to protect vulnerable neighborhoods from floods Grant money at stake year, and the drainage system is expected to handle rains with a 10% probability of if projects miss occurring in that span. Nearly $4 million in savings came from 2022 deadline scaling back the pump stations, he said. By Jeremy Cox One pump was eliminated from each of the stations. Those pumps were only added eas are rising. The land is sinking. And to handle lighter rains, saving the larger Shurricanes seem to pose a greater threat pumps for bigger jobs. with every passing season. Engineers also removed the pilings that In many ways, the city of Norfolk is would have been driven 80 feet into the racing against time to complete a massive ground to keep the stations secure during flood-protection project for a pair of its strong winds. Their subtraction shouldn’t most vulnerable neighborhoods. But city compromise the stations’ structural integ- officials and contractors are most concerned rity, Qejvani said. about a different kind of threat: a make-or- Significant savings came when officials break September 2022 deadline. slashed the project’s contingency fund and If Virginia’s second-largest city doesn’t allowances, a kind of rainy day account “substantially complete” the work by then, A floodwall is being built to shield the Chesterfield Heights and Grandy Village neighborhoods from tidal for unexpected costs, from $18.5 million officials say they will have to return the flooding along the Elizabeth River’s Eastern Branch as part of a “resilience” project largely funded by a to $10 million. As the design crystallized, $112 million grant they received from the $112 million federal grant. (Courtesy of the city of Norfolk) Qejvani said, he and his colleagues felt federal government. more comfortable about what needed to be Nine months after construction began, responders, officials say. spent — and what didn’t. the project is on pace to meet that target, The city’s plan calls for building walls Other deletions included a pedestrian said Doug Beaver, who oversees the work to keep tidal flooding out — 7,000 feet of bridge, kiosks, additional lighting at the as Norfolk’s chief resilience officer. Some earthen berms and 1,000 feet of floodwalls. pump stations, several driveway replace- finishing touches will remain. The final Workers are constructing two pump sta- ments and several bioswales in the park. tweaks are scheduled to be wrapped up by tions to get rid of water that collects behind Despite the cuts, the city still faced a April 2023. the walls. Excess water also will be allowed nearly $10 million shortfall. That will But the city is hedging its bets just the to pool in new wetlands and a grassy be covered by other funding sources: $5 same. Local leaders are lobbying members amenity dubbed “Resilience Park.” million from federal Community Develop- of Congress to extend the 2022 deadline. After New Orleans, Norfolk is widely ment Block Grants reprogrammed from Bills introduced in the U.S. House and considered the city most endangered by sea other projects and $4.5 million from the Senate this summer would give Norfolk level rise nationally, Beaver said. Water levels Doug Beaver, Norfolk’s chief resilience officer, city’s “resilience” tax. until September 2025 to finish the work. have risen by 18 inches over the last century says the massive flood-protection project is on The city managed to wrangle the proj- The measures have bipartisan support but and are forecast to climb another 4.5 feet by track to be “substantially complete” by the Sep- ect’s costs but lost time in the process. The have stalled amid election-year political 2100, according guidelines adopted by the tember 2022 federal deadline. (Jeremy Cox) project broke ground last February, seven battles. The reprieve would apply to all 13 Hampton Roads Planning District Commis- months behind the original schedule. “It’s state and local governments nationwide sion. Sea level rise in the area is accelerating unfurling down the shoreline. Front loaders tied to a very tight timeline,” Beaver said. that received money from the same $1 bil- at nearly twice the global average, scientists and backhoes crowd the landscape. Henry Penn, a retired county adminis- lion pool of Housing and Urban Develop- say, because the region’s land surface has The project is taking shape, but not the tration worker, said he moved to Chester- ment funding in 2016. also been sinking since the last Ice Age. way it was originally designed. field Heights about a decade ago for three “We’re a lot further along than most lo- As the first major infrastructure project After paying for planning and engineer- main reasons. calities,” Beaver said, “but who would have to combat climate change effects in Hamp- ing work, the city had about $90 million “The water, fishing, a lot of places to go,” predicted a pandemic or 26 named storms” ton Roads, the Chesterfield Heights and remaining for construction. But as city he said. would form in the Atlantic this season? Grandy Village construction is serving as a officials sought bids on the lucrative project His home is on high enough ground that The setting for this bureaucratic drama is living experiment, Beaver said. last year, they ran headlong into fierce com- he doesn’t worry too much about it getting two historically black neighborhoods: the “This will be a shining example of what petition. With two separate highway tunnel inundated, but he’s happy that the project Chesterfield Heights community and the we need to do to adapt as coastal commu- projects vying for the same workforce and will give some relief to his neighbors. Will 300-unit Grandy Village public housing nities,” said Beaver, a former Naval Station materials, the construction cost soared to it be enough to protect the community in complex. The neighborhoods lie just east Norfolk commander and city military $130 million. the long run from climate change? That, he of downtown, squeezed between Interstate liaison. “A lot of these homes [in Chester- “So, we went back to the drawings and isn’t so sure about. 264 to the north and the Elizabeth River’s field] are 100 years old, and we want them decided what we could change” without “They just talked about another big ice Eastern Branch to the south. to be here for another 100 years.” diminishing the project’s flood-fighting -ca chunk that broke off up there” in Green- The area’s 2,000 residents have long The huge public works venture has pacity, said Selo Qejvani, the city’s project land, Penn said from his front porch as been plagued by floods from heavy rainfall upended both neighborhoods. Barricades construction manager. he watched the river ripple serenely past. and extremely high tides. Public safety is block roads shorn of their asphalt. Bare None of the changes compromised the “So, I don’t know if it will be enough or one of the top concerns. Water routinely cinder blocks suggest the outline, if not city’s original flood-protection goals, he not. If it [sea level] rises 6–10 feet here, it’s covers one of the two access roads, slowing the height, of the pump stations. A ribbon said. The floodwall will still stave off tides devastating.” n the arrival of ambulances and other first of gray boulders — the floodwall — is with a probability of occurring 1% in a
16 Bay Journal October 2020 Forests growing over shale bedrock help fight climate change Implications boost case to save Appalachian trees By Ad Crable swath of forests in the Appalachian AMountains in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York and West Virginia store much more harmful carbon than surrounding forests and should be conserved in the name of climate change, a new study says. The federal government-supported study by two researchers at Penn State University found that trees grow much faster on top of shale bedrock, allowing them to store 25% more carbon — and 55% faster — than trees living above the more prevalent sandstone. The study, published in Forest Ecology and Management, also noted that forests growing over shale have more diversity in tree species. A greater variety of trees will help forests survive better when threatened by shifts in precipitation or invasive species whose populations are projected to increase in a warmer climate, the study found. Researchers studied forest inventory data Trees that grow above shale bedrock, left, grow faster and capture more carbon dioxide, a gas that drives climate change, than the more common sandstone from 23,000 trees in the Appalachian Ridge forests, researchers have found. Trees growing over sandstone, right, are the predominant forest type in the Appalachians, and grow more slowly, are less tall and Valley Region of Pennsylvania. There and less diverse than shale forests (Photos / Warren Reed) are about 262,000 acres of forest on shale bedrock in that region. There are four times successful and cheapest ways of capturing fracturing for natural gas is booming. as many sandstone forests in the region. carbon out of the atmosphere in the fight Environmentalists have complained about Most of the shale forests are on public against global warming. As trees grow, they the loss of trees from well pads, new roads land, where policy makers in the Pennsylva- absorb and store carbon dioxide gas, which and pipelines. nia Department of Conservation and Natu- traps heat in the atmosphere. Trees soak The newfound value of shale forests ral Resources and the Pennsylvania Game up the gas and convert it to glucose and may also give private forest landowners an Commission make management decisions. oxygen through photosynthesis. economic incentive to conserve their trees. The researchers said similar ratios of The faster that trees grow, the more There are several private initiatives as- productive shale forests exist throughout carbon they capture. And trees above shale sociated with climate change mitigation in the Appalachian Mountains, from northern soil grow much faster. That’s because shale the United States that pay landowners who Georgia to southern New York. breaks down into a soil with a finer texture, keep their forests, which creates carbon “I have a lot of hope that Pennsylvania allowing trees access to more water during credits to be applied elsewhere. and other regions will start to capitalize on the growing season. For example, in April, Amazon, in as- our resources in terms of carbon storage. The greater diversity of trees in shale sociation with The Nature Conservancy, It’s a big tool in the toolbox,” lead research- forests also makes them more resilient in American Forest Foundation and Vermont er Warren Reed said. dealing with climate change and invasive The Ridge and Valley Province of Pennsylvania, Land Trust, announced a $10 million Data showing the difference between insects, such as woolly adelgids that are like some Appalachian forests in other Bay states, program to help family forest landown- underlying bedrock has been available for devastating native hemlocks and emerald grows forests over shale bedrock that may maxi- ers in the Appalachian Mountain areas of decades, but had not previously been used ash borers that are leveling ash trees. mize carbon capture to fight climate change. Pennsylvania and Vermont to sequester to understand tree growth or as a possible The study makes the case that shale (Warren Reed) carbon by keeping their land forested. method of fighting climate change, Reed said. forests should be high-priority candidates Reed said researchers are already hearing “I was surprised to find the magnitude of for management and conservation. For forests could be where recreation and from environmental groups on the East difference so strong in our Ridge and Valley example, forest managers could target wildlife habitat that involves cutting down Coast and western states about the findings. Province,” he said. On average, trees under- shale forests for conservation and carbon trees is concentrated. Pennsylvania’s public The National Science Foundation and lain by shale grew more than 19 feet higher sequestration, said Margot Kaye, the other forests are a big producer of timber. the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s than their counterparts in sandstone forests. Penn State researcher on the project. In Pennsylvania, the location of shale National Institute of Food and Agriculture Scientists say trees are one of the most Meanwhile, less productive sandstone forests coincides with where hydraulic helped to finance the research.n
October 2020 Bay Journal 17 Nutrient trends different from what you think – or not Modeling, monitoring those monitoring stations reaches the Bay, the results — at best — are mixed. Most often at odds over of the Bay’s nine major nontidal rivers have no trends or worsening trends for nitrogen efficacy of practices and/or phosphorus over the past decade. By Karl Blankenship Only the James and Patuxent rivers show improving trends for both nutrients. ere are some questions about the Chesa- The USGS analysis examined the impli- Hpeake Bay restoration effort that might cations of those trends over time using data have surprising answers: from 1992, 2002 and 2012 in its highly n Is the Bay region successfully curbing regarded SPARROW model (that stands nutrient runoff from farms? for SPAtially Referenced Regressions On n Is nitrogen runoff from developed Watershed attributes). Using those results, lands really increasing? and other data — such as nutrient inputs, n Is the region actually on track to meet land use and geographic settings — it ana- its phosphorus reduction goals? lyzed what those various monitoring results A recent modeling exercise by U.S. meant for the Bay. Geological Survey scientists suggests the The SPARROW model indicated that answers to all of those questions might the amount of nitrogen entering the Bay be “no” — conclusions that run counter declined, but about 25% less than what the to conventional notions within the Bay Bay Program estimates for the same time. cleanup effort. More than 80% of the reductions The results published in a paper last year stemmed from wastewater plant upgrades. are based on a computer modeling exercise Most of the rest came from reductions in that relied heavily on water quality moni- air pollution: a decrease in nitrogen oxide, toring data within the Bay watershed over a emitted by power plants and vehicles, which 20-year period. enters waterways after it falls to the ground. The exercise found fewer nitrogen reduc- The analysis also indicates that nitrogen tions from agriculture than estimated by runoff from developed lands — often the state-federal Bay Program for the same called the only major source of nutrients period, and sharply different phosphorus still on the rise — also declined during trends. It also concluded that nitrogen run- the study period, though phosphorus was off from cities and suburbs is decreasing. largely unchanged. To be sure, there are many caveats to those Most worrisome, though, it found no conclusions, and they do not necessarily overall nitrogen or phosphorus reductions mean that Bay Program estimates are wrong. U.S. Geological Survey employee Michael Brownley collects water samples and other data at Red from the region’s vast agricultural lands. But the analysis highlights the longstand- Bridges on the Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. (Dave Harp / 2010) The Bay Program model estimates a 17 ing question about whether on-the-ground percent nitrogen reduction from farms and nutrient reduction efforts are producing But the USGS analysis indicates that it’s Different approaches, different results an even larger phosphorus reduction during the expected water quality improvements. uncertain when and if those farm-based The Bay Program tracks cleanup efforts that 20-year period. It’s an issue scientists have highlighted for practices — such as nutrient-absorbing using its Watershed Model, which has And while the Bay Program considers years, and it’s drawing increased attention cover crops, vegetated buffers along water- been refined and peer-reviewed over three phosphorus reductions to be largely on from the scientific community as the region ways or plans to guide manure manage- decades. It predicts how cleanup actions track to meet cleanup goals, the USGS approaches its 2025 Bay cleanup deadline. ment — will achieve clean water goals. and other factors, such as land use changes analysis showed that overall phosphorus The implications are huge. The region A second USGS paper published this and population growth, will affect the loads actually increased 9% during the has been working since the mid-1980s to summer laid out a number of reasons for amount of nutrients entering the Bay. It study period. The Bay Program estimates reduce the amount of two nutrients, nitro- that uncertainty. For one, it can take a long suggests slow but steady progress in reduc- phosphorus declined by nearly a third dur- gen and phosphorus, reaching the Bay. In time for some on-the-ground actions to ing nitrogen and phosphorus. ing that time. the Chesapeake, they spur water-staining benefit the water. But other factors could But its results have not always aligned algae blooms that draw oxygen from the be at play, too. For instance, runoff control with the data collected at scores of water Why the difference? water when they die, creating “dead zones” practices may not be as effective as thought. monitoring sites throughout the watershed The USGS analysis is part of an effort that are off-limits to most aquatic life. “People want to understand as they’re that paint a more nuanced picture. to explain those differences, a task that is Both the USGS analysis and Bay Pro- putting in the practices, are we getting the From 2009–18, for instance, monitor- becoming more urgent as the 2025 cleanup gram agree that most nutrient reductions reductions we anticipate?” said Scott Phil- ing showed that for nitrogen, 41% of deadline approaches. The Bay Program has achieved to date are from technology up- lips, USGS Chesapeake Bay coordinator. monitored sites had reductions, 40% had a workgroup exploring the issue, and its grades at wastewater treatment plants. With “We’re seeing that the nutrient reductions in increases and 19% had no trends. Scientific and Technical Advisory Commit- those largely completed, states are counting monitoring data vary greatly across the wa- For phosphorus, 44% of locations had tee is identifying Bay-related science needs on greatly ramped-up efforts on agricultural tershed, making the comparison to reduc- reductions, 33% had increases and 23% for a report expected next year; a better lands, which generate the majority of the tion efforts more difficult. We’re continuing had no trend. understanding of factors behind nutrient nutrient runoff, to meet Bay goals to use multiple tools to explain trends.” By the time the water that passes through trends is one of the areas being examined.
18 Bay Journal October 2020 In one of its recent papers, the USGS are succeeding in keeping them out of the cited four likely reasons for the differences. water. n Lag time. Unlike wastewater dis- “We make some assumptions about how charges that go directly into rivers, most effective these practices are, but they may other nutrients are applied to the land, not be performing as we expect,” said Zach usually as fertilizer or manure. A portion Easton, a professor at Virginia Tech and of those nutrients may wash directly into member of the Bay Program’s Scientific and streams when it rains. Most of the nitro- Technical Advisory Committee. gen, though, soaks into the soil and flows One way to help reduce uncertainty, into waterways through groundwater, a Easton said, would be to increase small- journey that may take years or decades. scale monitoring to understand how well, Phosphorus, which tends to bind with or whether, nutrient concentrations in soil particles, flows slowly downstream, streams respond to on-the-ground actions. typically moving relatively short distances “The level of monitoring just is not suf- during large storms. Not only is the move- ficient to detect the signals,” Easton said. ment of nutrients to streams slow, but some More local monitoring could also shed practices, such as a newly planted forest light on the USGS study’s conclusion that buffer, can take years to reach its maximum nitrogen runoff from developed lands is effectiveness. decreasing. n Unrealistic expectations. The Bay The exact driver for that change is uncer- Program’s computer model uses assump- tain, but the papers suggested a variety of tions about the expected nutrient reduc- factors, including impacts of runoff control tions from a wide variety of on-the-ground efforts, reduced sewer line leaks, or better pollution reduction practices. But the efforts to pick up pet waste. “I don’t know number of studies about the measurable if we know the answer to that at this point,” impact of those practices is often limited. acknowledged Scott Ator, a USGS hydrolo- And estimates are complicated because gist, and lead author of the recent papers. differences in soil, topography and other But his papers were not the only ones factors may result in different effectiveness to detect that trend. USGS scientists say from place to place. several limited monitoring efforts have n Insufficient monitoring.Much of the shown a nitrogen decrease from developed monitoring in the watershed is conducted lands, and a separate USGS modeling effort at scales too large to detect small changes. reached a similar conclusion. More monitoring in small watersheds Michael Brownley, of the U.S. Geological Survey, examines a water sample in the lab. (Dave Harp / 2010) The different monitoring and model- where a large number of runoff control ing results for phosphorus also are not practices are installed could provide better so the model can estimate the impact they any major changes in nutrient pollution fully explained by lag times. Some factors insight about their effectiveness. will have at some point in the future — if from farm lands, even though it covered are known: More phosphorus bound to n Competing factors. The benefits of they perform as expected. a 20-year period when the use of runoff sediment is passing through Conowingo runoff controls may be offset by other Because the USGS model relies on water control measures was accelerating. Dam on the Susquehanna River because issues. Intensification of farm activities, quality monitoring, it would not quickly re- Bill Dennison, vice president of the its reservoir is filled and no longer trapping such as converting low-runoff hay fields to flect the impact of those actions because of University of Maryland Center for En- it. And some agricultural areas where soils high-runoff crop lands, increasing numbers the lag time in nutrients reaching streams. vironmental Sciences, and co-chair of a are saturated with phosphorus are leaking of farm animals, or changes in fertilizer or The Bay Program model did not include Bay Program workgroup that coordinates it into waterways at increasing rates. But manure applications, can offset the impact a mechanism to account for lag times monitoring and modeling analysis, said scientists say the full reason for increasing of nutrient reduction efforts. Over time, until three years ago, and that function attributing all of the differences to time trends is unknown. the Bay Program has made efforts to ad- is not used for management. But the first lags is “a common fallback for dealing with Understanding these and other uncer- dress some of those issues, such using more attempts to factor lag times into model uncertainty and dealing with impatient tainties has major ramifications for 2025. If up-to-date data to account for the intensifi- estimates did show that nitrogen trends people. Officials and resource managers all cleanup actions are implemented, would cation of farm activities. in many areas became more similar to really want to see a response.” it be acceptable to wait — potentially for Scientists generally agree that lag times monitoring results. The good news, he said, is that the Bay has decades — to see whether the Bay responds almost certainly play a role in explaining “When we make an estimate of what shown improvements from reduced wastewa- as anticipated? Or, should more work be some of the differences between the moni- happens when you incorporate lag time, it ter discharges. Underwater grass beds have done as a hedge against the possibility that toring data and Bay Program estimates. makes a big difference,” said Gary Shenk, a expanded and smaller oxygen dead zones some actions are not as effective as thought? The Bay Program’s Watershed Model is USGS hydrologist who coordinates the Bay have shrunk. “The Bay is very responsive,” The Scientific and Technical Advisory essentially trying to predict whether man- Program’s watershed model. Dennison said. “You can turn off the sewage Committee will produce recommendations agement actions being taken now will meet and get a response and in a year or two.” next year. cleanup goals when they are fully effective Concerns continue But trying to relate actions in the water- But, cautioned Kurt Stephenson, a in the future. That predictive capability While lag times likely cause real delays shed to impacts on the Bay, he said, is “an Virginia Tech professor overseeing the ef- is needed for states to estimate how many in water quality responses, many scientists order of magnitude” more difficult. fort, “whatever we recommend is not going buffers must be installed, cover crops say it’s unclear how much of the differences Studies show little change in the total to all of a sudden solve the mystery. The planted, or wetlands restored, to meet Bay they account for. amount of nitrogen applied to farmland uncertainty is inherent. We’re never going goals. Each year, states provide data about Particularly disturbing, some say, is the over the years. That means it’s critical to to eliminate it, so we have to manage in the actions they took in the past 12 months failure of the SPARROW model to detect find out whether nutrient control actions face of it.” n
October 2020 Bay Journal 19 Adam Lindquist, director of the partnership’s Healthy Harbor campaign, said the group believes it’s time to pivot from a decade-long focus on cleanup to encouraging more recreational activities in the harbor. He said they want to start by holding swim events, but they are also exploring the creation of a kayak launch and water trail for paddlers in the harbor. And while Lindquist called it “aspirational” for now, the partnership unveiled a conceptual drawing of a permanent swim spot that it would like to establish in the Inner Harbor by the Maryland Science Center. “We think it’s an amazing natural resource that is underutilized,” he said. “Part of the reason … is this stigma which is not entirely accurate any more about water quality in the Baltimore Harbor. “ Too soon for suimsuits Not everyone, though, is as ready to jump in. Jenn Aiosa, executive director of Blue Water Baltimore, said that while some cleanup efforts seem to be moving in the right direction, her group believes there’s Alice Volpitta, Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, shown here collecting water at Canton Waterfront Park, more to do before declaring the harbor checks bacteria levels weekly around the Inner Harbor. (Dave Harp) swimmable. “I’m a pragmatist more than anything,” she said in an interview before the partnership released its Harbor Heartbeat Safe swimming and fishing in report card on the state of the harbor. “And I think it is still too soon to say, ‘Hey, everybody, put on your swimsuit.’” Baltimore Harbor? Not so fast The partnership’s leaders say they’re not advocating for anyone to start swimming After a decades-long cleanup campaign, in the harbor right now. It’s still a busy views on what constitutes progress differ place at times for tour boats, cargo ships and pleasure boats, so suitable areas for By Timothy B. Wheeler swimming need to be identified. And because rainfall can wash sewage and en years ago, fed up with floating litter A trio of popular floating “trash Plastic bottles, foam cups and other flotsam polluted stormwater into the harbor, Teverywhere and frequent whiffs of wheels” deployed over the last six years, collects between a boat and dock in the Inner they first want to work out a system for sewage, Baltimore’s business, government meanwhile, has intercepted nearly 1,500 Harbor. (Dave Harp) signaling the public when it’s safe and not and civic leaders launched a “Healthy tons of trash and debris washed down safe to get on or in the water. Harbor” campaign to clean up the storm drains and feeder streams before “Like those cities,” Hankin said, “the They also want to wait at least until the long-polluted waterway in the heart of they could get into the harbor. [Baltimore] harbor isn’t going to be city completes its $430 million “headworks Maryland’s largest city. They vowed to “Today, the harbor is just as swimmable swimmable every day. No urban waterway project” aimed at fixing a misaligned sewer make it swimmable and fishable by 2020. as bodies of water located in or adjacent is or can be.” connection to the Back River wastewater Now, with the arrival of that self- to other cities across the country,” said But at a livestreamed announcement on treatment plant. The problem is believed imposed deadline, the Waterfront Michael Hankin, president and CEO of an Sept. 23, Hankin promised that next year, to be responsible for 80% of the sewage Partnership, as the business-led group is investment firm at the Inner Harbor who “as soon as we get through the pandemic,” overflows citywide. That work is expected known, has declared victory — sort of. chaired the partnership when it began the he’d lead a celebratory swim across to be finished early next year. Amid a multibillion-dollar sewer cleanup campaign. Baltimore’s harbor. It’s part of a citywide sewer system overhaul in the city and suburban He mentioned Boston, Chicago, San He was joined online by Brandon Scott, overhaul mandated in 2002 by a federal Baltimore County, water sampling shows Francisco and the District of Columbia City Council president and Democratic consent decree. The effort is expected to that bacteria levels from chronic sewage as Baltimore’s peers in cleaning up their nominee for mayor in November’s election, cost $2.6 billion before it’s all done as leaks and overflows have improved to water ways — though it’s still illegal to who said he was looking forward to much as a decade from now. It’s being paid the point that much of the harbor is take a dip in the District’s waters despite kayaking in the harbor after being told for in part by state and federal funds but usually safe to swim in, at least during dry similarly improved bacteria levels in the growing up that the water was unsafe even also by steep increases in residents’ water weather. Potomac and Anacostia rivers. to touch. bills. Baltimore County, which pipes its
20 Bay Journal October 2020 sewage into the city for treatment, also has Public, said the city posts signage about invested $1.5 billion over the past 15 years sewer overflows where required. under a separate decree to fix leaks and overflows in its system. Ecological health still poor It appears that the lengthy repair efforts Meanwhile, other indicators of the are finally getting results, Aiosa said. water’s ecological health aren’t improving, Water monitoring that her group has been they note. Nutrient and sediment pollu- doing since 2009 shows bacteria levels tion remain a problem in the streams and have trended down significantly at 34 of the harbor. They suspect those worsening 49 spots sampled in the harbor as well trends stem from increased stormwater run- as in its tributaries, the Jones Falls and off from pavement and buildings. Gwynns Falls. “We really don’t want to lose sight of the But Alice Volpitta, the Baltimore fact our ecosystem health is nowhere near Harbor Waterkeeper, noted that even with where it needs to be,” Aioso said, either those trends, bacteria levels in some spots to meet the region’s responsibility to help spike unpredictably, even when the sun is restore the Chesapeake Bay or to ensure shining. that local residents have safe, clean water in Volpitta samples the water weekly for which they can recreate. fecal bacteria from sewage, but she said Almost unmentioned in the upbeat it takes at least 24 hours to get results. announcement of improving bacteria Until there’s a way to reliably measure levels was the Healthy Harbor campaign’s or predict levels on a given day, Volpitta other goal, which was to make local waters said, there’s still some risk of getting sick fishable by 2020. In one sense they already by swimming, wading, paddling or even are: crabs, striped bass and other fish are People jog and stroll along the waterfront promenade in Canton. Contending that bacteria levels are low fishing in sewage-tainted water in the routinely caught from piers and other unof- enough now to safely permit swimming and other water activities, the Waterfront Partnership wants to city’s harbor and streams. ficial fishing spots around the city. hold swim events, encourage more kayaking and even install a permanent swim spot. (Dave Harp) Indeed, Aiosa and Volpitta contend But the sediments on the bottom are the city should be posting signs around contaminated with toxic metals, pesticides they’re contaminated by polychlorinated and their families. And the contamination the harbor, as it has in the streams, and other chemicals left behind by indus- biphenyls, or PCBs. Once widely used as even poses some risk to swimmers and warning the public that the water could tries that have since been largely replaced insulators in all kinds of equipment, PCBs waders if they stir up the tainted sediments, be contaminated at times by sewage by tourist attractions, restaurants, offices were banned in 1979 because of human she pointed out. overflows, particularly after rainfall. State and condos. health threats, but they linger in sediments Lindquist said the partnership defines regulations require notices to be posted The state has issued advisories urging an- and get picked up by fish. “fishable” differently, considering the har- in affected areas, and Jennifer Combs, glers to limit the frequency with which they Anglers also are warned about eating bor fishable if anglers are no longer at risk spokesperson for the Department of eat locally caught fish and crabs because some local fish because of mercury of getting sick from handling fish caught contamination, which stems in part from in sewage-fouled water. They’ll still need to continuing emissions of the toxic metal heed the fish consumption advisories, by coal-burning power plants and trash he said. incinerators — like the one near the Ravens The partnership wants to work with Blue stadium, where the Gwynns Falls flows Water Baltimore and city, state and federal into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco agencies on developing a system for letting River. the public know when bacteria levels are Those cautions don’t always have an low enough and it’s safe to go in or on the impact; there are no signs around the har- water. It’s also laid out a 10-point action bor warning anglers about contamination plan for the next decade, including increas- risks. One recent morning, Tim Marshall ing recycling, reducing waste and making was working a pair of fishing rods at the the city a hub for green jobs. end of the Baltimore Rowing Club pier on More immediately, the partnership the Middle Branch. In town from Prince expects to soon deploy a fourth trash wheel, George’s County to visit his girlfriend, he this time at the mouth of the Gwynns said he was just casting for sport and tossed Falls, to augment the litter cleanup efforts. back small perch and spot he hooked. But In the meantime, the group thinks it’ll at the next pier over, two people were crab- help advance further cleanup if the public bing, apparently for keepers. can get on or in the harbor. Unlike the sewage and trash cleanups, “The people of Baltimore have paid hun- there’s not been a concerted effort in dreds of millions of dollars in fees and taxes Baltimore to deal with those contaminants, to clean it up,” Lindquist said. There’s still counting instead on cleaner sediments to work to do, he acknowledged, especially gradually bury the toxic ones and reduce in trying to curb stormwater runoff. But Tim Marshall prepares to throw back a white perch he caught at the Baltimore Rowing Club pier on the hazards to fish and people. Until the the progress seen in reducing sewage in the the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. Maryland has issued advisories urging anglers to limit their fish are free from toxic contaminants, Aiosa water “means it’s time … to start managing consumption of perch and a number of other fish because they’re contaminated with polychlorinated said, the harbor won’t truly be fishable for the harbor as a recreational resource for the biphenyls, or PCBs. (Dave Harp) those who crab and fish to feed themselves city and state.” n
October 2020 Bay Journal 21 Will loopholes in toxic discharge rule hurt regional waters? Weakening of federal rule could let some power plants seek to delay or relax cleanup agreements
By Timothy B. Wheeler
he Trump administration’s latest move required coal plants to treat toxic contami- Tto ease regulatory requirements on nants in wastewater generated when they the nation’s coal-burning power plants wash out their air pollution scrubbers. It is expected to have limited impact in the also required plants to stop discharging Chesapeake Bay region because several wastewater that contains ash from coal- facilities discharging toxic pollution have burning, which also contains toxins. already agreed to clean up or decided to The original rule would have required shut down their operations. most plants to install water-pollution con- But environmental groups and at least trols by 2020. But the EPA put it on hold one state regulator are still worried that the in 2017, saying it intended to revise it. weaker standards set by the U.S. Environ- “If EPA were following the law, the coal mental Protection Agency could lead to industry would be close to eliminating its more toxics in the region’s waterways over toxic wastewater by now,” said Abel Russ, the next several years. senior attorney for the Environmental The EPA announced in late August that Integrity Project. The C. P. Crane power plant near Baltimore, shown in 2017, shut down its coal-burning units. Critics of it had revised a 2015 Obama era regulation Ben Grumbles, secretary of the Mary- the new EPA rule say it may allow other plants to delay compliance with discharge limits. (Dave Harp) to give coal plants more leeway and more land Department of the Environment, said time to curtail discharges of toxic metals the new rule is actually more stringent “in has indicated plans to do likewise with a limits could apply to amend their permit such as arsenic, mercury and selenium into a few ways,” such as the limits it places on pair of plants outside Baltimore on the with the new weaker limits,” according lakes, streams and rivers. mercury and nutrient discharges. Patapsco River — Brandon Shores and to Tom Schuster, clean energy program Agency officials said the new rule would But it significantly relaxes discharge lim- H. A. Wagner — though possibly delaying director for the Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania save the power industry $140 million a year its on selenium, which Grumbles called a compliance to 2023. chapter. “But it would be subject to public while resulting in a greater cleanup. The “big concern.” Selenium in water can harm A Chicago-based company has shut notice and comment, and we would aggres- revisions do so by “leveraging newer, more fish and wildlife. In humans, it can cause down coal units at another plant, C. P. sively fight the change.” affordable pollution control technologies neurological and respiratory problems and Crane, near the mouth of the Gunpowder There are six large, conventional coal and taking a flexible, phased-in imple- is considered a probable carcinogen. River north of Baltimore. plants left in Pennsylvania, two of which mentation approach,” according to EPA Grumbles said his biggest concern is that The revised EPA rule leaves it up to states are in the Bay watershed, Schuster noted. Administrator Andrew Wheeler. the new rule delays compliance five years to set compliance deadlines. But it also Of those, Schuster said, Brunner Island on Critics, though, said the EPA has carved to as late as 2028. “That matters for local opens the door for plants that had to meet the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, some big loopholes in the Obama rule waters and the Bay,” he said. stricter limits under the 2015 rule to peti- also owned by Talen, is scheduled to stop that will allow plants to continue and Still, the EPA’s action has less impact in tion state regulators to relax them. burning coal by 2028. There are 10 smaller even increase their discharges of toxic the Bay watershed now than it might have David Smedick, coordinator of the plants that mainly burn coal mine waste, contaminants. had earlier. Grumbles and others noted Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in he said, but they don’t discharge much. “The EPA is making it easier for the that several big coal plants have already Maryland, Delaware and the District of Virginia, likewise, has six coal-fired most-polluting and worst-run coal-fired shut down or announced plans to do so in Columbia, said activists would be on guard power plants left operating, but a new law plants to dump poisons into the waterways the next few years. against any effort by plant owners to take enacted this year committing the state to our communities depend upon,” said Frank GenOn, Texas-based owner of three advantage of the new guidelines and roll 100% renewable power by 2024 is expected Holleman, senior attorney with the South- coal plants in Maryland, has shut down back the requirements imposed on them to force the closure of most. Dominion ern Environmental Law Center. one at Dickerson on the Potomac River in “The new Trump rollback does not Energy has already committed to retiring The EPA’s revision of its Effluent Limita- Montgomery County and announced plans entitle GenOn or Talen … to new permits the coal-fired units at its Chesterfield plant tions Guidelines, as the discharge rule to close another at Chalk Point on the with the weaker limits or delayed compli- on the James River by the end of 2024. The is called, is among dozens of regulatory Patuxent River in Prince George’s County. ance deadlines,” Smedick said. company also has retrofitted the facility’s holdups or rollbacks initiated by the Trump Those actions came after Maryland In Pennsylvania, water pollution permits bottom ash system to halt discharges, ac- administration, many of which have been regulators ordered the state’s coal plants to for all of the state’s coal-fired power plants cording to spokesman Jeremy Slayton. challenged in court. This one is significant, meet the discharge limits in the EPA’s 2015 had already been updated to include the Dominion’s spokesman said the com- Holleman said, because by the EPA’s own rule — though they offered to delay the requirements of the Obama era rule. pany’s Mt. Storm plant, in West Virginia, estimate at least 30% of all by toxic water deadline to 2023 if the plants volunteered That happened after the Sierra Club sued recycles the water used in its air pollution pollution discharged by industries comes to meet even lower limits. the state Department of Environmental control system so that none is discharged from coal-fired power plants. The technolo- For its Morgantown plant on the Protection because most of the permits had into a lake that drains to the North Branch gy to prevent and treat the toxic discharges Potomac River in Charles County, GenOn long since expired and were overdue for of the Potomac River. There are plans to is “widely available,” he said. opted to comply with the toxic limits set in updating. retrofit the bottom ash cleanout system to The 2015 rule, imposed after the EPA its renewed discharge permit. “That said, any plant that hasn’t already meet the rules, with a deadline to be set by was sued by several environmental groups, Talen Energy, another Texas company, installed controls to comply with the 2015 state regulators, Slayton said. n
22 Bay Journal October 2020 Battles over forest conservation continue in Maryland Suits in Harford County trees identified in Abingdon Woods. “It’s just so obscene,” said Jeanna Tillery, oppose clearing trees another local resident. “I can’t imagine why for business park anybody would think to do something like that, especially in an area like this where By Timothy B. Wheeler we have many warehouses already, many of them unoccupied.” he forest teems with wildlife behind Mi- Jim Lighthizer, managing partner of the Tchael and Lisa Lyston’s home in Abing- Chesapeake Real Estate Group, which is de- don, MD. Over the years, they’ve been veloping the business park, did not respond visited by foxes, opossums, deer, raccoons, to requests for comment. In applying for owls and woodpeckers — not to mention needed permits, the firm said it chose Abing- turtles, toads and “tons of butterflies.” don Woods for its proximity to I-95 and the “They just come up here and go back Port of Baltimore. While acknowledging home,” Lisa Lyston said. “They know there are 18 vacant warehouses in the region, they’re safe here.” the developer said this is the only suitable But barring a reprieve from the courts, site for a large distribution complex. the neighborhood is destined to become a County officials declined to answer ques- lot less wild. Most of the woods near their tions about the project, citing the litigation. home are to be bulldozed for warehouses, “It is the county’s position that the shops, restaurants, a hotel and a gas station. development approvals for Abingdon Busi- A developer plans to build Abingdon ness Park were appropriate,” said Cynthia Business Park on the wooded 326-acre tract, Michael Lyston stands in his backyard, which borders Abingdon Woods in Harford County, MD. He and his Mumby, a county spokeswoman. one of the largest patches of forest left in this wife, Lisa, have lived there for 15 years and say the 300-plus acre forest teems with wildlife. (Lisa Lyston) County officials have argued that their heavily developed part of Harford County approval of the developer’s forest conserva- near the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Glassman declined to discuss the project in filed two suits challenging the Maryland tion plan is not appealable. A Harford Opponents say if that happens, it shows detail. Instead, he pointed to the efforts his Department of the Environment’s permit County Circuit Court judge heard argu- how both Harford County and the state administration has made to preserve about allowing the developer to build roads across ments on that point in August. A decision government are failing to safeguard 3,500 acres of farmland, recently adding streams and take out some wetlands. is pending. Maryland’s shrinking supply of ecologically 347 Bayfront acres near Havre de Grace. The developer’s plan calls for clearing The MDE permit for stream crossings important forestland. “I feel so bad for all But Waite said the county hasn’t put as 220 acres of forest to make way for more and wetlands disturbance has drawn fire. these birds and everything that lives back much money or effort into preserving green than 2 million square feet of warehouses Theaux Le Gardeur, the Gunpowder River- there,” Lisa Lyston said, choking back tears. space in the southern portion of the county, plus other commercial buildings and keeper, and residents near the site asked “It kills me.” which she said has a greater proportion of pavement. The remaining 95 acres of the Harford court to review the permit, Nearby residents and environmental people of color and low-income families. woods would be placed under a protec- which includes permission to bridge Haha advocates have been trying since last year, Nearly half of the students attending tive easement meant to prevent further Branch, which flows into the Bush River. so far unsuccessfully, to save “Abingdon William Paca/Old Post Road Elementary disturbance. As mitigation for removing The Bush River is already impaired Woods,” as the tract was once known. School, which abuts the business park site, so much forest, the county is requiring by nutrients and suspended sediments, But the property by Interstate 95 has are African Americans and nearly 15% are the developer to plant new trees on a little Le Gardeur pointed out. Plus, he noted, long been zoned for commercial and Hispanic, according to Schooldigger.com. more than 8 acres onsite. some of the tree clearing would occur near industrial development. The county even Nearly three-fourths are eligible for free Like most localities in Maryland, Otter Point Creek, which the state has placed it in an “enterprise zone” to encour- lunches because they’re from low-income Harford’s forest conservation ordinance designated a high-quality stream. To make age economic activity there. families. mirrors the state Forest Conservation Act, up for clearing more than 5 acres of woods Harford County is still mostly rural. But Bonita Holland-Buchanan, vice president which requires counties and municipali- there, the MDE has required the developer only about a third of its land is forested, of the African American Democratic Club ties to protect important woodlands from to plant trees on half that many acres of according to data from the state-federal of Harford County, said she’s concerned development or have trees replanted onsite farmland elsewhere in the watershed. Chesapeake Bay Program. Development about children at the school having to or elsewhere. Environmentalists contend The MDE has previously bucked local pressure has been intense along I-95 and, breathe air laced with vehicle exhaust from the state law isn’t strong enough, in part approval of large-scale removal of forests. according to the Bay Program, the county business park traffic. because the state exercises little oversight of In 2019, state regulators denied permits for could lose nearly 2,300 acres of woodlands “There’s already a problem of so many kids how localities enforce it. Recently, though, two large solar energy projects in Charles between 2013 and 2025. having asthma now,” she said, adding that a few counties have beefed up their laws County that together would have cleared “We’ve been opposed to the development “our children deserve better than to breathe beyond what the state requires. 400 acres of privately owned woodlands. on the grounds of loss of forest and wetlands poisonous fumes from diesel trucks.” Opponents of the Abingdon project Asked if he’d join other county executives areas so close to the Bay,” said Tracey Waite, Opponents of the business park have argue that Harford County isn’t even fol- in seeking to strengthen the local forest president of Harford County Climate Ac- gone to court. The Chesapeake Bay Foun- lowing state law in approving that develop- conservation law, County Executive Glass- tion and head of a coalition opposed to the dation and four neighbors of the woods ment. For instance, they note that county man said he’s waiting for an update from business park. “Also, in this time of climate filed suit earlier this year challenging Har- officials granted the developer a waiver the state Department of Planning on how change, we don’t believe there should be this ford County’s approval of the developer’s from the law’s requirement to minimize much of the county is still forested. “We’ll level of deforestation in our county.” forest conservation plan. The Gunpowder loss of large “specimen trees,” authorizing take a look at those trend lines,” he said, Harford County Executive Barry Riverkeeper and other neighbors have the cutting down of 49 of the 85 largest “and see if we need to do anything else.” n
October 2020 Bay Journal 23 Black farmers embrace African practices as empowering Many turn to sustainable, methods with roots in their cultural heritage By Jeremy Cox t Thelonius Cook’s farm, roots aren’t just Aconnected to crops and orchards. They’re also connected to history. Cook uses certain plants to attract pests and keep them away from his crops. He also avoids tilling the soil and sows “cover crops” in the fall to reinvigorate fields — all techniques drawn from his African ancestors. In such ways, Cook said he is honoring his heritage while protecting the environment. “Everything I do, I try to encourage a natural ecosystem, a closed loop,” said Cook, founder of the Mighty Thunder- cloud Edible Forest on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The share of farms operated by Black people nationwide has plummeted from 14% at its peak in 1920 to 1.7% as of 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Historians point to myriad causes for the decline, but chief among them is racism. Persistent racist violence forced many African Americans in the South to flee to northern cities. For Blacks who remained, White-dominated loan boards often blocked federal aid from reaching their farms if they were members of the NAACP or other civil rights organizations. Some Thelonius Cook checks on his fall harvest at his farm in Birdsnest, VA, as volunteer Deanna Jamison looks on. The Mighty Thundercloud Edible Forest is pat- never prepared wills, leaving their acreage terned on indigenous African farming techniques. (Dave Harp) to multiple heirs who ultimately lost the land to tax sales or real estate hucksters. to East Africa to work for an international sustainable development from Royal Hol- squash, ginger, callaloo (a leafy green from Cook is part of a small but growing development organization. loway, University of London, he returned Jamaica), hibiscus, flowers, mushrooms, movement within the Black agricultural In places like Tanzania and Mozam- to Hampton Roads in 2014. When not cucumbers, peppers, cherry tomatoes, community that recasts farming — which, bique, he worked closely with farmers, working as a freelance web developer, he watermelons, broccoli, pumpkins, black for African Americans, has long been showing them ways to run their businesses started preparing a new life for himself and garlic and kale. associated with forced labor — as a path to- more efficiently. Along the way, those farm- his father’s old flower field in Northampton Don’t bother looking for neat rows of ward dignity, empowerment and greening ers gave him informal lessons in the region’s County on the Bay’s Eastern Shore. crops. Cook’s planting beds are loosely the Earth. They are writing a new history, homegrown agricultural practices. The family had leased the 7.5-acre plot to organized. Weeds are given room to grow. one newly sprouted farm at a time. Many of those practices have survived farmers for decades. The relentless rotation The only structures in sight are two high for centuries. For instance, because many of wheat and soybean crops had left the soil tunnels (arched, greenhouse-like growing Growing food & a movement African farmers lack capital to buy tractors nearly exhausted, Cook said. “You couldn’t buildings) and a raised wooden workshop. Cook grew up across the Chesapeake Bay or other large pieces of equipment, tilling take a hand tool and break it.” If it looks more like a forest than a farm, in Hampton. Agriculture was in his genes. — churning the soil to spread oxygen and With little expectation beyond growing that’s the point, Cook said. His family raised a garden of green beans, nutrients throughout the root zone — sim- some food for himself, he began apply- “Any time you see a forest, it’s usually a collard greens and other vegetables. His ply isn’t possible on a large scale. So, they ing the farming lessons he had acquired sustainable ecosystem,” he said. “There are father once grew flowers for his own florist turn to compost and animal manure to overseas to his own acreage. no pests out of control. The dirt is usually business. revive their soil. Soon, he was growing enough food black earth.” But Cook wound up heading in another “Everywhere I’ve travelled, I’ve loved for his family. Then enough to sell. Then direction, studying information technology picking farmers’ brains,” Cook said. enough to make a living. Not just for White men at James Madison University and jetting off After getting a master’s degree in You name it, Cook grows it: hemp, Part of the reason that Black farmers
24 Bay Journal October 2020 remain so rare is that working the land still gets a bad rap, Cook said. “They’ve been made to turn away [from farming] because of our history in this country” with slavery, he said. The typical reaction he hears is, “I don’t want to go back to the plantation.” Many black farmers share similar experi- ences. “When I first got into this in the early ’80s and told people I was going to school to study agronomy [soil science], folks looked at me like, ‘Why would you do that?’ ” said Mchezaji “Che” Axum, director of urban agriculture and gardening education at the University of the District of Columbia. Of the dozens of classmates in his major, only three were people of color, he recalled. In recent years, Axum said he has noticed a “big movement” among Black farmers toward embracing organic meth- ods. These aren’t practices borrowed from White organizations and individuals but rather from within their own cultural heri- tage, reaching back to the verdant plains and terraced slopes of Africa. “You can’t really start Black agriculture with slavery and servitude,” Axum said. “It’s way before that.” A key thought leader and practitioner The 7.5-acre farm on Virginia’s Eastern Shore is part of a growing movement of Black-owned agricultural operations that embraces organic practices that can in the movement calls it “Farming While be traced to African cultures. (Dave Harp) Black.” In her 2018 book of the same title, Leah Penniman outlines a step-by-step of using raised beds, the Kenyan trick of Cook’s crops gets darker and healthier. He hopes to inspire other new and aspir- business plan for aspiring Black and Brown hurling mucky soil uphill to form terraces. He sells food at three farmers markets on ing Black farmers. He speaks at conferences farmers seeking a harmonious relationship At Soul Fire Farm, food is a platform for the Eastern Shore. And he participates (virtually these days), hosts training events with the environment. social transformation. Until COVID-19 in the community supported agriculture and boasts healthy followings on Facebook For Penniman, the path to farm owner- washed out this year’s programming, the program for the Hampton Roads region, and Instagram. ship began with a summer job at an urban farm offered people of Black, Indigenous which seems to be one of the best market- As he sees it, the slightly unruly farm is food project in Boston operated by and and Latinx backgrounds opportunities ing avenues for local farmers: Customers an oasis of green that, unlike many of its largely for people of color. But that was to work and learn organic farming tech- purchase advance subscriptions for regular neighbors in the rural region, can point to followed by one gig after another at farms niques. The cost is on a sliding scale of food deliveries. About three-dozen clients being metaphorically green as well. All of it throughout the Northeast where the faces $100-$1,500. have signed up with Cook’s farm. accomplished while being Black. n she saw were almost invariably White. Since 2014, the farm has been partnering “It’s White men who are presented as with the Albany County District Attorney’s experts” of organic agriculture, Penniman Office to give youths caught up in the said. “I had reached a crisis point in my court system a 50-hour training program early 20s about whether I was really an as an alternative to being incarcerated. agriculturalist.” Penniman said that all aspects of her work A five-month visit to Ghana helped have gained urgency this year after police change her mind. Back at home, she forged killings of Black people triggered massive bonds with other Black farmers. Together, protests across the country. they launched in 2010 the first and now “Unlike maybe past generations where we annual National Black Farmers and Urban see issues as really siloed, the movement for Gardeners Conference. That year, she Black lives sees all the issues as integrated. struck out on her own, founding the Soul We can’t just isolate one issue,” she said. Fire Farm in Petersburg, NY, about 25 miles east of Albany. Reclaiming the past Along the way, she discovered that many Back in Virginia, Cook praises Penni- of the practices embraced by White organic man’s book for resetting the narrative about farmers also existed in African and Afro- Black agriculture and slavery. Caribbean agrarian societies. Among them: “It’s just acknowledging the reason we a Haitian method of rehabilitating eroded were brought here,” he said. “We were hillsides with trenches and vegetated strips, brought here as agricultural experts.” southern Africa’s Ovambo people’s practice With each passing year, the soil beneath Thelonius Cook checks on a plant inside one of his tarp-covered greenhouses. (Dave Harp)
October 2020 Bay Journal 25 James River shad face upriver battle for comeback Many hurdles, each capable of derailing repopulation efforts on its own, plague fish By Whitney Pipkin
pair of professors at Randolph-Macon A College near Richmond likes to challenge their students with real-world problems. When they asked the James River Association what puzzle they should task a class of environmental studies majors with solving, Riverkeeper Jamie Brunkow pointed to the near absence of American shad in the river. “It’s a real example where the experts don’t know what’s going on,” James Brunkow said. “It’s a bit of an environmen- tal mystery.” Brunkow said shad jumped to the top of his organization’s list of concerns while working on the 2019 State of the James report. Nearly every other measurement of water and wildlife health seemed to be im- James Riverkeeper Jamie Brunkow (center) asked a group of students at Randolph-Macon College earlier this year to study why American shad weren’t mak- proving, except the population of American ing a comeback in the river. The organization’s virtual reality goggles helped the students envision a future waterway that is cleaner — and perhaps has more shad, which came in at 1% of the goal the shad than it does now. (Charles Gowan / James River Association) group had set for the species. The declining number of shad is not a Marine Fisheries Commission calls the Shad setbacks American shad making the trek. new concern for local river groups — or for shad population “depleted” from Maine to Fishery authorities began taking the “I always tell people, ‘You can’t pass what scientists across the Chesapeake Bay region Florida. In the Bay region, the Rappahan- major steps decades ago that should have isn’t there,’” said Alan Weaver, fish passage and the entire Atlantic Coast. nock and York rivers fare slightly better helped shad rebound in the region — but coordinator for the Virginia Department All along the coast, shad populations have with a death rate described as “sustainable.” to little avail. of Wildlife. “When there were more fish been idling at a historic low, despite mil- But, in the James River, shad numbers have A state moratorium on the inland harvest in the river, we would see more fish in the lions of dollars invested in their restoration. remained stubbornly low despite decades of of shad has been in place since 1994 to fishway.” A recent study by the Atlantic States effort focused on their revival. curb overfishing. Also in the early ’90s, the State and federal agencies that had been Virginia Department of Game and Inland pouring funds into shad stocking programs Fisheries (now the Department of Wildlife couldn’t ignore the dismal results anymore. Resources) began stocking shad in the up- Virginia ended its stocking program near per James River system to encourage them Bosher’s Dam in 2017. Were stocking to to repopulate historic spawning grounds. begin again, it would be because a group of By placing millions of shad fry each year scientists, biologists, fishery managers and into the river just upstream of Bosher’s others that make up the Virginia Alosine Dam, the hope was that the fish would Taskforce recommend stocking as a viable return to that location as adults to mate. In management strategy for restoration. 1999, the department opened a fish passage But, at least in the James River, there is system at Bosher’s Dam intended to deliver work to be done first. That’s the assump- shad to that location and also to open up tion many organizations involved in shad more than 100 additional miles of river that restoration have made after pouring fish had been blocked to spawning for decades. for years into a system that didn’t seem to But the fish still aren’t taking hold in the be reproducing them at the rate it should James. have. And the Randloph-Macon students, In 2003, the fishway passed close to after spending a semester studying shad 1,000 American shad. In recent years, the setbacks, agreed. This fish passage at Bosher’s Dam was designed to convey American shad to the upper reaches of the passage saw a few dozen fish go through Under nearly every rock the environ- James River beyond Richmond where they once spawned. (Courtesy of James River Association) and, in 2019, the cameras counted one mental problem-solvers turned, they found
26 Bay Journal October 2020 another steep obstacle facing the fish that were once so plentiful that they sustained early settlers along the James River. “A lot of students thought we’d find one piece of evidence that has to be what’s caus- ing the problem,” said Brycen Boettcher, a student in the spring class who now works as a fisheries technician at the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. “But it’s more than just one simple thing causing a decrease in the whole population.” Assailed by problems The students found that nearly every major problem facing American shad in the James River was enough to keep the fish dying faster than they can reproduce. They looked at the estimated population of shad in the river and started subtracting: How many juvenile fish are sucked into the water intake system of a power plant? Eaten by blue catfish before they make it back to their spawning grounds? Caught as bycatch in the ocean before they even begin their inland run? Often, the students ran out of fish before the exercise was over. But it demonstrated that any one of these factors could be suppressing the population enough that stocking new fry into the river seems like little more than putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. “Everyone’s always looking for the smok- These American shad were caught in 2014 using a gill net in the Pamunkey River, a tributary to the York River. Members of the Pamunkey tribe operated a shad ing gun: What’s the one thing you could hatchery until a few years ago. (Dave Harp) change to make it better? And I think it’s re- ally death by a thousand cuts,” Weaver said. for shad, from thriving. The nonnative and when it begins. Other factors that could keep shad from “The population of American shad was so voracious blue catfish that fill the James In 2015, the Chesterfield station found rebounding involve coastal challenges. low when we started [restoration efforts] in River also play a large role, as they feast on two dead Atlantic sturgeon larvae and one Fisheries experts continue to be concerned the 1990s. Even though the fish is a prolific juvenile shad, but they are well-established adult sturgeon in its water intake system, about the amount of American shad being spawner, there are so many things that are now and seem impossible to eradicate. which triggered a lengthy federal process harvested as bycatch in the ocean. And there more difficult than what they faced before.” The data also began to suggest that the intended to protect the endangered species. are also a host of other impediments as the Professors Mike Fenster and Charles large water withdrawals and intake systems The station is seeking an “incidental take” fish make their way from inland rivers to Gowan, who co-taught the problem-solving of power plants could permit from the Na- overwintering in Canada’s Bay of Fundy. class at Randolph-Macon, say the goal of be one of the factors tional Marine Fisher- Erin Reilly, staff scientist at the James their real-world investigations is to let the causing shad to fare “...We haven’t given up on them.” ies Service that would River Association, hopes the shad’s story in students dive into a complex environmental worse in the James allow it to continue the James will one day be like that of the problem and emerge with priority areas for than in other Chesa- — Alan Weaver operating despite a river herring or the sturgeon: a species back their “client,” in this case the James River peake Bay rivers. Virginia Department of Wildlife potential impact to from the brink after decades of painstaking Association, to address. Dominion Energy’s the endangered fish, work. She pointed out that the population of “There are so many threats that the strat- Surry and Chester- a process that could anadromous fish species, which swim upriver egy really becomes figuring out what to field power stations each withdraw millions require changes to the water intake system to spawn each year, can ebb and flow dra- tackle first,” Fenster said. “That really has of gallons of water from the James. that could also benefit shad. matically; a good spawning year can lay the to be about where you can get the biggest Each of these withdrawal systems is sub- Another step that might to help the James’ foundation for a rebound a few years later. bang for your buck.” ject to a permit process that is occasionally shad population is to improve fish passage The end of shad stocking is likely to up for renewal and scrutiny. After review- at one of the four dams along the river or cause more dramatic declines for a few What to prioritize? ing current state standards, the students remove some of the dams entirely. The stu- years, “but we haven’t given up on them,” In their reports, the students pointed to said that both facilities could improve their dents suggested that dam removal, while Weaver said. many of the factors that the James River water intake systems to align with current costly, could benefit from a new windfall “I have no idea what the future is,” he Association has been working on for decades, state standards to reduce the number of of public approval nationwide for such said. “It’s not as bad as it was when we and to some that it could do more to address. fish drawn in with the water. The river projects and from the river’s increased use by started this work, but we’re not where we Poor water quality plays a part, particu- association is already involved in the water paddle sports enthusiasts. And technological hoped to be 20 years into it.” n larly when too much sediment in the water withdrawal permit process for one of those improvements to existing fish passages could prevents underwater grasses, a key habitat plants and poised to participate in the other give more fish a chance to spawn.
October 2020 Bay Journal 27 A kayak edges near the remains of the Clementown Mill dam and locks on the Appomattox River in Virginia. William Clement served as one of the county’s earliest justices during the 1740s. The Clement family also erected a grist mill just below the confluence of the Appomattox and Bent Creek. (Brendan Burke) Shadows of a bustling past haunt Appomattox’s quiet shores VA archaeologist inventories historical ruins along river’s upper reach By Tamara Dietrich
n 1612, Capt. John Smith became the first European to and canals dried up. Wetlands and forests resurged to Iproduce a detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay region. He supplant them. used the same mode of transportation that cartographers had “Today,” Burke said, “creeks and rivers silently flow used for millennia: a boat. through communities largely unaware of their historical Water routes — like the vast network of rivers and creeks importance.” in the Chesapeake region — have been essential for nearly Field surveys can document what’s left. And Burke, who all of human history: to explore and migrate, to procure studies the role of rivers in trade and commerce, recently and transport food and resources, to wage war, and to finished field work on a portion of the Upper Appomattox. conduct trade and commerce. Burke’s work there was not the first. In the 1970s and “Waterways were incredibly important, and have ‘80s, Virginia historian Bill Trout set out to inventory been for thousands of years,” said archaeologist Brendan historic features along the Appomattox, from its confluence Burke, president of the Maritime Heritage Chapter of the with the James River at Hopewell in Prince George This stone abutment at Goode’s Bridge marks a former Archaeological Society of Virginia. County to its navigable head near Planterstown, a historic Appomattox crossing. (Brendan Burke) “They’re landmarks. They define areas and places. We community in Buckingham County. now think of boundaries as lines on maps, but very often Trout, founder of the Virginia Canals & Navigations camera, and Bill did wonderful work — he’s a friend of they were defined by waterways — your country, your Society, focused his survey on areas where land and water mine — but much of that work was done 40 years ago.” province, your kingdom, whatever.” were altered to enable waterborne commerce — the places Burke’s more recent survey was supported by a The mammoth Bay watershed with its extensive maze of where people cleared, deepened and straightened streams, $10,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Historic tributaries stretching more than 64,000 square miles — installed canals and locks, and built bridges and aqueducts. Resources. He focused on historic navigational structures from what is today New York to West Virginia to Virginia’s He documented the many mills that sprang up along the and resources from 1740–1880 that directly related to southern tip — was particularly appealing to colonists riverbanks to harness the power of the water. commerce. precisely because of the relative ease of travel by water. But Trout’s inventory is starting to show its age. “It’s an important part of archaeology not to just say, ‘I’ve Any river or creek navigable by canoe was by nature a “Anybody that’s lived along the waterways knows that done it, now I can walk away,’ but, if the site’s still there, watery road, Burke said. waterways are in constant change,” Burke said. “They never to check in on it, see what’s left; or, is there more of the site But over the centuries, other modes of transportation stay the same. The stream bank might be moving to and that was exposed and never seen before,” Burke said. have replaced water routes. Once-bustling riverside fro, sandbars cover and uncover things. We have better There was some urgency in the mission: Because of communities petered out, buildings and bridges tumbled technology now. Bill had a canoe and his eyeballs and a more intense flooding and erosion associated with climate
28 Bay Journal October 2020 change, plus easier public access to remote areas, such sites points of data, enabling 3D images of ground features. are increasingly at risk from storm damage, vandalism and Burke couldn’t find a number of sites from Trout’s looting. original survey. The Appomattox flows west-east for 157 miles along or “Some of that might have just been the water was too through parts of 10 counties before joining the James. Its high at the time,” Burke said. “And other sites had just largest cities are Farmville and Petersburg. Flat Creek is one naturally changed over the course of erosion and natural of its tributaries, running 34 miles. forces. It’s good to document that rate of decay. It would be unrealistic to think that everything had stayed the same for Rise & fall of river trade 40 years.” It was largely the Virginia colony’s lucrative tobacco But many other features still hang on — the ruins of trade that fueled inland migration and the need to get mills, dikes, canals, bridges and earthen fortifications. the crop to market and ports in Europe. Other crops like Giles Mill, for instance, also known as Royaltown Mill, wheat, corn, oats, barley, salt and lime, as well as animal was a grand five-story structure and “beautiful piece of skins and fur, were also loaded on bateaux and canoes and architecture,” Burke said. It was built in the early 1800s carried on the river. and expanded over generations and is the subject of some In the early 1700s, English, Scotch-Irish, German, Swiss, of his most striking images. French and Dutch immigrants began trekking farther The building’s owner had tried unsuccessfully to find a inland, sometimes bringing enslaved laborers. Homesteads, way to preserve it. plantations, towns, ports and navigation rose up along “He was very kind to allow me permission to explore waterways. it,” Burke said. “And not long after the ink had dried on It was crucial to keep those waterways navigable. In the report, the mill collapsed. It was the last standing mill 1745, the Virginia House of Burgesses forbid felling a tree in Amelia County, so I was honored to see it before it was across a navigable river or creek or failing to clear fish weirs taken to its knees. by October each year. It also allowed counties on the upper “But that’s what happens to communities: They come, Appomattox and James to send teams to clear obstructions and they go.” every spring. Mill owners were not allowed to build dams All that remains of Goode’s Bridge, built in the early that blocked boat traffic. 1700s, are large stone abutments rising at least 30 feet In 1795, the Upper Appomattox Company, a public- high on the riverbanks. The bridge was first mentioned private shareholding venture heavily subsidized by the in the House of Burgesses in 1746. In 1781 during the state, was formed to build the river improvements needed Revolution, it was blocked by Continental forces; during to keep boats moving. From 1794 to the 1870s, Burke the Civil War, portions were burned in a vain effort to writes, there were a total of 13 canal companies and 22 prevent U.S. cavalry from crossing into Amelia County. navigation companies throughout Virginia. The bridge was finally abandoned in the 1960s when a new By 1821, the Appomattox had four mills with dams highway was built. requiring locks: the Genito, Clementown, Stony Point and And all that’s left of Tucker’s Ford, Lock and Dam, a Royaltown. Mills typically became gathering places for 19th-century river crossing, is a low stone feature, likely farmers and merchants. Communities sprang up around Giles Mill on Virginia’s Appomattox River consisted of a mill, store, part of the original lock, and a shallow depression, once the them, often taking on the name of the mill. corn crib, headrace, millpond and other associated structures. The canal. LIDAR imagery suggests where the old roadbed led By 1840, more than 100 miles of the Appomattox were mill has been known by several names and is thought to have been to the river and the ford. more navigable. Cargo volumes on the river skyrocketed. constructed during the early 1800s. This remaining structure col- In his report, Burke recommends more enhanced surveys But there was a storm brewing: In the late 1840s, a lapsed not long after this photo was taken in March 2020. of the riverbanks in the summer and during periods of startup called the Richmond and Danville Railroad was (Brendan Burke) drought when water levels are lower and historical features chartered. more visible. He would also like to see more surveys with ‘Historic eyes watching you’ Rails could go where rivers couldn’t, and carry cargo and LIDAR and sonar imaging for deeper water. people more efficiently and reliably. To catalog what remains of the heyday of the Upper Burke encourages local governments and citizen Within just a few years, canal companies were crippled. Appomattox river trade, Burke set out in December 2019 advocacy groups to partner with state tourism agencies and By the end of the Civil War in 1865, river trade had, for all in a 49-pound kayak/canoe. Fourteen days of field work conservation and recreation programs. intents and purposes, dried up. stretched over three months in all kinds of weather. He’d like oral histories of inland navigation collected, “It was unfortunate, because for a lot of these canals, Field notes were impossible while paddling, so he hung coordination with local historical societies and it was a huge undertaking,” Burke said. “It took multiple an iPhone on a lanyard around his neck for audio notes riverkeepers, and more emphasis on public outreach and phases, investment strategies and even failings to get the and photographs. education about a fading heritage. whole system up and running. And by the time they got all “Being on a river by yourself, where you’re kind of “Ideally, what you would do is develop a sense of that done, after about 30 years, the railroad comes along drifting with the kayak, is a really magical experience. It’s community ownership for historic resources and and basically buys it and puts the tracks down on top of just you and the wood ducks,” Burke said. “And then you’ve prehistoric resources,” Burke said. “Where folks say, ‘Let’s the towpaths.” got a lot of — I don’t want to use the term ‘ghosts’ — but preserve these things intact — that way, the grandkids and Over time, riverside businesses and buildings were you’ve got a lot of historic eyes watching you.” the great-grandkids can enjoy them just like us.’ abandoned. Mill towns faded. River improvements fell into Whenever the river became impassable from fallen trees “When you move past a stone pile of rubble that once disrepair. Stretches of the Appomattox and its tributary or other impediments, he set out on foot to gather research was a mill dam around which people congregated and creeks became less and less navigable, clogged with fallen and interview local landowners. He covered nearly 37 miles shared news and laughed and wept and did all the things trees and crumbling bankside infrastructure. by foot and boat. that humans do, and now it’s just a pile of rubble, it’s As Burke writes, the last known boatman to ply the He augmented field work with LIDAR data downloaded neat to know and learn about the stories of those folks. Appomattox for commerce was a man named Jim Seay from the Virginia Geographic Information Network’s website. About how communities formed and failed and why that around the turn of the last century. LIDAR uses airborne laser technology to gather billions of matters.” n
October 2020 Bay Journal 29 30 (Ad Crable) (Ad amust. is footwear rock Appropriate staircases. on uneven and often slippery State Park Glen Ricketts is trail along the waterfalls in the of photo: Much Bottom rim. (Ad rock Crable) curved Pennsylvania over plunges a Park in State Glen Ricketts in Top photo: Waterfall Oneida
Travel F most scenic hike in Pennsylvania. in hike scenic most 3.2 to from 7.2 loops, the range in miles can which Trail network, Falls the consider many and United States eastern the in cataracts cant of signifi concentration largest the are feet, 94 Glen. Ricketts through flow and hook up streams two the more after three are there and waterfalls, named eight another has Glen Leigh, ravine, Aparallel of waterfalls. feet Glen. That’s Ganoga though 350 amile than less in falls other into nine dashing wild, goes stream into 37 Mohawk Falls. feet plunging ledge, a off itself throws stream mild-mannered the bend, a Then, rounding trail. the down half-mile about a forest, dense the through faint comes water. of the tinkling faint the out even drown bird calls and insects summer late- of The sounds sunlight. filtered in bathed of water awisp just path, up to the sidles stream By Ad Crable love Glen in Fall Ricketts State with Park PA in The waterfalls are located in the 13,000-acre the in 13,000-acre are located waterfalls The from in height 11 to ranging The waterfalls, 21 the abruptfall, by this tamed being from Far soon water running of murmur first The in northeastern Pennsylvania, an unnamed unnamed an Pennsylvania, northeastern in Glen Park State Trail Ricketts in on Falls out starting toprom mountain, of the the - of an attraction, the sprawling park in Pennsyl in park sprawling the attraction, of an 1944. in park astate it opened as Instead, but World for that, just idea. the War scuttled II approved 1930s, was the in area the fact, in park; anational of being worthy is scenery the think 1969. in Landmark Some Natural a National designated was which Area, Natural Glens park’s Pocono sandstone. Pocono the in afracture through shimmy you actually Crevasse, Midway At by glaciers. distributed cliffs tabletop and boulders house-size of jumbles though passes trail the right, own its in gem Aridgetop glens. major of waterfall the two Trail, connects which 1.2-mile Highland the over bowled by Iwas hikes, waterfall famous the by overshadowed Though park. the in trails draw. apopular is also beach 600-foot the along Swimming allowed. is Fishing lake. to the tour boards paddle and canoes kayaks, boats, rent paddle normally you can coronavirus, the of because 2020 in closed Though allowed. are boats nonmotorized and paddling only where Jean, 245-acre Lake lake, mountaintop abeautiful has also Mountains vania’s Endless If the necklace of scenic falls wasn’t enough falls of scenic necklace the If There are approximately 28 miles of hiking hiking of miles 28 areapproximately There - Bay Journal
Oct ober 2020 RICKETTS GLEN STATE parking lot at noon, it was almost full. I ran into one couple from Texas who were PARK in Benton, PA, is open exploring the falls after camping in Shenandoah year-round. Entrance is free. National Park and were told by a Pennsylvania For information, visit dcnr. camper that they just had to see the waterfalls at pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark Ricketts Glen. The couple said they were not dis- and search for Ricketts Glen. appointed. Tina Guenther said she hardly found so many waterfalls monotonous. Each waterfall, STAY THE NIGHT she said, had its own sound. The park has 10 cabins, Amanda Brown, 26, on the other hand, was 5 cottages, 120 tent and trekking up the gorges for the third time in three trailer campsites and group months. Asked why, she said she is humbled by camping for up to 240 peo- the wonders around her. “I like feeling small so ple. Some sites allow pets. this is where I come,” she explained.
I found myself fantasizing about seeing the ACTIVITIES waterfalls in autumn, with orange, red and yel- low leaves falling like confetti and forming rafts Picnic facilities are scattered of color in the splash pools. Park officials say throughout the park. peak color is usually around mid-October. A 600-foot beach is located No matter what direction you enter the glens on Lake Jean. Boat rentals from, the series of falls come fast and furious once are normally available but If views are your thing, hike the 1.9-mile Another 48,000 acres became state game lands. you reach the first one. In between, the creek have been discontinued Grand View Trail to an old fire tower. You can’t The first thing you need to know about the forms slides, tubs, flumes and subtle patches of for now due to COVID-19. climb the tower but you will find wide views of Falls Trail is that, despite its popularity, it is no whitewater. Moistened boulders in the creek are Only electric motors are the entire park, the Allegheny Front that you are walk in the park. The ravines are steep and much clothed in ferns. Rock formations tower overhead. allowed on fishing boats. atop and the distant Susquehanna Valley. On a of the trail consists of uneven slabs of stone steps At almost all of the waterfalls, there are op- Swim at your own risk. clear day, you can see three states. that have no hand rails. The staircases, as well portunities to pick your way to the base to stare Winter activities include These features attract hundreds of thousands as soil and tree roots on other parts of the trail, up at the freefalling water and sometimes enjoy ice fishing, cross-country of visitors a year from all over the country. But, are almost always wet and slippery. There are the mist on your skin. In a few places, you can no question, the falls are the marquis display. injuries and rescues every year in the park, some almost stick your hand in a waterfall from the skiing, snowmobiling, winter They were formed by glaciers. Though Native for people who have fallen and some for those trail itself. No wading is allowed, though. camping and ice climbing. Americans undoubtedly knew of them, the story unprepared for a rigorous hike who become Most waterfalls were named by Col. Rick- goes that they were “discovered” by a father and exhausted or dehydrated. etts after family members, friends and Native son on a fishing expedition in 1865. The land It’s not a place for those with bad knees. And American communities that lived in the area. was owned by Col. Robert Bruce Ricketts, who don’t tackle the hike wearing sandals or sneak- The names of falls are displayed unobtrusively fought for the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg. ers. Sturdy hiking boots with ankle support are on signs off to the side. A lumber baron who owned a stately mansion advised. I hiked with two trekking poles that Like snowflakes, no two waterfalls are alike. on a nearby lake, Ricketts declared the two glens saved a couple missteps. And beware the crowds, Some tumble in steps, some split, some form containing the waterfalls off-limits. He hired a especially on weekends, that can make the trail freefalls. One falls gracefully over a long, curved crew of six men to build a trail along the falls from a crowded pathway. I went in the morning on a overhang. Some navigate around boulders and 1889 to 1893. The land that makes up a majority September weekday and encountered relatively islands of trees as they tumble. Who knew mov- of the park was sold by Ricketts’ son to the state. few people. But when I returned to the trailhead ing water could be so creative? n
Find your way among the falls There are several ways to hike the three glens containing the 22 waterfalls.
One popular route is also the shortest, passing 19 of the falls in a 3.2-mile loop that begins at the Lake Rose Trailhead parking area. After a short hike, go straight onto the Falls Trail and head downstream into Ganoga Glen. At Waters Meet, cross a bridge and head upstream into Glen Leigh. At the top of the glen, turn left onto Highland Trail back to the parking area. Top photo: Kayaks rest along the shore of Lake Jean. If you don’t think you can handle the steep (Ad Crable) Falls Trail, take the 1-mile Evergreen Trail loop Bottom photo: Hikers take beginning on route 118. Adams Falls, which a break in front of the some consider the most scenic, is located only B. Reynolds Waterfall. about 100 yards down the trail. (Ad Crable)
October 2020 Bay Journal 31 32 common. (Barbaracommon. Harp) digital photography became before place took which of career, much his during slides that have accumulated of archive enormous the through sorts Harp Dave Bottom photo: Photographer (Dave Harp) Harp’s Dave of favorites. one is River Nanticoke land’s Mary near amarsh along mist the in nestled a barn Top of photo: The image
- Travel P curator Jenifer Dolde and exhibits specialist specialist exhibits Dolde Jenifer and curator Bay.” aboutchanging a story a tell They message. a have also Pete curator they Lesher, “but chief entirely. it it person, it’s in missing option than abetter won’t online exhibition seeing the with compare viewing website October. to by late mid While museum’s on the visits for virtual available be 20, 2021, Sept. MD, until will Michaels, and St. in Museum Maritime Bay Chesapeake the W. at of on David is view Harp Photography Bay it. people who inhabit the and scape land the both in place taking of change sense aching an evoke also They years. of 40 a span over shorelines of Chesapeake beauty the trace work, look Harp’s at his photographs rospective Bay. to exhibition Now,provide a ret first the in By Lara Lutz By Lara &Water Land ‘Where Meet’ Dave Harp’s Chesapeake: Harp worked closely with Lesher, associate Lesher, associate with worked closely Harp photos,”compelling said beautiful, are “They Chesapeake Water The and Meet: Land Where living life on the edge — of the Chesapeake Chesapeake —of the edge on the life living spent decades has hotographer Dave Harp - - I’m happiest.” I’m That’s be. whereto It’slike where I marsh the in or otters. or it’s butterflies whether is, life grasses “It’s edges,” he of said. the abundance where the on is Bay 1980s. the the in since much “So of life Harp’s been passion has ones, marshy the cially of light. abeam across hand your ing menu the from by wav —you select operations touch-free provides Cannon-Brown, Sandy and Harp, by created Tom films, Horton Journal Bay from trailers with kiosk interactive An masks. wear COVID-19 Visitors also must arrived. before case the been have would than apart abit photos farther spaced wall-mounted are for show.60 alooping slide another and pieces framed as 60 approximately chose they photos, which to from about 300 down archives enormous his display.culled They COVID-conscious and attractive an arrange show for and the images toJim select Koerner The theme of Chesapeake shorelines, espe shorelines, theme Chesapeake Theof the To experience, promote viewing asafe - - of working skipjacks. skipjacks. of working era thelost document also They time. first the public by for the seen be will many workdays; grueling and ships watermen, their White and American of African portraits including ages, im- 1976in striking are They on askipjack. weeks two during taken images white and black But show a9-minute slide highlights formats. digital and film color, both from taken full in Most of the photographs in the exhibition are are exhibition the photographs in ofMost the Bay Journal
Oct ober 2020 Top photo: A great blue heron shoots the gap between two stands of phragmites along the shore of the upper Choptank River in Maryland. (Dave Harp)
Bottom photo: Icicles on the Rebecca T. Ruark catch a glint of sunshine as the well-known skipjack cruises the Choptank River. (Dave Harp)
As Harp looks at the array of images in the At high school, Harp set up “a lovely little photography business and took on a variety of two-story gallery, he sees many other scenes that darkroom” and served as photographer for the projects. But he returned to a full focus on his have changed dramatically or no longer exist: school newspaper and yearbook. outdoor passions when he went to work for the islands that have eroded away, grand trees that On Nov. 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy Chesapeake Bay Journal in 2009, and is still on collapsed into the water and stalwart residents was assassinated, Harp left school midday and the staff today. of Bay communities who have passed away. In headed for the newsroom. He spent the after- Harp continues to describe himself as a one underwater image, fish swim across an old noon developing photos that arrived by way of photojournalist or documentary photographer gravestone in the Honga River that was pulled the Associated Press machine and running them rather than an artist. But the artistry emanat- down by rising water. to the news desk. Harp said he felt like a part of ing from the Maritime Museum’s walls can’t be “Dave is at a point when he’s reflecting on his history. And the experience sealed his interest in denied. career in what is arguably a pivotal time for the photojournalism. And he prefers, often without success, to Bay,” Lesher said. After graduating from Ohio University, Harp emphasize the images rather than talk about his And despite the untold hours Harp has spent got a job at the Morning Herald while his father with the Bay and with his photos, the exhibition moved on to become editor of the evening gives him a new sense of the story his work tells. edition. He later took on some work at the See HARP, page 36 “It’s an emotional thing to see all of this in one Sun in Baltimore and was offered the position place,” he said. “I’ve never had this perspective of photographer for the Sunday Sun Magazine before. I want my grandchildren to see it.” in 1980. “It was a dream job,” he said, providing the Coupons for a camera chance to photograph lots of stories at home and A very young Dave Harp got his start in pho- abroad. His work there included the skipjack tography from butter boxes. In the 1950s, he col- assignment, which resulted in several images for lected coupons printed on butter packages that the magazine and the larger collection of images could be exchanged for different items — and now on display at the Maritime Museum. Harp used them to get his first (plastic) camera. Harp’s time at the Sun also introduced him His father, Joe Harp, was the likely inspiration. to reporter Tom Horton, whom Harp calls “My father was a word guy, a newspaper writer his “work husband.” They began covering the and editor, but he was also an avid, obsessive Chesapeake Bay together and have remained photographer,” Harp said. “So I guess that was in cahoots for decades, collaborating on news the influence that probably got me started.” articles, columns, books and films about the The senior Harp was editor of the Hagerstown Chesapeake Bay. Morning Herald in Western Maryland. As a teen, “Dave’s taught me how to see, to appreciate Harp began helping out in the newsroom. There, the nuances of light and to embrace dawn and he learned about composition, film and process- dusk and ignore noon,” Horton said. ing from news photographer David Cottingham. After leaving the Sun, Harp launched his own
October 2020 Bay Journal 33 WHERE LAND & WATER MEET: THE CHESAPAKE BAY PHOTOGRAPHY OF DAVID W. HARP is an exhibition at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD, on the Bay’s Eastern Shore. You can view the exhibit online or in person through Sept. 20, 2021. The virtual exhibit will be available at cbmm.org starting in mid– to late- October. Access to the exhibition gallery is included with admission to the museum’s waterfront campus.
DAILY HOURS 9 a.m.–5 p.m. May–Oct. 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Nov.–April Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day HARP from page 35 ADMISSION own role in creating them. etched by choppy waves. $14 for adults, $11 for “That’s the artist mindset,” said the museum’s “It’s very dramatic,” Doyle observed. seniors. Other discounts Dolde. “Artists think more about getting their “I was literally throwing up trying to shoot apply for children, college work out there, and not about themselves.” that,” Harp said. students and retired military She noted that Harp is very articulate about More recently, he traveled by kayak to snag personnel. Admission is free his work. “He has a very strong sense of his mis- shots of a shoreline scene on the Choptank for museum members, ac- sion and his method,” she said. River where a cute otter rose above the surface tive military personnel, and to watch him. That pair of photos cost Harp Stories within stories children ages 5 and younger. two bloody arms and a trip to the doctor’s office: “Every image [in the exhibition] has a story,” The otter swam up and bit one forearm as he Dolde said. “There’s the literal story, which you paddled, then shot under the kayak to come up can hear from Dave in the captions, and the and bite the other one. story you can find in the image personally.” The adventure ended with a series of tetanus There are also stories that Harp carries with and rabies shots, but Harp recovered quickly and him from years of intimate moments with the added the story to his compendium. landscape and its people. “Every photo reminds You won’t find those stories in captions, but you me of an experience,” he said, and the body of might hear some of them during an online series work he has produced serves as a kind of family of talks the museum is hosting to further high- album of memories. light Harp’s work. They take place on Oct. 7, Nov. One of his favorite images centers on an old 4 and Dec. 9. For information about registration barn in a marsh on Chicone Creek on the East- and fees, visit cbmm.org/HarpArtistSeries. ern Shore, its wooden white sides pairing with For beginning photographers or those who the mist that curls around it. The gold tones of photograph the Bay and its rivers for fun, Harp early light on the marsh plants give it a glow of offers this advice: Go out early and go out often. Top photo: The last house serenity. Yet Harp’s memory of the moment is a Much of the magic lies in the early morning on Holland Island in the little less serene. light. Composition, he says, is critical. “What’s Chesapeake Bay makes a final stand amidst hungry waves and “I almost lost my life taking that one,” Harp in the frame? What do you want to show? What the jagged remains of drowned said, only half joking. “I was standing pushed do you want to say?” vegetation. (Dave Harp) against the railing of a Route 50 bridge, and the Regarding his own work, Harp is clear about tractor trailers were whipping past in what felt the takeaway message he hopes is in all of his Bottom photo: Louis Phillips, like inches from my head.” photos. “This is the beauty of what we have and shown here in 1976, was a In another image, a group of workboats are what we stand to lose,” he said. “We really do deckhand on the skipjack tussling in surprisingly close proximity on a need to pay attention.” n Rebecca T. Ruark. churning Bay, its surface nearly midnight blue,
34 Bay Journal October 2020 Possumhaw Viburnum (Viburnem nudem) blooms in all of its fall glory at Dipping Pond Run in Baltimore County. (Dave Harp) Bay Journal donors are the berry best! here’s no greater sign of the Bay Journal’s success than the compliments and donations received from Ray Moses Bernice Colvard Steven P. Alpern Treaders like you. Your gifts to the Bay Journal Fund continue to make our work possible, from coverage Virginia Beach, VA Annandale, VA Towson, MD of the Bay restoration and the health of its rivers, to the impacts of climate change, toxics, growth and In memory Mike Davis Stu & Mindy Ashton invasive species on the region’s ecosystem. Our staff works every day to bring you the best reporting on of Gay Petrlik Alexandria, VA King George, VA from George Petrlik Sally Murray James Chris Aurand environmental issues in the Bay region. We are grateful for your donations. Ellicott City, MD Please continue to support our success! & Daryl G. Kimball Berwick, PA Virginia Phillips Washington, DC William Barnes Austin, TX Pat & Jim Kelly Mercersburg, PA Doug Rogers Towson, MD Dr. & Mrs. Robert H. Batchelor Bob Hickmott Bonnie May Kersta Joe & Elaine DiGiovanni GUARANTOR Locust Grove, VA Jon A. Lucy Hydes, MD Charles Conklin Washington, DC Yorktown, VA Laurel, MD Robert Rottiers Gloucester, VA Glen Besa Glen Arm, MD Richard Hinds Mr. & Mrs. Blake Marles Cindy & Craig Dunn Crozet, VA Robert E. Pickett North Chesterfield, VA Washington, DC Macungie, PA Camp Hill, PA CHAMPION Tim Ryan Reedville, VA E. M. Blankenship Jeffrey Smith Joseph Matassa & Mary Wyatt Karen Edgecombe Gary Knipling Towson, MD M. L. Pierce College Park, MD Mason Neck, VA Crofton, MD Joppa, MD Dunkirk, MD Mr. & Mrs. John Segal McLean, VA Douglas & Mary Ann W. O. Rogers Bernie Fowler Bill Matuszeski & Mary Procter BENEFACTOR Baltimore, MD David Reese Blankinship Gainesville, VA Prince Frederick, MD Washington, DC Jeff Eberly Michael Shultz Centreville, MD Damascus, MD Lancaster, PA William Seabrook Carrie Buppert Frasure Annapolis, MD Douglas & Suzanne Richardson George & Peggy Bogdan BOOSTER Dunkirk, MD Finksburg, MD Rebecca Hanmer Russ Stevenson Cambridge, MD Baltimore, MD Michael Reis Fredericksburg, VA Catherine Sheppard James Garner Severna Park, MD Patrick Shea Sarah Bur Silver Spring, MD Bowie, MD Roanoke, VA Ronald Hartman Jacob Stoltzfus Fairfax, VA Baltimore, MD Dave Neumann Elkton, MD Michael Sicuranza Carol Hooper Lebanon, PA G. Tornell Carlos Burlar Baltimore, MD Seven Valleys, PA Havre De Grace, MD Bruce Hilpert Bill Sweeney Port Republic, MD Fairfax, VA Nicholas Dilks Tucson, AZ Col. John A. Hugya SPONSOR McDaniel, MD Mark Zadrozny Paul Bystrak Baltimore, MD USMC (Retired) Brian Kane Bill Ackerman Keith Thomas McKees Rocks, PA Salisbury, MD Hollsopple, PA Alexandria, VA Clifton, VA Christopher F. Dungan Avondale, PA Bruce Poole Kelsey Corbitt Susan Kidwell Trappe, MD Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth B. Lewis Robert Bolster Ronald & Angela Trivane Wilmington, DE Alexandria, VA Chicago, IL Cockeysville, MD Kilmarnock, VA Richard Masland Annapolis, MD Mr. & Mrs. Lee Weaver Ben Cornelius Rona Kobell Weston, MA Mark & Karen Perreault Marney Bruce Gregory L. Van Blargan East Springfield, PA Philadelphia, PA Towson, MD Norfolk, VA Bethesda, MD Montgomery Village, MD Chris & Susan Figgs James Cox ADVOCATE Virginia Koetzner Scott Kearby Kenneth Carter Jeffrey Wainscott Elkton, MD Tappahannock, VA Dr. Stephen Prince Patchogue, NY Churchville, MD Glen Allen, VA Burgess, VA Hyattsville, MD Jerry Hopkins Brian Davis Margaret L’Hommedieu Carolyn Keefe Beverly A. Cigler George Wilkinson Annapolis, MD Hampton, VA Robert E. Cook Deale, MD Solomons, MD & J. Kent Crawford Avenue, MD Arnold, MD Thomas Klein Heather Dewar Hummelstown, PA John Lake Bob Ensor Vickie York Pasadena, MD Gainesville, FL Kathy Cornell Mechanicsburg, PA Manchester, MD Ted Connell Ocean View, DE Nathalie, VA E. D. Yost John Dinges Severna Park, MD Ellen M. Lawler Roger Gookin Charlottesville, VA Washington, DC In memory Salisbury, MD Towson, MD Wilson Coudon SUPPORTER of Mathew Graninger Thomas Embich Bill Hughes Fred Dolezal Fort Washington, MD Fred Masterman from Ruth Anne Graninger James Halbert Lewes, DE Deltaville, VA Lutherville Timonium, MD Annville, PA Berlin, MD Towson, MD Berk C Davis John & Jeanette Beck Katherine McAloon John M. Elkin, Jr. Silver Spring, MD Andy McCosh John Huennekens Ralph & Elizabeth Heimlich Alexandria, VA Urbanna, VA Stewartstown, PA Towson, MD Washington, DC Ellicott City, MD Kristin Dennen Leesburg, VA See DONORS, page 36
October 2020 Bay Journal 35 A beech tree lights up an autumn forest in the Chesapeake watershed. (Dave Harp)
DONORS from page 35 Judith Jaqueth Wayne & Delores Mills Edwin & Anne Thomas Cecilia Lane Shamokin Creek Donald Merryfield Salisbury, MD Hutchinson Island, FL Pasadena, MD Ellicott City, MD Restoration Alliance St. Michaels, MD Mount Carmel, PA Joan Ellis Kathleen Jenkins Carolyn A. Neff & Robin Thomas Jack & Sue Lattimore Catherine A. Mollick Guilford, CT La Plata, MD Linda T. Freestone Bryn Mawr, PA Gwynn Oak, MD Susan & Umberto Shawham Annapolis, MD Mechanicsburg, PA Chestertown, MD Dr. & Mrs. Michael Erwin Louise Jenne John Titus Paul Lord Karen Nagy Hendersonville, NC Gaithersburg, MD Philip L. Olsen Binghamton, NY Cooperstown, NY Tracy Lynn Sigmann Spotsylvania, VA Thurmont, MD Kennedyville, MD Alan Feikin Roberta Johnson Leo J. Vollmer Carol MacCubbin David Ovesty Owings Mills, MD Annandale, VA Peter Perina Kennedyville, MD Forest Hill, MD Daxel V. Tarner Achilles, VA Mathews, VA Burtonsville, MD Paul Fialcowitz Peter Johnson Donna Wasserbach Steve Maczuga Susan Poole York, PA Washington, DC Thomas Poe Baltimore, MD Chambersburg, PA Caroline C. Thorpe Sykesville, MD Hubert, NC Waldorf, MD Laureen Free Margaret Kertess Joe Watson Bill May Abe Siebert Chesapeake City, MD Locust Grove, VA Thomas & Sally Price Virginia Beach, VA Catonsville, MD John G. Tracey Scotland, MD Sperryville, VA Gettysburg, PA Debra Gingell Lin Klein Michael Weisner Peter Mirones Mary Spiro Tracys Landing, MD Oxford, PA Steve Retallick Salisbury, MD Tampa, FL Irvine & Lynn Wilson Somerset, OH Crewe, VA Sandston, VA Rene & Matilyn Grace William & Henrietta Kodrich Clara Werner Ken Moore Chris Swarth Piney Point, MD Clarion, PA James Sandison Mount Airy, MD Gloucester, VA Barbara K. Wright Lothian, MD Severna Park, MD Moseley, VA Chris Greenhalgh Elizabeth Kopp John C. Wilhelm John A. O’Brien Carl Zulick Walkerton, VA Oxford, NC Larry Sanford La Plata, MD Upper Marlboro, MD Mark Wynn Deltaville, VA Cambridge, MD Arnold, MD Michael Haire Mark & Diane Leonard Maureen Wilkerson Bonnie Parker In Honor of Jessie Zelt Timonium, MD Lancaster, PA Michael Schaffer Bethesda, MD Snow Hill, MD Tommy Zamberlan Barbara Zelt Lewes, DE Ruther Glen, VA Reisterstown, MD Debbie Hargis Richard Lewis Rob Winger Dennis G. Parks Virginia Beach, VA Nashville, TN Virginia Scott Indiana, PA Gallatin, TN Brandy Beazley Beverly Castner Columbia, MD Ladysmith, VA Selbyville, DE Frederick J. Heagy Francis Glenn Lumpkins Jan & Robyn Wright Sylvia Dlugokinski Plenz Middletown, PA Lusby, MD Ellen M. Smith Roanoke, VA Hebron, MD Louise Fenton Janine Maher Glenville, PA Mappsville, VA Queen Anne, MD Ralph Heilig Patrick & Mary Ellen McGrath Allison Wright William A. Putland Chambersburg, PA Churchton, MD Robert Stanhope Silver Spring, MD Havre De Grace, MD Charles Fletcher James May Sparks, MD Sykesville, MD Cumberland, MD Eileen Hofmann William McNown A. Thomas Young Jack Renner Norfolk, VA Covington, VA Rodney Stark Onancock, VA Colonial Beach, VA Mark Gilbert James L. McDonnell, Jr. Pocono Lake, PA Jeannette, PA Oak Hall, VA David Hutton Jesse Meiller Donald Ziegler Hugh Richardson Catonsville, MD Washington, DC Henry Stromberger Lititz, PA Conowingo, MD James Harrison Terance & Susanne Smith Middle River, MD Chesapeake, VA Annapolis, MD Cyril Jacquot Frank & Bette Meyerle FRIEND Don Robinson Washington, DC Easton, MD Carol Taylor Delta, PA Brittany McGill Delores M. Taulton Brianna Knoppow Queenstown, MD Monkton, MD Frederick, MD Washington, DC Thank You To These Philanthropic Donors
36 Bay Journal October 2020 Water reflection doubles the beauty of autumn color on the Nanticoke River at Riverton, MD. (Dave Harp)
Ann & Ted Taylor Bruce Setzer Harold E. Wingert Theron I. Russell Priscilla Arenas Arnold Ching Ann Harper Elverson, PA Nazareth, PA Enola, PA Baltimore, MD Kensington, MD Mechanicsville, MD Yorktown, VA Carolyn Dimpsey Leslie Steen Robert Yurchuck Sally Shoemaker Bill Arnold JoAnn Clifton Nancy Hastings Hummelstown, PA Tilghman, MD Virginia Beach, VA Salisbury, MD Lancaster, VA Upper Marlboro, MD Woolford, MD Bruce & Susan DiVincenzo Bob & Susie Woods Mary Jo & Thomas Bosley Price Shuler Harold Barnes Kitty Cox James E. Hausamann Landenberg, PA Havre De Grace, MD Fishing Creek, MD Denton, MD Timonium, MD King William, VA Chincoteague, VA Walter Fleischer John Boddie Christine Dube John Streb William Baur Joseph Coyne Charles Hess Columbia, MD Onancock, VA Williamsburg, VA Pasadena, MD Wilmington, DE Madison, MD State College, PA Charles Fletcher G. Bunn Diane Dunlap Sarah Taylor-Rogers Thomas R. Bender, Jr. David & Christie Crane Drew F. Hoff Sykesville, MD Montross, VA Ellicott City, MD Baltimore, MD Bellefonte, PA Parksley, VA Chestertown, MD Doug Gibson In memory Stephen & Katherine Jameson James W. Voshell Louis & Mary Lou Bercheni Elaine Delp Dan Jacobsen Olney, MD of Walter Seek The Plains, VA Parkton, MD Dillsburg, PA Baltimore, MD Richmond, VA Tom & Chris Langley from Mary Cramer Elizabeth Kfoury David York James Boettger Barbara Ellis Marion R. Jones Felton, PA Jefferson, MD Baltimore, MD Akron, PA Manheim, PA Virginia Beach, VA Mechanicsville, VA Ms. C. J. Sanbourn Garrick B. Fryer Chris Kidd Dr. Lawrence C. Zacharias Philip Bowman William Farrell Barbara Jones Scottsville, VA Fredericksburg, VA Vinton, VA Richmond, VA Hanover, PA Forest Hill, MD White Stone, VA Kenneth Whitlow Theresa Hannibal Holly Meyer Dr. Barbara Abraham Shirley Brandes Jim Foard Joseph Kammerer Sterling, VA Accident, MD Silver Spring, MD Hampton, VA Grantsville, MD Rosedale, MD McLean, VA Dorothy Gold Stuart Knudsen Clyde A. Miller Nancy Adams Caroline Braun David Fryauff Joyce Kelly Henrico, VA Locust Hill, VA Falls Church, VA Exton, PA California, MD Gaithersburg, MD Ellicott City, MD Jim Barr Kathi Mestayer Michael W. Moscatello Fabienne Ament Rebecca Byrd William Geoghegan James Kepler Benton, MO Williamsburg, VA Georgetown, TX Prince Frederick, MD Annapolis, MD Easton, MD York, PA Callie Fishburn Bruce & Linda Perrygo Thomas H. Pheiffer Kevin Anthony Caroline Cardullo Louis Haber Frederick, MD Leonardtown, MD Purcellville, VA Boothbay, ME Rockville, MD Havre De Grace, MD Bernie Klemanek Theodore Spickler Bill Ritter Lee Archard Hank & Sara Chase Janet Hammed Mineral, VA Dagsboro, DE Millersville, MD White Stone, VA Myersville, MD Bozman, MD
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October 2020 Bay Journal 37 COMMENTARY LETTERS PERSPECTIVES It’s time to reward Bay cleanup performance LETTER TO THE EDITOR By Rich Batiuk & Joel Dunn Natural gas is necessary I would like to offer the following artners in the Chesapeake Bay watershed of different BMPs specific to each parcel thoughts in support of the proposed Del- Pare familiar with the monumental chal- of land. Mar Energy Pathway Project, including lenges of a pandemic that crosses every bor- For example, it has been known for the proposed pipeline extension from der and threatens our health. For 40 years, decades that forest buffers help to prevent Salisbury to Princess Anne, MD. we have been working tirelessly to address nutrient and sediment pollution from 1) The pipeline route generally follows an ecosystemwide threat — a disease, if you entering local waterways. Now we are able existing road and railroad rights-of-way, will — caused by excess nitrogen, phospho- to compare restoration opportunities across and the purported impacts are temporary rous and sediment harming the health of the landscape by rapidly mapping the agri- and appear to be minimal on nontidal our rivers and streams, the Bay itself, much cultural land that drains to each potential streams, nontidal wetlands and wetlands of the Chesapeake’s terrestrial and aquatic buffer. This means that in the near future buffers. In total, less than one acre of wildlife and human health. we may be able to differentiate the projects land will be temporarily disturbed. In A total maximum daily load or “pollu- that filter the most pollution and accelerate comparison, a new central station solar tion diet” now guides the restoration of the Bay restoration with performance-based farm has permanent impacts and requires Bay and its watershed. The TMDL is the crediting of the best restoration projects. between 5–10 acres per megawatt. Chesapeake’s treatment plan. It is grounded Therefore, in the near future, the Bay 2) Too often, natural gas is viewed as in systemwide science and monitoring coor- watershed model could employ higher a competitor to renewables. In reality, dinated and enforced by the U.S. Environ- resolution geospatial data and change how natural gas is a necessary complement to mental Protection Agency and implemented BMPs are valued at the very local scale. renewables. For every megawatt of new by the states and localities in the watershed. Crediting BMPs at a finer scale means that wind and solar, you have to construct While partners have been successful on a the pollution reduction and the benefits to approximately 1 MW of fast start number of fronts, we now face the most Chesapeake Conservancy team members apply the local landscape are incorporated in the combustion turbines fueled with natural difficult stage of treatment. GIS technology for restoration projects in Penn- value of the credit. The location of a BMP gas. How else do you keep the lights on The sources of pollution that plague the sylvania. (Jody Couser/Chesapeake Conservancy) on an individual farm and within a local when the wind does not blow and the Chesapeake’s waterways are well-known: In watershed can make a significant difference sun does not shine? Longer-term, we may addition to atmospheric deposition of nitro- pollution loads with more detail than in water quality outcomes, and this new get technology breakthroughs that allow gen in the Bay, excess nitrogen, phospho- ever before and to prioritize and tailor approach rewards farmers, municipali- us to economically store electricity from rous and sediment flow in from wastewater, restoration actions on individual tracts of ties and others for the full extent of water renewables, but right now we have no urban storm water runoff and farms. land. Just as contact tracing and mapping quality benefits they provide to our streams choice but to back up renewables with Clean Water Act regulations largely are critical for fighting the COVID-19 and rivers. natural gas. address wastewater pollution and, to a lesser pandemic, restoring the Chesapeake will The implications of this new approach 3) Natural gas does have some extent, stormwater runoff. Polluted runoff depend on enhanced data collection and cannot be understated. To refer back to greenhouse gas emissions, but it is the from agricultural landscapes, though, high-resolution geospatial analysis to show our medical analogy, this is like diagnosing cleanest fuel we have available. Natural is mainly addressed through voluntary partners more precisely which conservation each patient individually and sending the gas has approximately half the greenhouse measures like agricultural best management and restoration actions are most needed most effective medicine to the exact part of gas emissions of coal. New household practices, and this presents an entirely dif- and where best to use them. the body where it’s most needed. appliances such as gas furnaces can burn ferent challenge. With these new tools, partners can The EPA and its Bay Program partners’ natural gas at more than 95% efficiency. Determining the amount of pollution better address nonpoint source pollution support for this work has been and contin- 4) The proposed pipeline will spur emitted from the end of a pipe (like waste- and revolutionize the cleanup by shifting ues to be critical to our collective impact economic development in a more water) is relatively simple. It is much more it from effort-based to performance-based on the Bay. By enhancing the accuracy sustainable way on the Eastern Shore. Will difficult to determine the amount and metrics. and precision of the data input to the Bay there be environmental impacts? Sure. But source of pollution dispersed across wide The Bay watershed model currently watershed model, as well as how it credits these impacts will be less than any of the areas, such as farms, lawns and parking lots. credits the value of a pollution-reduction the specific location of individual BMPs, current alternatives. Partners in the state-federal Chesapeake activity on farmland by watershed sub- we can optimize the entire restoration And, by burning more natural gas Bay Program use a suite of watershed basin. The model determines credits for approach and meet our cleanup goals faster today, we will displace more egregious modeling tools, including the Chesapeake best management practices in almost and at lower costs. n fossil fuels like coal and make it less of Assessment Scenario Tool (CAST), to 2,000 sub-basins with an average size of 33 a challenge for our kids to clean up the understand how nutrient and sediment pol- square miles. In practice, this means that a Rich Batiuk is the former associate director environmental mess we leave behind. lution impacts the Bay and determine how credit is based on the average performance for science, analysis and implementation with best to restore and protect local waterways. of restoration practices in that location the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office. Brad Johnson New innovations, including high and the number of acres treated. But with Joel Dunn is the president and CEO of the President, ACN Energy Investments resolution satellite imagery and land cover/ higher resolution data, it is possible to Chesapeake Conservancy. land use mapping, enable us to estimate estimate pollutant reduction opportunities
38 Bay Journal October 2020 COMMENTARY LETTERS PERSPECTIVES Environmental justice: Equal footing in all decision-making By Taylor Lilley
nvironmental injustice comes in many late in the game. For example, when the legally if they were required to do some- Eforms. Throughout the Chesapeake Virginia Department of Environmental thing differently. These situations require Bay watershed, there are stories of sewage Quality held public meetings for the creativity and persistence. For example, in a backing up from city pipes into homes, Chickahominy Power Station’s ground- case challenging the proposed Buckingham massive power plants built in the middle water withdrawal application in January, Compressor Station in Virginia, the law of rural communities, and neighborhoods many community members remarked that didn’t specifically mention environmental surrounded by toxic Superfund sites. it was the first time they’d heard about it. justice or vulnerable communities. The More than 18 million of us share the Bay At that point, the proposed Chickahominy CBF and the Southern Environmental Law watershed, but marginalized and vulnerable Power Station had already received an air Center argued — and the court agreed — communities disproportionately shoulder permit, and the public meeting was the last that the law required the regulator to do the burden of more pollution, less access to in a series of meetings that had been held a meaningful analysis of environmental green space and environmental resources for the groundwater permit. justice impacts before granting the project and less say in the decision-making pro- While most regulators require that notice approval. That decision likely changed the cesses that affect their well-being. of a public meeting be posted in a newspa- air permitting process in Virginia to be one The consequences of this historic and per or on a regulator’s website, the notice that affirmatively requires an environmen- systematic injustice are devastating. process is often the subject of great debate. tal justice analysis. Higher exposure to air pollution has been One resident at the Chickahominy public It is impossible to adequately summarize linked to higher death rates during the meeting, who lived less than a mile from all of the challenges communities with COVID-19 pandemic. The neighbor- the proposed facility site, noted that the environmental justice concerns might face hoods most vulnerable to extreme, deadly public meeting notice ran in the paper the because every case and situation is differ- heat in cities — including Baltimore and day after Christmas. He told DEQ repre- Bernadette “BJ” Brown speaks to a group on ent. However, the need to engage as early as Richmond — are the same neighborhoods sentatives at the hearing that he didn’t read May 17, 2019, to protest a proposed natural possible and collect as much information as once redlined under racially discrimina- the paper that day because he didn’t think gas compressor station in Union Hill, VA. (Nina possible is a consistent and crucial compo- tory home lending practices. A 2017 study anyone would put anything important in Ernest/Southern Environmental Law Center) nent of environmental justice advocacy. commissioned by the Chesapeake Bay the newspaper the day after Christmas. advocates, nonprofits groups or lawyers — It is the responsibility of those who have Foundation found that pollution from the While there are many suggestions for or a mix of these. the capacity and expertise to engage to be Wheelabrator trash incinerator in Balti- reforming this process, most grassroots Additionally, if a community decides to a resource for communities and endeavor more caused nearly $55 million in health advocates agree that expanding notices to engage directly, they face the insurmount- to support their efforts. To truly achieve costs per year, with the greatest health im- include outreach to community centers, able task of developing an equal and ap- environmental justice in the Bay watershed, pact occurring in the city’s neighborhoods. churches and direct mail to addresses in af- propriate response to a project. The projects the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council, as The Chesapeake Bay Executive Council fected communities would be a meaningful that most often concern environmental well as the governments and institutions acknowledged these disparities at its annual step in the right direction. justice communities are extremely complex, it represents, must address the barriers to meeting in August and affirmed that the What is more, between jobs, families and and the applications/proposals are often meaningful participation that communities success of Bay restoration efforts depends transportation, it is not always feasible for full of scientific and technical conclusions. continue to face. n on the “equitable, just and inclusive engage- community members to attend meetings. To respond to those proposals, commu- ment of all communities living throughout Moreover, COVID-19 has illuminated the nities must attempt to craft an equally Taylor Lilley is the environmental justice the watershed.” lack of reliable internet access throughout scientific and technical response. staff attorney for the Chesapeake Bay As the environmental justice staff attor- the watershed and the country. Currently, Foundation. ney for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, I it is practically impossible to attend and Litigation process work to aid and support watershed commu- participate in public meetings if you do Engaging in environmental justice litiga- nities in their fights for clean air and water, not have internet access, and updates about tion is difficult because the process is not SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS with the ultimate goal of dismantling these a proposed project/application are often meant to be equitable and just; it is meant The Bay Journal welcomes comments and unfair systems. found solely online. to be efficient — largely for the government perspectives on environmental issues in the and its agencies. Chesapeake region. Letters to the editor should Access Responsive engagement To challenge a regulator’s decision in be 300 words or less and may be edited for To effectively engage in the decision- Once communities understand the court, communities must first exhaust all style or length. Opinion columns should be making process, individuals must become project and the process, they must deter- of their administrative remedies. Often, a arranged in advance. Contact editor Karl versed in the details of a proposed project mine how to engage. They may develop community will have a legitimate concern Blankenship at [email protected] or 717-428-2819. You can also reach the Bay and in the regulatory body that governs it. a direct response or seek out partners to or grievance, but it is too late in the process Journal by mail at 619 Oakwood Drive, Seven Most communities become familiar support their efforts or engage on their to engage. Further, even if it is obvious that Valleys, PA 17360-9395. Please include your with regulatory processes after learning of behalf. Potential partners might include a regulator or project applicant should have phone number or email address. the approval of a proposed project — too other community members and grassroots done something differently, it only matters
October 2020 Bay Journal 39 COMMENTARY LETTERS PERSPECTIVES It’s time to match cleanup assumptions with results, not give up
By Donald F. Boesch used a computer model, but one based on model have not been implemented to the the statistical patterns and trends in water extent reported by the states or they may iissed again?” That was the discourag- quality monitoring at locations throughout not be as effective as assumed. Ming headline on the front page of the the watershed. The estimated loads are nor- I have been a nag the past 25 years about September Bay Journal. Karl Blankenship’s malized for variations in streamflow, but the need to reconcile model estimates of article explains that the Chesapeake Bay states are influenced by whatever lags in manage- reductions with real-world observations are far off the mark in achieving the nutrient ment effects acting in the watershed. because it is critically important in order to pollution reductions they agreed to put in Based on this empirical estimation, the adapt practices to achieve desired results. place by 2025 to reach Bay cleanup goals. USGS scientists concluded that over the 20 There are only five years left in what, start- The reductions credited by the U.S. Envi- years between 1992 and 2012 the declin- ing with the 1987 Bay Agreement, will be a ronmental Protection Agency over the past ing nutrient fluxes to the Bay were mainly 38-year effort to reduce nutrient pollution decade, even in Maryland and Virginia, are due to wastewater treatment upgrades. The to the Bay. It is past time to verify what the predominantly from improved wastewater trends also reflected widespread declines credited management actions will achieve in treatment. Most states would have to ac- in atmospheric nitrogen inputs. On the reality, and in what time frame. I am heart- complish unprecedented reductions from other hand, their empirical model showed ened that USGS and Bay Program scientists agricultural sources over the next five years essentially no change in nitrogen loads and are working hard to sort out the degree to to meet their commitments. increasing loads of phosphorus emanat- which differences in the estimations are I was one of the scientists who partici- ing from agriculture, despite considerable attributable to lags in response or erroneous pated in the five-year study during the late efforts to control nutrients. Surprisingly, assumptions on the effectiveness of actions 1970s that led to the focus on reducing estimated fluxes from urban areas declined that have been, and will be, taken. nutrient pollution as key to the recovery slightly for nitrogen, despite ongoing This is no time to give up on meeting of the Bay ecosystem. I was around to see The EPA’s official tallies of nutrient loads from ag- urbanization. the Bay nutrient reduction targets, as the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership riculture are based on computer model estimates, In the Bay Program’s management model, challenging as they may be. In a flood of miss its 2000 deadline, and then its 2010 not direct measurements. (Dave Harp) the reductions in wastewater loadings in new papers, my scientific colleagues have deadline for achieving those reductions. All both nitrogen and phosphorus are generally documented improvements in water quality hands must redouble their efforts to avoid the computer model load estimates are dif- similar to those in the empirical model. and living components of the ecosystem as missing the third deadline, but, as a data ficult to verify with actual monitoring. This is not surprising, because the discharg- a result of those nutrient reductions that geek, I have to point out another elephant Reconciling model estimates with real- es are monitored and directly enter surface have actually been measured. This gives in the room. world observations is not a new concern. In waters, without appreciable lag times. But us confidence that substantial further How confident are we that the actions a 2004 front page Washington Post article, the management model shows reductions of improvements will result if and when the taken will, in reality, result in the nutrient Bay Pollution Progress Overstated, alleged both nitrogen and phosphorus from agricul- reductions needed to meet Bay cleanup reductions that are credited? When will the that estimates derived from computer mod- tural sources of 24% and 45% respectively goals are actually achieved. Bay actually see their impact? These are not els were based on overgenerous assump- from 1985 to 2019. And, it shows loads Come 2025, if the Bay Program partner- easy questions to answer. tions and did not agree with water quality from developed lands increasing by about ship falls short, it will have to consider more Loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from monitoring data. The next year, the U.S. 45%, opposite the declining trend suggested effective approaches. This is particularly wastewater treatment facilities are well- Government Accountability Office faulted by the empirical model. true for agriculture, which is responsible for monitored, giving us confidence that those the Bay Program for comingling various I am not suggesting that one modeling the largest portion of remaining nitrogen reductions have been achieved. Estimated kinds of data such as monitoring data, approach is right and the other is wrong. and phosphorus loads to the Bay in both loads from other sources are based on results of program actions and the results of There are a number of possible reasons for management and empirical models. In reported on-the ground runoff control ac- its predictive model. the discrepancies between the Bay Pro- a recent review of campaigns to reduce tions, assumptions about their effectiveness In 2009, the EPA requested that the gram’s watershed management model and coastal nutrient pollution around the world, in reducing nutrient losses, and computer National Academy of Sciences evaluate the the USGS empirical model. There are, of I found that substantial agricultural load simulations of how those actions ultimately Bay Program’s accounting of nutrient man- course, methodological differences in how reductions could only be documented where affect the amount of nutrients reaching the agement practice implementation. It was the two models simulate the way nutrients nutrient management was regulated or pub- Bay’s tidal waters. The EPA’s official tallies unable to quantify the likely magnitude are transported to the Bay, including the lic subsidies depended on meeting perfor- of nutrient loads from developed lands and or even the likely direction of errors in the effects of climatic variability. The manage- mance standards. Reconciling management agriculture are based on those computer Bay Program’s tracking of nutrient reduc- ment model does not include lag times so assumptions with empirical observations model estimates, not direct measurements. tions resulting from management actions in on-the-ground actions result in immediate should inform such future pathways. n The model also assumes those actions the watershed. reductions. But those reductions may not quickly reduce loads entering the Bay. It In May 2020, scientists from the U.S. yet be fully evident in the observed con- Donald F. Boesch, the retired president does not include multiyear “lags” in deliv- Geological Survey published an important centrations used by the empirical model. of the University of Maryland Center for ery as some nutrients linger in soils or move paper on factors driving nutrient trends in However, it is also possible that the agricul- Environmental Science, is a member of the slowly through groundwater. Consequently, streams of the Bay watershed. They also tural practices credited in the management Bay Journal’s Science Advisory Committee.
40 Bay Journal October 2020 COMMENTARY LETTERS PERSPECTIVES To engineer is human; doing it right might require beavers
Beavers are coming back, even to the in- imical conurbation that is most of northern Anne Arundel County. Michelsen, acting deputy director of the county’s Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration, is my guide to what is no less than a demon- stration project, with beavers themselves doing much of the construction. For Michelsen, it was good news around 2015 when beavers started showing up on the county restoration project that en- By Tom Horton hanced the north branch of Cypress Creek here. It drains to the Magothy River and then the Chesapeake Bay. What humans began, the beavers enhanced, impounding ehold the concrete road culvert: straight the whole stream with a series of dams and Band narrow and lifeless, having whisked ponds. the previous day’s rains from oceans of Until recently, the beavers would not hard-baked asphalt with ruthless efficiency, have been embraced for their ecosystem swelling quickly to 6 feet deep with storm- contributions. They’d have been removed, water, then receding to less than an inch of meaning trapped and killed. That’s still water hours later. too common around much of the Bay Now follow Erik Michelsen across the watershed. road, which is Maryland Route 2, a busy Beavers are compelled to chew, to control Erik Michelsen stands atop a beaver dam in Anne Arundel County, MD. (Dave Harp) four-lane traffic artery connecting Annapo- their marvelous, self-sharpening teeth that lis to Baltimore. never stop growing; compelled also to dam, from big shopping malls and passes under Governor’s Bridge Road from flooding. Duck behind a seniors’ apartment annoyed by the sound of flowing water. the road by Joe’s Seafood and Precision No single-channel babbling brook here — complex and enter lush expanses of ponds, The beaver dams here were raising water Auto Tune. Clambering down a slope, we just a broad and languid flow of water, wetlands and forested creek bottoms that levels, with a potential to flood Ritchie picked up an improbable nature trail that moving in braids across an expansive sponsor natural diversity, slow stormwater Highway. The county responded by install- skirts several acres of beautiful pond and floodplain. This was water’s chosen way runoff so it can soak into underground ing a simple, low-tech device called a pond wetlands. Chisel-like beaver chews are back when both the watershed and the Bay aquifers, allow natural processes time to leveler. A sturdy metal cage toward the evident on sticks and felled trees as big as were healthier. cleanse and clarify the discharge, and lower end of the pond protects one end of 18 inches in diameter. Beavers feed on the The shift toward an ecological beaver reduce downstream flooding. an 18-inch diameter plastic drainpipe. bark and use the wood to construct dams ethic remains slow and uneven across the One side of the road represents the worst The other end of the pipe exits down- and lodges. watershed. Tools like pond levelers, abrasive of human engineering, maximizing one stream of the beavers’ dam, carrying the The beavers have done the “restoration” paint and other techniques to protect trees thing, water removal, to the ruin of all else. sound of flowing water far enough away here by themselves, Michelsen said. At least are available, notably from Mike Callahan’s The other maximizes nothing, except life so they are not motivated to plug it. The twice, the county Department of Public Beaver Solutions in Massachusetts. Calla- in all of its buzzy, croaky, splashy, winged whole affair is set up to keep the pond deep Works trapped them out and tore out their han’s companion Beaver Institute provides wonder — water as resource. The latter enough to make the beavers feel at home, dam. The beavers just moved back in. both hands-on and do-it-yourself training represents a most hopeful collaboration but not so deep as to flood the roadway. The problem was a fear of flooding that for organizations or individuals working for between humans and beavers, the animals Michelsen estimates there are hundreds raised manhole covers, allowing access to a a peaceful coexistence with the beavers. that once engineered the Chesapeake of beavers now in Anne Arundel County. major sewer line that runs along the creek We’ve scarcely begun to plumb the watershed with a thoroughness unmatched Complaints about beavers typically run floodplain. The solution was as simple as potential of beavers to restore water’s right- even by today’s 18 million people. about “50/50, flooding and chewing down pouring a bit more concrete to raise the ful way throughout Bay landscapes. But Before the mid-1700s, when they were peoples’ trees,” said Peter Bendel, with the manhole covers a few feet higher, beyond Michelsen has high hopes. “I am convinced virtually trapped out, millions of beavers Wildlife and Heritage division of the state the threat of flooding. It was a lot cheaper that, even in a highly urban watershed, and their dams and ponds were key to a Department of Natural Resources. than never-ending trapping, too. they can do wonders,” he said, “if we just Chesapeake that was clean and clear almost “So now it’s a matter of education, Later that day, south of Annapolis on allow them to work.” n beyond imagining. Scientific analyses of teaching co-existence, offering solutions, Flat Creek, a tributary of the South River, deep Bay sediments deposited through the explaining beavers’ benefits,” Michelsen said. we saw an expanse of beaver-wrought wild Tom Horton has written about the Chesa- centuries have provided us with insights We headed north up the highway toward rice wetlands that looks completely wild, peake Bay for more than 40 years, including into that astounding ecosystem. where Cattail Creek meanders down save for twin pond levelers protecting eight books.
October 2020 Bay Journal 41 VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES VIRGINIA to plant 50,000 trees this fall within their watersheds, particularly farms in Fauquier and Loudoun counties. WATERSHEDWIDE Occoquan River cleanups They are looking to plant at least 60 trees for a riparian Join Friends for Occoquan River and Prince William buffer or reforestation project at each location. There is no cost to the landowner. Volunteers are also Citizen Science: Creek Critters Trails and Streams Coalition for these cleanups: n Lake Ridge Marina in Lake Ridge: 9 a.m.–1 p.m. needed. Info: [email protected]. ONLINE Use Audubon Naturalist’s Creek Critters app to check The Bay Journal website has a stream’s health by identifying small organisms, then Oct. 10. Contact: Renate Vanegas at 703-674-6659. n VA Master Naturalists a new look! It also has a new creating a report based on what is found. Get the free Town of Occoquan: 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Oct. 10. Contact: Julie Little at 703-491-2168. VA Master Naturalists are a corps of volunteers who section called Bulletin Board, program at App Store or Google Play. Info: anshome.org/ where you can log in and n Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton: 9 a.m.–12 p.m. help to manage and protect natural areas through creek-critters. Learn about partnerships / host a Creek post your own events — and Oct. 17. Contact: Alex Vanegas at 703-674-784. plant & animal surveys, stream monitoring, trail Critters event: [email protected]. even include a photo. Visit n Fountainhead Regional Park in Fairfax Station: rehabilitation, teaching in nature centers. Training covers ecology, geology, soils, native flora & fauna, bayjournal.com and click on Chesapeake Network Contact: Sonia Monson at 703-581-5487. habitat management. Info: virginiamasternaturalist.org. “Bulletin Board.” Join the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Note: Registration for each event will be limited to 10 Chesapeake Network to learn about events or volunteers per time slot. Grab & go packaged snacks, IN PRINT Cleanup support & supplies opportunities that protect or restore the Bay, bottled drinks provided. Wear sturdy shoes, masks. Because of space limitations, The Prince William Soil & Water Conservation including webinars, job postings, networking. Info: Info / registation: friendsoftheoccoquan.org, the Bay Journal is not always District in Manassas, VA, gives stream cleanup put “Chesapeake Network” in search engine. [email protected]. There is no able to print every submission. events the supplies and support they need for trash rain date. In the event of inclement weather, visit Priority goes to events or removal projects. Groups also receive an Adopt-A- facebook.com/www.Friendsoftheoccoquan.org for programs that most closely DELAWARE Stream sign recognizing their efforts. For info / to updates. relate to the environmental adopt a stream / get a proposed site: Chapel Branch Nature Area health and resources of the International Coastal Cleanup [email protected]. Register events: Chesapeake Bay region. Join the Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy trashnetwork.fergusonfoundation.org. 8 a.m.–12 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Chapel Branch Nature Clean Virginia’s Water, which is participating in the DEADLINES Area in Seaford to plant native plants, small trees; Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, Chemical Water Quality Monitoring Teams The printed edition of Bulletin cut back encroaching vegetation on trails; move will be following social distancing requirements Volunteers with the Prince William (County) Soil Board contains events that old ties; till an area for a butterfly garden; weed the mostly by replacing larger events with many mini and Water Conservation District and Department take place (or have registration entry sign location. Bring gloves, tools, if possible. cleanups using a smaller number of volunteers. Small of Environmental Quality Chemical Water Quality deadlines) on or after the 11th The NRWC will provide water, snacks. Bring masks groups register their own time / date in October and Monitoring Teams collect data from local streams. of the month in which the item for when social distancing is required. Registration pick up cleanup supplies at locations around the Training includes collection techniques, reading data. is published through the 11th of required: 302-337-884, [email protected]. To state. Volunteers also record data about what they Monitoring sites are accessible for easy collection. the next issue. Deadlines run at sign up for a specific task, info about the coloring find. This information is used to keep up with trends Info: [email protected], pwswcd.org. least two months in advance. contest: rb.gy/uydbjg. and develop solutions to marine debris and plastic pollution. Use the forms at longwood.edu/cleanva/ November issue: October 11 VolunteerSiteCaptain.html or the CleanSwell App on PENNSYLVANIA December issue: November 11 a smartphone. Contacts for supplies: Middle Susquehanna River FORMAT n Fairfax: Clean Fairfax Council. Order supplies, pick There are many ways to get involved with the Middle Submissions to Bulletin Board them up at various locations. Sign up at least 10 days Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association: must be sent either as a Word or before cleanup: cleanfairfax.org/programs-events/ n Susquehanna Stewards: Deliver programming, Pages document or in the body WORKDAY WISDOM community-clean-up-program/. information to people in their region and help develop of an e-mail. Other formats, n Farmville: (Prince Edward, Buckingham & new initiatives. Info: middlesusquehannariverkeeper.org. including pdfs or Mailchimp, Make sure that when you participate in cleanup Cumberland counties): Borrow cleanup supplies from n Water Reporter App: Help to track the health of or Constant Contact will only or invasive plant removal workdays to protect the Clean Virginia Waterways of Longwood University. various fish species in the Middle Susquehanna be considered if space allows Chesapeake Bay watershed and its resources that Call 434-395-2602 at least seven days before event watershed by sharing photos, locations, other and information can be easily you also protect yourself. Organizers of almost for pickup in Farmville. info about your catches via the app. Reports are extracted. every workday strongly urge their volunteers to n Hampton: Hampton Clean City Commission, Info: made available to view via an interactive map at wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks and [email protected]. middlesusquehannariverkeeper.org. CONTENT closed-toe shoes (hiking or waterproof). This n Hampton: Hampton Public Libraries have cleanup n Share Concerns: The Middle Susquehanna You must include the title, time, helps to minimize skin exposure to poison ivy and kits to check out, then return after the cleanup year- Riverkeeper Association takes reports of any concern date and place of the event or ticks, which might be found at the site. Light- regarding the river or its tributaries very seriously. If program, and a phone number colored clothing also makes it easier to spot round. Call your local library branch for details. n you have a report of something out of the ordinary, (with area code) or e-mail address ticks. Hats are strongly recommended. Although Richmond: Sign up at least seven days before contact Riverkeeper John Zaktansky at 570-768- of a contact person. State some events provide work gloves, not all do; cleanup for pickup. Contact the Alliance for the 6300, whether the program is free or ask when registering. Events near water require Chesapeake Bay at [email protected] or 804-775-0951. [email protected]. has a fee; has an age requirement closed-toe shoes and clothing that can get wet or or other restrictions; or has muddy. Always bring water. Sunscreen and an Registration / info / if your organization has a staffed location and can serve as a supply pickup location: MARYLAND a registration deadline or insect repellent designed to repel both deer ticks welcomes drop-ins. and mosquitoes help. Lastly, most organizers ask [email protected], 434-395-2602. Clean that volunteers register ahead of time. Knowing Virginia Waterways will send each group/family a Free streamside buffers CONTACT how many people are going to show up ensures certificate of appreciation. Safety guidelines: Stream-Link Education is looking for Frederick Email your submission to that they will have enough tools and supervisors. longwood.edu/cleanva/SafetyPlan.html. County residents who own streamside or riverside [email protected]. They can also give directions to the site or offer property on 2 or more acres of land and are Items sent to other addresses any suggestions for apparel or gear not men- Tree planting sites needed interested in joining a large-scale reforestation effort are not always forwarded tioned here. Goose Creek Association has partnered locally with to protect the Monocacy river and its tributaries. before the deadline. Friends of the Rappahannock and Weplanttrees.org Stream-Link raises funds through grant awards
42 Bay Journal October 2020 and corporate sponsorships to take on buffer tal Hotline: 877-224-7229. Maryland Native Plant Society, Sierra Club and sion session is scheduled after each 30-minute planting projects at no cost to the landowner and Breeding Bird Atlas project Chapman Forest Foundation. Info: seminar. Seminars begin at 11 a.m. Upcoming without restrictions (no easement required). Its Help the Breeding Bird Atlas of Maryland & [email protected], 301-283-0808 (301-442-5657 topics include: volunteers plant and maintain the young forest the District of Columbia, a five-year project day of event). Carpoolers meet at Sierra Club n Marsh Collapse Does Not Require Sea Level for at least three years to ensure an 85% survival documenting the distribution and abundance of MD Chapter office at 9 a.m. & return at 5 p.m. Rise: Oct. 14 with Sergio Fagherazzi, Boston rate. Interested landowners should fill out the local breeding bird populations through looking Carpool contact: 301-277-7111. University. form at streamlinkeducation.org/landowners. for nests in backyards, forests. Information col- n Sea Level Rise Consequences in a Highly De- Info: streamlinkeducation.org/about, 301-473- lected is used to manage habitat, sustain healthy Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center veloped Shoreline: Oct. 21 with Jim O’Donnell, 6844, [email protected]. ecosystems. Info: ebird.org/atlasmddc/about. Help the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center University of Connecticut. in Grasonville. Drop in a few times a month n North Carolina Salt Marshes - Threats to a Anita C. Leight Estuary Center Project FeederWatch or help more frequently. Openings: help with Fragile Ecosystem & Conservation Opportuni- Help out at the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center in Learn how to count birds for science during educational programs; guide kayak trips & hikes; ties: Oct. 28 with Carolyn Currin, NOAA/NOS Abingdon: Project FeederWatch 10:30–11:30 a.m. Nov. staff front desk; maintain trails, landscapes & Beaufort. n Invasinators: 1–3 p.m. Oct. 18, weather 12 at Cromwell Valley Park in Parkville. After pollinator garden; feed or handle captive birds of n Relocation is the Tree; Adaptation is the permitting. Ages 14+ Remove nonnative invasive the training, adult volunteers meet weekly for prey; maintain birds’ living quarters; participate Forest - A Better Coastal Quality of Life Ahead plants, restore native species. Learn why inva- a 1-hour shift (Nov. 18–April 8) Wednesdays in CBEC team of wood duck box monitors or in New York City: Nov. 4 with Adam Parris, New sives are a threat to ecosystems; how to identify and Thursdays at the center. Dress for weather, other wildlife initiatives. Other opportunities: York City Mayor’s Office of Resiliency Laboratory. them; removal, restoration strategies. Wear training takes place outside. Reservations not fundraising, website development, writing for n Adapting to Coastal Change: Opportunities sturdy shoes, long sleeves, work gloves. required. For details, including COVID-19 newsletters & events, developing photo archives; & Challenges for Coupled Human-Natural Sys- n iNaturalist Trek: 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Oct. 10. protocols: cromwellvalleypark.org. Info: supporting office staff. Volunteers donating tems: Nov. 11 with Michelle Hummel, University All ages, 12 & younger w/adult. Use the iNatural- [email protected], 410-887-2503. more than 100 hours of service per year receive of Texas, Arlington. ist app while searching for, collecting biodiver- a free one-year family membership to CBEC. Info: The Zoom webinar program can accommodate sity data on plants, animals. Severn River Association [email protected]. up to 500 participants; registration is required: Registration is required for both workdays. Info: Work independently on land & water to track zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xh4KUkWVTsu-_ 410-612-1688, 410-879-2000 x1688, conditions in the Severn River’s watershed using Chesapeake Biological Laboratory X77JdA_1w. otterpointcreek.org. COVID-19 safety protocols developed with the Lend a hand at Chesapeake Biological Labora- MD Department of Natural Resources to protect tory’s Visitor Center on Solomons Island. Ages PENNSYLVANIA Cromwell Valley Park staff and volunteers working in the field. Training 16+ Volunteers must commit to a minimum of Join the Habitat Restoration Team at Cromwell will be offered as circumstances allow. Citizen two, 3– to 4-hour shifts each month in spring, Stormwater workshops for townships Valley Park in Parkville, 2–4 p.m. Oct. 10 & 24; and scientist opportunities include: summer, fall. Training required. Info: The Pennsylvania State Association of Town- Nov. 14 & 21. (Dates are canceled if there is heavy n Water Quality Monitoring: Through October. [email protected]. ship Supervisors is presenting, MS4 Great Ideas rain, thunderstorms.) Remove invasive plants, Conduct weekly boat tours to monitor the river’s Stormwater Conference, 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at plant natives, maintain restored habitat. Bring your health. Citizen Science: volunteer angler survey three regional locations: Oct. 22 in Butler Coun- own tools. Gloves, mask must be worn for the Help the Department of Natural Resources n Water Quality Crew: Morning river cruise col- ty; Oct. 28 in Montgomery; Nov. 13 in Cumber- initial work discussion. All volunteers must sign collect species, location, size data using its lects scientific data and monitors wildlife habitat. land County County. Each registrant must select waivers; parents or guardians must sign waivers Volunteer Angler Survey on a smartphone. Data n Tell Severn’s Story? Writers, photographers, either the technical or policy workshop track. for ages 13–18. Work is inappropriate for ages 12 are used to develop management strategies. The n reporters, memoirists are needed to record tales Technical Track: (Ideal for consulting engi- & younger. Wear long pants, closed-toe shoes, artificial reef initiative, blue crab, freshwater fish- of river’s wildlife, people, forests, history, culture neers, municipal stormwater operations staff) sunscreen, hat. Bring water bottle, insect repel- eries, muskie, shad and striped bass programs and sailing. SRA can create internships for jour- Learn how to select competent BMP inspectors; lent. Meet at Sherwood House parking lot. Vol- also have mobile-friendly methods to record nalists of all ages who want to tell a story, cover work with road crews, public works departments unteer three times to earn a Cromwell Valley Park data. Win quarterly prizes. Info: dnr.maryland. meetings, take pictures. to integrate green infrastructure improvements Habitat Restoration hat; five times, a handbook, gov/Fisheries/Pages/survey/index.aspx. that reduce flooding, improve stormwater qual- n GEMS Expedition: Explorers, naturalists, Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation ity during normal maintenance and building foresters are needed for a land-based expedition Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Pre- Mount Harmon Plantation operations; calculate costs of BMPs to develop to map 500 ecological features throughout the registration required. Info: Laurie Taylor-Mitchell at Help with manor house student tours, colonial a realistic municipal stormwater budget; work Severn watershed: wetlands, trees, ferns, plants, [email protected]. Groups of two or more crafts, hearth cooking, guided nature walks, herb with private landowners to design and install wildlife, creeks, historical & cultural features to interested in helping but cannot work on sched- garden at Mount Harmon Plantation in Earleville, BMPs that help one’s municipality achieve cost- create a GIS map of watershed’s ecology. Info: uled workdays should contact Taylor-Mitchell. For MD. Special events needs include manor house effective compliance. [email protected]. Put “volunteer” in mes- disability-related accommodations, call 410-887- tours, admission/ticket sales, gift shop, auction n Policy Track: (Ideal for those with managerial, sage box. 5370 or 410-887-5319 (TTY), giving as much & raffle fundraisers. Training provided. Docents administrative stormwater responsibilities) Learn notice as possible. are asked to commit to eight service hours to create partnerships with other municipalities, Patuxent Research Refuge per month during tour season: 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Plant a streamside buffer Volunteer in the Wildlife Images Bookstore at Thursdays–Sundays, May–October. Info: Stream-Link Education needs volunteers to help the National Wildlife Visitor Center of the U.S. 410-275-8819, [email protected]. See BULLETIN, page 44 plant a streamside buffer 9–11 a.m. Oct. 24 Fish and Wildlife Service’s Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel. Responsibilities include open- & 31 and Nov. 7 & 14 at Libertytown Farm on CONFERENCES Lingamore Creek in Frederick. Registration / info: ing & closing store, helping customers select streamlinkeducation.org/plantings. merchandise, operating point-of-sale register. Training provided. Info: 301-497-5771, WATERSHEDWIDE CHESAPEAKE Report a fish kill [email protected]. CHALLENGE Coastal resilience webinars If you see a fish kill, call the Maryland Depart- The Horn Point Lab of the University of Mary- ment of Environment’s Fish Kill Investigation Ruth Swann Park ANSWERS land Center for Environmental Science has put Section. Normal work hours: 443-224-2731 or Remove invasive plants. 10 a.m.–4 p.m. the together a virtual seminar series by experts in Long-tailed weasel: 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12 800-285-8195. Evenings, weekends, holidays, second Saturday in October, November and coastal resilience, Assessing Coastal Risk and call the Chesapeake Bay Safety and Environmen- December. Meet at Ruth Swann Park-Potomac Least weasel: 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 11 Branch Library parking lot. Bring lunch. Run by Enhancing Resilience. A question and discus-
October 2020 Bay Journal 43 BULLETIN from page 43 participants better understand the changes n Paint a Pumpkin: 1–3 p.m. Oct. 17. All ages. n Halloween Scavenger Hunt: Families, ages 2+ throughout the region, from increasing river Choose a pumpkin to decorate from the park’s register for a 1-hour time slot from 10 a.m.—2 private stakeholders to improve compliance, low- flow, to rising sea levels, to impacts on the patch. Fee per pumpkin: $5. p.m. (Only 2 families per time slot.) Oct. 31. Don er overall costs; develop joint municipal pollutant atmosphere, forests, Bay’s wildlife. Fee: $7.50. n Nature Quest Fest at Lake Roland: 12–2 costumes, search for clues hidden at creature reduction plans to lower overall costs; imple- Info: cbmm.org/speakerseries. p.m. Oct. 18. Meet at Lake Roland. All ages. stations in the woods. Complete a puzzle, earn a ment a rural stormwater fee to help farmers meet n Climate Change in the Chesapeake Speaker Complete at least five trails in a Nature Quest prize. Fee: $12/family. responsibilities at the lowest cost; balancing the Series (Virtual)/ Engaging Waterman Heritage Passport to receive free admission. Activities n Full Moon Halloween Canoe: 6:30–9 p.m. construction of gray and green infrastructure in Climate Change Adaptation Planning on the include canoeing, dam tours, live animals. Get a Oct. 31. Paddle under the full moon’s light. Cos- projects for cost, appearance reasons. Deal Island Peninsula: 2 p.m. Oct. 21. Liz Van passport at Wegmans grocery stores, Cromwell tumes welcome but must be paddle safe. Ages Registration fee of $125 includes lunch, breaks, Dolah, coordinator of the Deal Island Peninsula Nature Center. Fee: $5 or free with Quest course 12+, 14 & younger w/adult. Fee: $12. certificate of attendance, workshop handouts. Partnership, will share insights on how water- completion. Reservations not required. Except where noted ages 12 & younger must Info: James Wheeler at [email protected], men draw upon their heritage in discussions n Spooky Campfire Stories: 7:30–9 p.m. Oct. be accompanied by an adult for all programs. 717-763-0930 x128. about climate change, how local heritage can be 23. Ages 8+ Swap scary tales around the camp- Events meet at the center and require registra- harnessed to help planning that supports local fire. Bring a flashlight, story to share. Fee: $4. tion unless otherwise noted. Payment is due at needs, goals. Fee: $7.50. Info: n Leaf Peepin’: 1–2:30 p.m. Oct. 24. All ages. time of registration. Info: 410-612-1688, 410- EVENTS / PROGRAMS cbmm.org/speakerseries. Leaf ID hike. Fee: $4. 879-2000 x1688, otterpointcreek.org. n Climate Change in the Chesapeake Speaker n We’re all Nuts! 1–2 p.m. Oct. 25. Ages 8+ VIRGINIA Series (Virtual)/ Protecting Nature, Strength- Do the walnut stomp to make walnut ink to use RESOURCES ening Communities - The Role of Land Conser- in your own feathered pen. Bring a paring or VA Environmental Film Contest vation in Climate Resilience: 2 p.m. Nov. 11. X-Acto knife with you. The park will handle the Property pointers The 11th annual Richmond Virginia Environmental Jim Bass, coastal resilience program manager nuts for those with nut allergies. Fee: $4. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay offers re- Film Festival is accepting submissions for the n at Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, will discuss Halloween Treat Trek: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Oct. 31. sources for property owners who want to make 2021 Virginia Environmental Film Contest. The the role of land conservation in the region’s Families, all ages. Follow clues on a self-guided their landscapes more friendly: contest is open to state residents with films based climate adaptation work and ESLC’s newest journey, then return to center for a treat. Cos- n Wood you Like to Learn about Forests? Put on environmental topics pertaining to the state. initiative: Delmarva Oasis. Fee: $7.50. Info: tumes welcome! Fee: $4. “Alliance Websites, Resources, Videos, Blogs” Films of all formats and genres will be considered. n cbmm.org/speakerseries. Animal Antics - Disguises & Tricks: 1–2 p.m. in your search engine, then scroll to the Tree A juried panel will select the winning films and n Rising Tide Program: 3:30–5:30 p.m. Tues- Nov. 1. All ages. Discover what predators do to Talks under Videos. Titles include: How to Plant award the $1,000 grand prize, $500 first prize; days & Thursdays (in-person) and 3:30–5:30 trick their prey; what prey do to trick their preda- A Tree, What’s That Conifer?, Live Staking, Gray $100 best cinematography; $100 best short film; p.m. Wednesdays (virtual). Grades 6–9. Both ver- tors. Fee: $4. Dogwood, Boxelder, Poison Ivy, Black Rasp- and two $100 honorable mentions. Films must be n sions of the program offer challenging projects Marsupial Madness: 1–2 p.m. Nov. 7. All berry, Pawpaw, Blackgum, Snags, Witch Hazel, submitted by Dec. 31 to RVAEFF.org. Click the film that build skills in design, woodworking, project ages. Meet Grinchy, Cromwell’s resident opos- Christmas Fern, White Cedar, Mountain Laurel, contest button to be taken to FilmFreeway.com, management. Virtual projects subject material sum. Fee: $4. Atlantic White Cedar, and A Hobbyist’s Guide to which explains contest rules, deadlines, how to n is different from in-person classes; participants Tree of Life: 1–2 p.m. Nov. 8. Ages 5+ Explore Maple Sugaring. submit films. Winning entries will be announced may sign up for either or both. Info / registration inside, under fallen trees to see what creatures n Bouquets for the Bay: Visit Jan. 15. Award-winning and other submitted films (required): cbmm.org/risingtide, risingtide@ live there. Fee: $4. Info / registration (including NativePlantCenter.net to find the perfect native will be shown Feb. 12–28 at various venues in the cbmm.org. In-person participants must wear COVID-19 protocols: cromwellvalleypark.org, species for your landscape. Richmond area and/or streamed online. Specific facial coverings inside buildings at all times and [email protected], 410-887-2503. n Right as Rain Landscape: Learn how to venues, platforms will be announced later and outdoors when within 6 feet of other guests: design a stormwater runoff plan to help you comply with Covid-19 guidelines. Admission is welcome.cbmm.org. Anita C. Leight Estuary Center better manage water running off your property. free, open to the public. Info: put “rvaeff film Programs at the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center Visit the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Yard contest” in search engine. Program pairs novice, veteran hunters in Abingdon include: Design Tool at stormwater.allianceforthebay.org. The Department of Natural Resources’ new n Survival Skills: 2–3:30 p.m. Oct. 10. Ages MARYLAND Maryland Mentored Hunt Program pairs new, 8+ Learn to build fires, look for wild edibles, Stormwater class novice or lapsed hunters of any age with skilled construct a shelter. Fee: $5. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Municipal Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum veteran hunters, who will help them build their n Migration Madness Canoe: 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. Online Stormwater Training Center’s Dig Once Events at the Chesapeake Bay Museum in St. skills, culminating in a hunt. Mentors and men- Oct. 17. Ages 8+ Look for travelers in the marsh. Course suggests how local leaders can integrate Michaels, include: tees submit applications and will be matched Binoculars, cameras recommended. Fee: $12. green infrastructure into community capital n Where Land & Water Meet - The Chesapeake based on agency review and other criteria. n Upper Bush River Rambling Pontoon: projects: road construction and school & park Bay Photography of David W. Harp: Through The pair works at its own pace to schedule all 9–10:45 a.m. Oct. 18. Ages 6+ Take in the fall improvements. Interactive lessons and videos in Sept. 20, 2021. Steamboat Building Gallery. aspects of the hunt. All participants are required color along the shoreline. Fee: $10. a user-friendly format give communities tools to Exhibit features work from throughout Harp’s to follow the state guidance on preventing n Tails & Tots: 2 p.m. Oct. 18. Ages 0–6. Sto- build and enhance local stormwater programs. career. Included w/ admission. A virtual exhibi- spread of COVID-19. The program encourages ries, songs, animal movement. Free. Info: mostcenter.org. tion will be offered later this fall. using video meetings, email, texts, phone calls n Creepy Crawlies: 10–11 a.m. Oct. 24. Ages 8+ n Artist Talk / The Photographer & the as much as possible. For in-person meetings, Search for strange creatures in the woods, by Wetlands Work website Writer – David Harp with Tom Horton: 2 p.m. individuals must practice social distancing and the water. Fee: $3. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s website, Nov. 4. Via Zoom. The pair reflects on the evolu- wear masks. Info: Chris Markin at Christopher. n Critter Dinner Time: 10:30 a.m. Oct. 24. All Wetlands Work, at wetlandswork.org, connects tion of Harp’s four decades of taking Chesa- [email protected], or put “Maryland Men- ages. Learn about turtles, fish, snakes while agricultural landowners with people and peake photos. Fee: $7.50. Info / registration: tored Hunt Program” in your search engine. watching them eat. Free. programs that can support wetland development cbmm.org/HarpArtistSeries. n Meet a Critter: 12 p.m. Oct. 25. All ages. and restoration on their land. n Climate Change in the Chesapeake Speaker Cromwell Valley Park Close-up animal encounter. Free. Series (Virtual)/Chesapeake Climate Science Programs at the nature center at Cromwell Val- n Trail Running Series: 9–10 a.m. Oct. 31. Ages Bilingual educator resources for the Non-Scientist: 2 p.m. Oct. 14. In this ley Park in Cockeysville: 8+ Note: Ages 15 & younger must be with an Educational programs are available in English session, Bill Boicourt, professor emeritus at n Doe, a Deer! 1–3 p.m. Oct. 11. Ages 5+ Hike adult for this event. All skill levels/paces wel- and Spanish from the Interstate Commission on University of Maryland Center for Environmental in the forest to look for signs of deer. Wear come to use 2-mile out-and-back, single track the Potomac River Basin. Info: Science, discusses current research to help sturdy shoes. Fee: $4. course. Free. potomacriver.org/resources/educator.
44 Bay Journal October 2020 Pop (goes the weasel) Quiz
No one is sure of the original meaning of the song, — Kathleen A. Gaskell Pop Goes the Weasel. What is known is that weasels are able to pop in and out of holes with such agility that hunters sometime believed that they were able to dodge bullets! The Chesapeake watershed is home to two weasel species: the least and the long-tailed weasels. Here is a pop quiz to see if you can tell them apart. Answers are on page 43.
1. I am the most widespread weasel in the Western Hemisphere. I live in all six Bay states and the District of Columbia.
2. I am only found in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
3. I am the world’s smallest mammal carnivore. I weigh 2–5 ounces (the weight of 10–25 quarters) and grow to be around 8 inches long from nose to tail. I do not have a black- tipped tail.
4. I can grow up to 16 inches long. Half of my length is my black-tipped tail.
5. My skull ranges from a little more than 1.5 inches across (female) to almost 2 inches (male).
6. My skull is the size of a jelly bean.
7. I occasionally eat the other weasel in this quiz. I also eat rats, insects, small snakes, frogs and birds. I have also been seen C dragging a snowshoe hare, which is much larger than I am, back to my den. A 8. Aside from the occasional shrew, sparrow or insect, I mostly eat meadow mice, which can weigh more than I do. This might be the reason I am sometimes called the mouse weasel. A boogle of beasties 9. I give birth to one litter of five to six young. My gestation ranges from 103–337 days. Did you know that content weasels can purr like a kitty? “Delayed implantation” lets me mate year- Aww… And just look at those cute little critter photos! But don’t let those furry little faces fool you. round but give birth only in the spring, the Here are some fierce facts (and one fantastic fiction) about weasels. easiest season for finding prey. Not so itty-bitty bite: The needlelike teeth of a Warrior weasels: Plagued by a basilisk, a 10. I give birth to multiple litters of four to six weasel have a bite strength of 150 pounds per monster with a deadly gaze and venomous spit? B young a year. Good thing, too. I am prey to square inch. For comparison, humans have a According to Leonardo da Vinci, “[The weasel] snakes, bobcats, feral cats, bears, owls, bite strength of 85 pounds per square inch. finding the lair of the basilisk kills it with the A: The least weasel’s thin body makes it easy hawks, and yes — my larger weasel cousins. for it to get into tight places when chasing prey smell of its urine, and this smell, indeed, often Who are you calling a sucker? Weasels kill their If it weren’t for these constant litters, the or escaping predators. (Jean Beaufort / kills the weasel itself.” (Author’s note: That last prey with a quick, crushing bite to the jugular. world would run out of me. PublicDomainPictures.net) part stinks!) First Nations Algonquian tribes The copious amount of blood that stained the of North America credit the weasel with the 11. I am active in all weather. I have been found B: The fierceness of the least weasel, the world’s beasts’ faces led to the mistaken belief that they ability to kill a wendigo, a voracious man-eating in my den in the winter, snug in the warm fur smallest mammal predator, earned its reputation were bloodsuckers. monster. (This is the fiction, by the way.) as the killer of some of the most feared medieval of my mouse prey. monsters, here a basilisk. (University of Toronto Zombeasels! Weasels can eat their entire prey — What do you call an army of weasels? Wenceslaus Hollar Digital Collection) skin, bones and organs. If food is overly plentiful, Groups of weasels go by gang, colony, pack, 12. In 1915, the Pennsylvania Game Commission though, they may eat only part of their prey. The sneak, confusion and — boogle. put a $1.00 bounty on weasels. (It was C. A long-tailed weasel scampers off with its prey, favorite tidbit is brains. rescinded a few decades later.) Eighty percent a vole. (J. Barney / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Chicken feed: Weasels often get a bad reputation of the roughly 50,000 pelts turned in annually Icon: The least weasel. (Keven Law / CC by-SA 2.0) for hen homicides. But maybe it’s a small price to were my species. n pay for all of the mice and rats that weasels eat.
October 2020 Bay Journal 45 Celebrate the 15th Chesapeake Watershed Forum virtually Alliance has partnered with the Institute for Conservation Leadership to coach presenters on engagement techniques for virtual presentations. The terms I ascribe to planning this year’s Forum are retreat, adapt and evolve. I also see them for what they are: an echo to the message behind our theme for this year’s Forum, Climate Resilience in a Changing Chesapeake Watershed. A theme, I will add, that we decided upon well By Jenny McGarvey before COVID-19 became a part of our daily lives. This summer, I read Rising: Dispatches marks the 15th year of the from the New American Shore, a 2018 2020 Alliance for the Chesapeake Pulitzer Prize finalist in general non- Bay’s annual Chesapeake Watershed Fiction written by our plenary speaker, Forum — which takes place Oct. 29–30. Elizabeth Rush. It was while reading her In today’s world, we measure so much of book that the concepts of retreat, adapt our work in five– and 10-year spans that and evolve first came to me in the context reaching 15 feels particularly momentous. of this year’s Forum. It is a milestone to reflect on, measure and Across the country, Rush serves as celebrate. witness to the unstoppable and now When I reflect on the impact of the inevitable loss of land to sea level rise and past 14 forums, I can’t help but think shares the stories of many communities, of the partnerships and projects created often low and middle income and people from the connections made during those of color, who are forced to abandon their autumn days. To me, participating in the generational homes. For Rush, the only Forum is about opening yourself up to solution for these coastal communities is new and different experiences, swapping retreat. The remaining question is what ideas with someone who is not your are we doing to buffer the economic and typical collaborator and using this new cultural loss that comes with that retreat? information to rethink and evolve While Rush’s book deals with sea your work. level rise, many of our workshop sessions The experience is rejuvenating. Kate Signs on the grounds of the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV, inspired cover the inland impacts of climate Fritz, the Alliance’s executive director, calls participants at the 2019 Forum. (Will Parson / Chesapeake Bay Program) change. Some present climate change it “Forum magic.” adaptation through best management Kate and I are not alone in our June, we knew the only way to hold the conference. Recognizing this, we are practices: managing healthy and resilient opinions: Year after year, half of all of the Forum safely was virtually, instead of partnering with the Choose Clean Water forests; reducing the urban heat island participants report networking as the most at the National Conservation Training Coalition and Chesapeake Bay Trust to effect through tree canopy; and adapting valuable aspect of the Forum. Center in Shepherdstown, WV, our host offer virtual learning sessions on October stormwater practices that can withstand So what does this amount to over of prior years. Suddenly the question was 27–28 on the Young Professionals of Color more frequent and intense rain events. 14 years? Here’s some quick math: not how to stand out, but how to foster the mentorship program and the Chesapeake Other sessions focus on the Approximately 400 people attend the connections that came so naturally at our Conservation Corps, two incredible disproportionate impacts of climate change Forum each year. If every one of them in-person gatherings programs for people getting started in the experienced by communities of color and experiences forum magic at least once My short answer is that, much like Chesapeake Bay restoration community. low-income communities. Now more than during those two days, that equals 5,600 everything else this year, connecting at For more established professionals, the ever, our movement must become a diverse connections since 2006. It’s a hefty the Forum will be different. But we will River Network and National Fish and and inclusive one. It is through diversity, number even before you consider how succeed. Wildlife Foundation will offer one-on-one equity and inclusion that we achieve those connections exponentially For example, we know that a Zoom office hours on Thursday and Friday of the climate resiliency. foster new ones after we return to our happy hour cannot replicate dreaming and Forum to provide interested participants Registration for the 2020 Chesapeake day-to-day work. laughing together around a bonfire into with professional coaching and feedback Watershed Forum is open until Oct. 29. In January, we at the Alliance pondered the late hours of the night. We have made on project proposal concepts. You can learn more about the Forum at how to celebrate this important milestone our networking activities more selective I also expect many Forum participants allianceforthebay.org. n at the 2020 Forum. Ideas included a and focused. will still experience moments of Forum massive group photo taken by drone, a More than half of our Forum audience magic while attending our workshop Jenny McGarvey, a senior program Halloween costume contest and trick-or- is self-identified as young professionals sessions. More so than any other year, manager at the Alliance for the Chesapeake treating for the children who often join (18–35 years old) and a quarter are we are striving to offer especially Bay, coordinates the annual Chesapeake their parents during the weekend. younger than 24. For many, this will be meaningful and engaging content. To Watershed Forum. Then March brought COVID-19. In their first Forum and possibly their first assist our speakers in this process, the
46 Bay Journal October 2020 Black vultures: Nature’s cleaning service soars above us
By Mike Burke
he big trash truck’s engine rumbled as a Tsingle worker methodically emptied the apartment building’s bins. He attached the receptacles to the lift device, pulled a lever and watched as the bin rose and then tipped its contents into the truck’s gaping rear. I was joined in watching the proceedings by a pair of vultures, perched expectantly on the adjacent carport. They waited in vain. The young man at the controls Black vultures feast on the carcass of a large animal. By eating dead animals, they help to stop the spread of disease. (Jerry Friedman) expertly emptied every bin without spilling a single item. from hundreds of feet overhead. Black vul- abandoned building or atop a firetower. Black vultures (Coragyps atratus) are regu- tures lack that keen nose. Instead, they soar The two or three eggs in the single an- lars in this area. I usually see them soaring above turkey vultures. Once the bigger bird nual clutch are incubated for 38–39 days, high overhead, or on the side of the highway finds carrion, black vultures follow behind. with both parents sharing duties. Chicks feeding on roadkill. On this day, I was in One-on-one, turkey vultures use their su- are helpless when born. Parents tend them the parking lot behind our apartment and perior size to dominate. But black vultures constantly for up to 90 days. Even after had a close-up view of the raptors. feed in groups, and they will often displace the young birds fledge, they rely on their Their cousin, the turkey vulture, has an the relatively solitary turkey vulture. parents for many weeks. Ornithologists unfeathered head that shows its red flesh. Vultures, sometimes called buzzards, have found parents still feeding young Black vultures have the same featherless are best known as carrion feeders. In open birds eight months post-fledge. look, but their skin is gray to black. (The fields or alongside roads, they are often seen Favorite roosting areas can be host head is ashy gray in young birds and turns feeding on the carcasses of deer, feral pigs, to dozens of vultures and other raptors. sooty black over the years.) skunks and the like. On farms, they will Within those roosts, families stick together. On the wing, the two species display feast on downed pigs, cattle and sheep. On If one set of birds has identified a produc- other differences. Turkey vultures show rare occasions, they take live animals, almost tive feeding area, they will lead relatives to gray-white underwings, while black always newborns. And despite their lack of the site the next day. At feeding sites, family vultures have all-black wings except for success when I was watching, black vultures members will drive away non-kindred birds. silvery-white tips on the five longest wing do a good job of consuming human trash. It takes eight years before birds start feathers. The tail of the black is noticeably Turkey vultures do more than serve as breeding. In the meantime, these young shorter and broader than that of the turkey. scouts. With bigger, stronger beaks, turkey birds stick close to parents and other family Its head, too, is smaller. vultures can tear open the tough hides of car- members. Extended families support one Although slightly smaller overall than rion, which black vultures often can’t. Once another on roosts, at feeding sites and in turkey vultures, black vultures are still very opened, the dead animal is devoured quickly To tell the difference between black and turkey protecting territory from intruders. large birds. They stand 2 feet high and have and aggressively. Viscera and soft muscle are vultures soaring above, look at the wings. Blacks’ I thought back to the worker operating wingspans that reach 4.5 feet. The birds weigh consumed in big bites. How appealing. wings are black with silvery white tips. Turkeys’ the trash truck. Over the course of the more than 4 pounds. The sexes look alike. Given its feeding habits and frankly underwings are grayish white. (Mike Burke) pandemic, society has begun to recog- Turkey vultures outnumber black vultures unattractive looks, black vultures can be nize the value of many “invisible” jobs. in the United States. But the opposite is true tough to love. That can be especially true pathogens. Black vultures can eat sick ani- Consequently, today we are more likely to when considering all of the Western Hemi- if their roost is on your property, along mals without becoming ill themselves. They recognize that trash truck operator as an sphere. Black vultures breed from Pennsyl- with the mess and smell that come with it. are ecological cleaners of the highest order. essential part of society. Maybe it’s time to vania southwest through Texas, Mexico and Nevertheless, there is much to commend Strictly monogamous, black vultures give black vultures a second look as well. down through Central and South America. the black vulture. mate for life. Although their territory After all, in the avian world, they are es- Black vultures are permanent residents on They play a key role in the cycle of life. can cover miles, they use the exact same sential workers, too. n their established territories. Quickly removing dead animals stops the nesting spot year after year. Black vultures Turkey vultures have an extraordinary spread of disease. The vulture’s stomach lay their eggs directly on a bare surface in Mike Burke, an amateur naturalist, lives sense of smell. They can identify carrion acid is so powerful it will destroy most a dark cavity such as in a dead tree, in an in Mitchellville, MD.
October 2020 Bay Journal 47 Wild brook trout: If they’re seen, the water’s pristine
By Kathy Reshetiloff
“If you have a brook trout population that survives in a stream, that stream is in good shape, and if you have reproducing populations in the stream, it’s fantastic.” — John Kies
he brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is Ta small, brilliantly colored freshwater fish native to clear, cold streams and rivers in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is also the state fish of New This brightly colored eastern brook trout was caught and released in a West Virginia stream. (Steve Droter / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. oxygenated water is abundant. There, she and loss of streamside vegetation. livestock fencing. Brook trout are recognized by a dark deposits eggs which males then fertilize. Additionally, livestock can pollute water These efforts not only help brook trout green back covered with lighter worm- During spawning, the lower flanks of and damage stream banks, increasing the but provide economic benefits to local shaped markings. These markings, which males become brilliant orange and older erosion of sediments into waterways. communities by providing buffers against resemble the pattern created when the males may develop a slightly hooked lower Mining activities impact brook trout flooding, increasing fishing and other sun shines through rippled water, helps jaw. populations through acid mine drainage, recreational opportunities, and improving to camouflage brook trout from predators The female covers the fertilized eggs hydrological changes and physical habitat the local environment. such as larger fish, herons and even fly with gravel. The eggs incubate through the degradation. From 2006 through 2018, the U.S. fishers. Bluish sides are sprinkled with winter months and hatch in the spring. Nonnative fish, such as brown trout, Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish yellow spots and red spots surrounded Brook trout mature in two to three years compete with native brook trout for food Habitat Action Plan funded 88 eastern by blue halos. The brook trout’s fins are and live about six years. Most grow no and habitat. brook trout conservation projects from starkly edged in white, which is unique more than 9–10 inches. A 12-inch brook Brook trout populations can also become Maine to Georgia: three in Maryland, 14 among other common trout. trout is rare and considered a real trophy. isolated because of physical barriers like in Pennsylvania, three in New York, five in These fish thrive in clear, silt-free, well- Though small, brook trout have always dams, decreasing genetic diversity and the Virginia and nine in West Virginia. Two shaded freshwater streams with numerous been a prized game fish, and are especially survival of the species. hundred forty different organizations were pools and a substrate made of mixed popular among fly fishermen. Historically Recognizing the uniqueness of eastern involved in these projects at the local level. gravel, cobble and sand. Brook trout are noted for their recreational value, brook brook trout and its decline in this region, Forty-nine projects enhanced 240 not tolerant of water temperatures above trout are very significant biologically. an alliance, the Eastern Brook Trout stream miles, while another project 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so they are rarely Because they require pristine, stable Joint Venture, was formed in 2004. This enhanced 157 acres of lake habitat. Twelve found in developed areas. habitat with high water quality conditions, partnership of state and federal agencies, projects resulted in enhancing and/or They are not picky eaters and feed on a brook trout are viewed as indicators of the regional and local governments, businesses, restoring 357 acres of riparian habitat. wide variety of food items. Opportunistic biological integrity of streams. As water conservation organizations, academia, Forty-three projects removed 103 feeders, brook trout eat whatever they quality in headwater streams has declined, scientific societies and private citizens is barriers to fish passage, reopening 321 can find including aquatic insects, like so have brook trout populations. working to protect, restore and enhance miles of stream to brook trout and other mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies; land Urbanization affects brook trout through brook trout populations and their habitats fish species. insects that fall into the water, like ants the loss of streamside vegetation and across their native range. For information about protecting and and beetles; small crayfish; and even small stream shading, increased sedimentation, Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture restoring brook trout, visit the Eastern Brook fish and minnows, but only when they are reduced flow, increased high flow events, works on a variety of activities including Trout Joint Venture at easy to catch changes in the physical makeup of stream identifying and prioritizing brook trout easternbrooktrout.org. n Brook trout spawn in autumn, mainly beds and increased impervious surface. restoration and conservation projects; October to November. The female uses Agricultural impacts on brook trout restoring brook trout habitat using bank Kathy Reshetiloff is with the US. Fish and her tail to create a shallow nest or “redd,” populations are similar to those of stabilization, instream structures and Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office often near the lower end of the pools where urbanization: increased water temperature streamside plantings; removing dams and in Annapolis. the gravel is swept clean of silt and fresh and sedimentation, changes in hydrology, other stream blockages; and promoting
48 Bay Journal October 2020