December 2018 Volume 28 Number 9

Efforts strive to make outdoor spaces more inviting, accessible to all ≈ Variety of programs takes into account cultural differences and reflect diverse communities. By Whitney Pipkin When Kevin Bryan visits Rock Creek Park near his home in the District of Columbia, it reminds him of what’s possible. He sees families from many ethnic backgrounds hosting barbecues and birthday parties at picnic tables. Dog walkers wind their way through wooded trails while cyclists “look like they are training for the Tour de France” as they hug the curves of the park’s paved roads. “People do use these spaces differently, and a lot of it depends on your background and the culture you came from,” Bryan said. “But, if these lands are actually supposed to benefit all of us, we should figure out how to make that happen.” As lead coordinator for the Next 100 Coalition, Bryan is focused on ensuring that national park lands remain relevant for at least another century by appealing more equally to all Americans, especially those who are underrepresented in some public spaces. Engaging more “minority stakeholder groups” in conservation and restoration efforts is a directive of the latest Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agree- ment as well. But the work to embrace a diversity

Many children at a RioPalooza event in July along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River took the opportunity Diversity continues on page 22 to touch a catfish. The event catered to speakers of Spanish. (Alan Lehman, Potomac Riverkeeper Network) MD Shore farms brace for latest phase-in of phosphorus rule ≈ One-year delay in regulation’s Only about 100 farms have been Virgil phase-in under review as Lower affected so far, as the restrictions are Shockley, being slowly phased in through 2022. who raises Shore farmers warn of major But the number of farms that must chickens impact; environmentalists want to comply with the rule is set to jump and grain know where excess poultry manure significantly in 2019. near Snow is being shipped. Phosphorus, essential for plant Hill, MD, By Timothy B. Wheeler growth, is one of the nutrients con- called tained in manure. But when it reaches the phos- A much-debated farm pollution local waterways, it feeds algae blooms phorus regulation is set to take wider effect and worsens the fish-stressing “dead regula- soon in Maryland, stirring growing zone” that forms in the Chesapeake. tion “a anxiety among farmers and environ- The Maryland regulation restricts potential mentalists alike. Those concerns could or bars outright the application of disaster put the rule on hold next year. phosphorus on fields where there’s in the The state’s Phosphorus Management a risk that the nutrient will wash out making” Tool rule, adopted in 2015, aims to of the soil into nearby streams and for farm- reduce the risk of polluted farm runoff drainage ditches when it rains. ers. by limiting how much manure farmers (Dave can use to fertilize certain fields. Phosphorus continues on page 20 Harp) 2 Bay Journal • December 2018

Editor’s Note BAY JOURNAL is published by Bay Journal Media to inform the public about ecological, scientific, historic and cultural issues Our readers are the smooth finish after a bumpy start and events related to the Chesapeake Bay. The Bay Journal, circulation 35,000, is published monthly except in midsummer It’s been a tough year for of October, our board adopted a goal to and midwinter. It is distributed free of charge. Bundles are available the Bay Journal, and jour- double our monthly readership to 200,000 for distribution. Material may be reproduced, with permission nalism in general. Around in coming years. Achieving this will not and attribution. Publication is made possible by grants through the world, the free press has only help create a more informed and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay been taking a beating. Our engaged public, but also ensure a stable Program Office, the Campbell Foundation, the National Oceanic year started with the reper- future for the Bay Journal — because and Atmospheric Administration’s Chesapeake Bay Office, the cussions from an attempt readers like you make our work possible. Sumner T. McKnight Foundation, the Rauch Foundation, the by a political appointee — now gone from Donations are increasing, and a third of Fair Play Foundation, the Shared Earth Foundation, the Virginia that position — to ax some of our funding the people who donated this year had Environmental Endowment, anonymous donors, and by reader because he didn’t like what we wrote. never done so before. contributions. Views expressed in the Bay Journal do not But for us, the year is ending on a high But we are intent on keeping the Bay necessarily represent those of any funding agency or organization. note. Our readership increased dramati- Journal free. We understand that not cally — more than 3,100 new readers in everyone can give financially; many of our For mailing list additions/changes, please use the form on this just the first nine months. And, we had readers are on fixed incomes. But they still page or contact: Bay Journal, P.O. Box 222, Jacobus, PA 17407-0222 an overwhelming response to the reader give to the region through their actions. E-mail: [email protected] survey we conducted. We were delighted We strive to keep costs low so everyone BAY JOURNAL MEDIA to learn that 72 percent of the nearly 4,000 can still get the Bay Journal — because respondents use the Bay Journal to inform every reader matters. Bay Journal Media is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with conversations with others; 54 percent have We’ll be setting other goals in the future, a mission to further public education and awareness of issues adjusted their personal actions based on including one to increase our presence in affecting the Chesapeake Bay and the mid-Atlantic environment what they read; 22 percent have contacted schools to help inform the next generation by creating and distributing journalistic products. In addition an elected official about related topics; and of citizens, scientists and decision makers to producing the Bay Journal, Bay Journal Media operates the 16 percent had volunteered for an event about regional conservation issues. Bay Journal News Service, which distributes Bay Journal listed in our pages. You can help us achieve our goals: articles and original op-eds about the Chesapeake Bay or regional But we have more to do. We know ≈ If you haven’t yet made a donation, environmental issues to more than 400 newspapers in the region, from our survey that our readers want or are able to give an additional donation, reaching several million readers each month. more than just the news — they want to please consider contributing when you learn about the Bay and its watershed. receive our end-of-year letter. Karl Blankenship, Executive Director We’re planning more reports that will help ≈ Help us to increase our reach. When Andrew Nolan, CPA, Chief Financial Officer explain the region’s ecosystem and put you’re done with your Bay Journal, pass it STAFF environmental news in context. on to introduce us to new readers. To further our commitment to fact- ≈ If you represent an organization Editor: Karl Blankenship ([email protected]) based journalism, we’re planning to create whose members would benefit from the Managing Editor: Lara Lutz ([email protected]) a Science Advisory Committee. We want Bay Journal, consider allowing us to mail CONTACT US Associate Editor/Projects: Timothy B. Wheeler ([email protected]) to make sure that we are regularly tapping a one-time sample issue to introduce them by mail: Bay Journal News Service Editor: Tim Sayles ([email protected]) into some of the region’s best scientific to the paper. The Bay Journal Copy/Design Editor: Kathleen A. Gaskell ([email protected]) minds and continually seeking feedback on Thank you for your support this year, 619 Oakwood Drive Staff Writer: Jeremy Cox ([email protected]) our reporting. and we are looking forward to a brighter Seven Valleys, PA Staff Writer: Donna Morelli ([email protected]) This is part of a sustained effort to con- 2019. 17360-9395 Staff Writer: Whitney Pipkin ([email protected]) tinue increasing our readership. At the end — Karl Blankenship Photographer: Dave Harp ([email protected]) by phone: ADVERTISING 717-428-2819 Sign Up for the Bay Journal or Change your Address Marketing & Advertising Director: Jacqui Caine ([email protected]) TheBay Journal is distributed FREE by Bay Journal Media, Inc. If you would like to BOARD OF DIRECTORS be added to its mailing list or need to change your present address, please fill out this form To inquire about Tom Lewis advertising, contact , President and mail it to Bay Journal, P.O. Box 222, Jacobus, PA 17407-0222. Mary Barber, Vice-President o o Jacqui Caine at Check One: New Subscription Change of Address Karl Blankenship, Secretary 540-903-9298 o Please remove my name from your mailing list Frank Felbaum, Treasurer Please note that it may take up to two issues for changes to become effective. Bill Eichbaum Name: Correction Address: In November’s on the Wing column, bill only goes about one-third of the City: State: there was an error that reversed way back.” the technique used by birders to An article in the November issue Zip: distinguish between downy and hairy incorrectly stated that Cumberland Optional: Enclosed is a donation to the Bay Journal Fund for $ woodpeckers. The sentence should have County, PA, proposed using eminent read: “The hairy woodpecker’s bill is domain to acquire land for a school. o From time to time, the Bay Journal includes a list of its supporters in the long, extending forward about the same The Cumberland Valley School District print edition. Please check here if you would like your gift to remain anonymous and as the distance from the base of the bill made the proposal. not be recognized in the Bay Journal. to the back of the head. The downy’s The Bay Journal regrets the errors. Bay Journal • December 2018 3

Clockwise from far left:

Otsego Lake in New York state is the source of the Susquehanna River. Learn how to explore its shores and the nearby vil- lage of Cooperstown on page 24. (Donna Morelli)

Little brown spots on this oyster are spat, or baby oysters. A VA commission’s move to halt sales of spat to Maryland oyster growers is creat- ing tension. See article on page 19. (Creative Commons Image courtesy of Mike Congrove / Virginia Institute of Marine Science) TRAVEL WHAT’S INSIDE Young Atlantic 24 Otsego Lake only a glimmer of great Susquehanna to come sturgeon are 5 New online tool shows climate change in Chesapeake surging in the watershed • County-by-county data show temperatures have been FEATURES James River, raising rising steadily since 1980 4 Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay • Watershed forum cautious hope for 6 Is nonnative alga a friend or foe? It all depends… • Gracilaria celebrates diverse, innovative partnerships species’ “comeback.” See article on page can survive and provide habitat in areas where Bay grasses aren’t 38 Chesapeake Challenge • Night Moves 11. (Matt Balazik) found, but too much of it on other places can choke off native species 38 Bay Buddies • Beddy-bye beasties! 8 Cattle farmer uses down-to-earth practices to beef up 34 Bulletin Board • Volunteer Opportunities • Workshops • the soil • Cows help to filter water, sequester carbon and control Events • Programs • Resources invasive species during rotational grazing 39 On the Wing • Saltmarsh sparrow needs tide to turn in its 10 Elusive Eastern black rail proposed for list of favor if it is to survive threatened and endangered species • Marsh bird’s low-lying nests increasingly devastated by sealevel rise, tidal 40 Bay Naturalist • Gifts for the holidays; resolutions for the flooding New Year! FORUM 11 Young Atlantic sturgeon surge in the James River • Recent Commentary • Letters • Perspectives discoveries of the juvenile fish stir hope for the species’ comeback WE’RE JUST 12 Spotted lanternfly, a dire threat to crops, shows up in 30 This ‘half measure’ might be enough to save Bay for next A CLICK AWAY MD • Agricultural interests go on high alert for invasive Asian generation visit us online: species that feasts on 70 different plants bayjournal.com 31 Chesapeake Born: How can we understand a like us on FaceBook: 13 Banned pesticide still in some MD stores, spot checks Chesapeake we’ve never seen? Chesapeake Bay Journal show • Law barring consumer sales of neonicotinoids for outdoor or send us a Tweet: use took effect Jan. 1 32 CBF celebrates 40 years of immersing students in watershed experiences @ChesBayJournal 14 Months after storms, Chesapeake debris cleanup presses on • Crews remove navigational hazards washed into waterways 32 Groups would rather fight for the Bay than fight for funding during floods 15 Proposed townhomes on VA floodplain draws opposition • Some say revitalization would be an improvement, others worry about precedent for future development 17 Multifunction stream buffers offer food for thought for PA farms • Ability to plant cash crop may attract more participants but some question its effectiveness 18 New study: Bay’s reduced oyster numbers not due to overfishing• Scientists claim that warmer temperatures drove coastwide declines in shellfish; others disagree 19 ‘Just short of a crisis’: Tensions flare as VA halts oyster www.bayjournal.com seed harvest in James • VMRC also blocks out-of-state seed transfers to protect resource, state watermen’s interests 4 Bay Journal • December 2018 Watershed forum celebrates diverse, innovative partnerships By Lucy Heller around the National Con- servation Training Center The first weekend of November campus that were made to marked the Alliance for the Chesa- foster a creative platform peake Bay’s 13th annual Chesapeake for diverse voices to express Watershed Forum in Shepherdstown, their vision and interest WV. The event was a whirlwind of for a healthy watershed. workshops, socializing, getting lost in Projects included observa- the yellow, autumn forest and learning tions with pictures that told about what brings us all together under people’s stories, community this year’s theme, Connecting Our boards, letter writing, art, Communities: Celebrating Diverse and and greater participation Innovative Partnerships. in projects such as the field In past years, the forum has opened session. with inspirational keynote speakers. While we learned how to This year put a new spin on things and work better together by being the Opening Plenary included an inter- more aware, we also learned active program by Jenny McGarvey, to have fun together. In the in the Alliance’s Richmond office. The evenings, there were oppor- presentation focused on teaching the tunities for socializing and audience about the history and impor- meeting new people, through tance of the Chesapeake Bay watershed mingle bingo (mingo), poster through varying forms of art. McGar- sessions, the bar, fireside vey’s presentation included a dance chats and musical jamming. video, watershed-related art exhibits, The poster session and a poem, which she read aloud. The Chesapeake Watershed Forum at the National Conservation Training Center offered partici- included 51 posters by this Jeff Holland, the West and Rhode pants opportunities to learn, network and go outdoors. (Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program) year’s Chesapeake Conser- riverkeeper, showed off his musical vation Corps members and skills with a celebratory song about bers, businesses or congregations. new professionals, as well as six post- chicken necking on the Bay. The The Alliance and the U.S. Forest ers from professionals. Winners for interactive portion involved attendees Service also announced the recipients of best poster included Corps member, using their own artistic abilities. the 2018 Chesapeake Forest Champion Connor Lieu from The Nature Con- McGarvey taught us how to draw Awards. They included Matt Keefer of servancy, and professional Alexander a cognitive map representing what tion; and the Chesapeake Monitoring Pennsylvania’s Department of Conserva- Reed from Washington County Divi- we envision when thinking about the Cooperative. tion and Natural Resources Bureau of sion of Environmental Management. reason we got involved in the environ- The amazing workshop leaders Forestry, who received Greatest on the Lieu’s poster was on the Implemen- mental field. The goal of the exercise came prepared to lead 90-minute Ground Impact; Jennifer Gagnon of tation of Standardized Red Spruce Moni- was to help attendees connect with the informative and thought-provoking Virginia Tech and the Virginia Forest toring Protocol in the Nature Conser- broader picture of why we are working programs. They inspired their audi- Landowner Education Program, who was vancy’s Western Maryland Preserves. in this field, and remind us why we ences to learn more about building honored for Most Effective at Engaging Reed wrote a storybook about the love the Chesapeake watershed. confidence in the workplace, as well as the Public; and Rick and Kathy Abend, importance of our civic duty to not From there, we all went our separate help younger attendees navigate what who were named Exemplary Forest litter and to clean up after ourselves. ways to find the workshops that best topics they would like to pursue in the Stewards. While the awards were specific Reed wrote in his poster abstract that fit our interests and curiosities. The future. One of my biggest takeaways toward Forest Champions, the winners he believes, “Using Art and Story- workshops were divided into seven dif- from the forum was becoming aware provided inspiration for everyone to take telling are two very powerful com- ferent themes: organizational develop- of my personal responsibility of local action to create a healthier Bay munication methods and can be used ment; science and restoration; JEDI furthering Chesapeake restoration through environmental stewardship. to explain the complex connections (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion); work, but that I wouldn’t be able to do On the second day, the workshops between environmental education and connecting communities; innovative it without help from others — whether ended with a three-hour field experi- civic responsibility.” partnerships; environmental educa- they are coworkers, community mem- ence. Some of these workshops entailed On Sunday morning, attendees had exploring outside such as a tree identifi- the opportunity to participate in a “forest cation class or a dairy farm tour. Other bathing” exercise. Before our medita- programs included Making Pictures tive walk, the exercise’s leaders asked that Make People Care, Water Quality participants to write down something Monitoring 101, One-On-One Mentoring they wanted to think about while on the and Bay Journal: Reader’s Roundtable. walk. I wrote, “to remember why I am The field session led by the Chesa- here and to fully absorb my surround- peake Collective really stood out, ings.” Getting a chance to take a step providing lessons on diversity, inclu- back from the hectic pace of the forum sion and privilege. We dove into con- and to fully embrace nature reminded versations on not only what separates me of the cognitive map exercise. us, but also what brings us together. We all had separate reasons for We learned how it can be easy to be attending the forum, but those reasons blinded by our privileges and forget to are what bring us together and that’s notice our surroundings. why it is important to share and learn The Chesapeake Collective played from others. a major role in helping the individual Lucy Heller is a Chesapeake Conser- The Chesapeake Watershed Forum in Shepherdstown, WV, had a wide variety of voices of the forum come together as vation Corps member in the Alliance for workshops to choose from. (Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program) one. The group had projects set up the Chesapeake Bay’s Annapolis office. Bay Journal • December 2018 5 New online tool shows climate change in Chesapeake watershed ≈ County-by-county data show calendar. Three of the four years with the temperatures have been rising most days over 90 degrees have come steadily in Bay region since 1980. since 2010. ≈ The warming weather is giving By Jeremy Cox farmers more time to grow their crops The planet has been warming amid a in most places. In Clearfield County in largely unchecked rise of greenhouse gas central Pennsylvania, farmers saw 164 emissions. But what are the local effects consecutive days warmer than 32 degrees of a changing climate? A new online in 2013 compared with 133 in 1950. tool developed by researchers at Cornell The tool was compiled by Cornell’s University in New York offers a year-by- Department of Earth and Atmospheric year, county-by-county snapshot of those Sciences and is geared largely toward changes. giving farmers a local perspective The interactive analysis focuses on on climate change. The researchers the Northeast, so it incorporates much used data supplied by the university’s of the Chesapeake Bay’s watershed — Northeast Regional Climate Center. Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New The tool also includes temperature and York and West Virginia — but ignores precipitation projections in every county Virginia and the District of Columbia. for each year out to 2099. Still, the website’s centerpiece — a Increased precipitation is leading to more flooding and higher tides in some The tool’s two models show the clickable map that enables users to find Chesapeake watershed communities. Here, high tide impacts a road in Cam- forecasts under high– and low-emissions climate data ranging from 1950-2013 in bridge, MD. (Dave Harp) scenarios. For example, the annual each county — underscores that the vast average temperature in Frederick County, majority of the watershed is getting hotter Fahrenheit per decade since 1950. But that 1980–2013. MD, is predicted to increase from 52.6 and rainier. rate jumps to 0.7 degrees when measured ≈ In Sussex County in Delaware, the degrees in 2013 to 60 degrees by the end Just about all of the watershed’s coun- since 1980, suggesting things are getter typical daily high temperature ranged of the century under the low-emission ties included on the map have experienced hotter faster. from 64 degrees in 1958 to 69.5 degrees scenario or soar to 64.9 degrees assuming warmer annual average temperatures ≈ In Maryland’s Prince George’s in 2012. But the overall trend suggests it high emissions persist. since 1980, according to the data Cornell County, the typical low temperature has is increasing at a rate of 0.2 degrees per In other words, it’s probably going to used to develop its tool. warmed up a full 1 degree per decade decade. get warmer, but there’s still time decide Some examples: since 1980. ≈ Worcester County in Maryland, how hot it gets. ≈ In Franklin County in southcentral ≈ In New York’s Chemung County, home to the oceanfront resort of Ocean The tool can be found at Pennsylvania, the average annual tem- average annual precipitation increased City, is adding more days with tem- climatesmartfarming.org/tools/csf- perature has risen at a rate of 0.3 degrees at a rate of 2.3 inches per decade from peratures of 90 degrees and higher to its county-climate-change. Restoring the native balance

ernstseed.com [email protected] 800-873-3321 6 Bay Journal • December 2018 Is nonnative red alga a friend or foe? It all depends… ≈ Gracilaria can survive and provide habitat in areas where Bay grasses aren’t found, but too much of it in other areas can choke off native species. By Sarah Vogelsong Any newcomer takes time to size up. And when one makes its entrance as slowly and subtly as Gracilaria vermiculophylla — a red alga native to the Pacific — did in the Chesapeake Bay, it can be even harder to determine whether its introduction will be helpful or harmful. Today, as Gracilaria has become widespread in Virginia waters, questions continue to swirl around it. Scientists disagree over when the species came to the Bay, how it arrived and what its proper name should be. (In November, one group published a paper in the journal Phytotaxa proposing that it be reclassified as Agarophyton vermiculophyllum.) But even more significantly, scientists are wrestling with the thorny question of whether Gracilaria will prove a net positive or negative for the estuary. “It’s changing these habitats pretty fundamentally, and we don’t understand the ecological or evolutionary impacts,” said University The reddish branches of Gracilaria vermiculophylla, seen here in Delaware waters, have spread through Virginia waters. Scientists of Alabama scientist Stacy Krueger- say that, under certain conditions, the presence of this nonnative alga may be a boost for aquatic habitat. ( © SA Krueger-Hadfield) Hadfield, who has studied its presence in the Bay. pinpoints its emergence to the 1970s, decade. Ultimately, he has found that Unlike the microscopic algae when she suspects it was brought in Gracilaria “has definitely played a generally associated with harmful accidentally with oysters from three “It might have a positive effect if role” in blue crab restoration and “may blooms that lead to fish kills, main sites in Japan. you look at one facet, actually be keeping the population Gracilaria is a marine macroalga, “I honestly don’t know how fast it’s from declining.” more commonly referred to as a spreading, because I think it’s been in it might have a neutral effect if In the past, juvenile crabs relied seaweed, which can easily be seen by places a lot longer than we’re aware on seagrass beds for both protection the naked eye. But unlike seagrasses, [of],” she said. you look at another and and a source of food. As declines in it lacks roots, flowers or leafy shoots. For some, the introduction of it might have a negative effect the Bay’s water quality led to great With red-hued, flexible branches that the macroalga has caused dismay. losses of these grasses (in 2008, the resemble those on a spreading tree, Beginning in the late 2000s, watermen on another thing.” Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimated Gracilaria can easily be plucked from around Tangier Island informed the — Stacy Krueger-Hadfield, that half of the estuary’s eelgrass had the waters by fishermen, foragers or Chesapeake Bay Foundation that they University of Alabama scientist died since the 1970s), blue crabs were birds in search of nest materials. were seeing increasing masses of what deprived of critical habitat, and their According to Virginia Institute of they called “red moss” sometimes numbers also tanked. Marine Science Professor Romuald entangled in underwater grass beds. Since then, improved water quality Lipcius, Gracilaria has been found in Locals also reported that those areas threat to the local ecosystem in areas and restoration efforts have led to the the Chesapeake as far north as Smith often seemed to have fewer crabs than where waters are slow or still, the alga regrowth of tens of thousands of acres and Tangier islands and as far south others. appears to be having an unexpectedly of Bay grasses, reaching an estimated as Virginia’s Lower Peninsula. It has That’s possible, said Lipcius: “In positive effect in areas of the Bay 105,000 acres in 2017. But rising also spread midway up all of Virginia’s certain areas — for instance, in very where the water flow is more rapid, temperatures from climate change rivers. protected coves and where there’s assuming the role previously played in may reverse some of those gains. “I see that Gracilaria is actually little water flow — Gracilaria tends many areas of the Bay by underwater Lipcius said that he believes that one here to stay,” he said. “If anything, it to bunch up.” In these regions, where grasses. key species, eelgrass “is likely to be could increase some more, but I think it can reach a thickness of 2 feet, In those places, where there is less extirpated” because of its difficulty it’s at a pretty high abundance right the macroalgae block sunlight from of a tendency for the plant to bunch surviving at sustained temperatures now, and I don’t see that it’s going to reaching the seagrass below, leading up and block sunlight, Lipcius said, above 86 F (30 C); the more adaptable decline.” to a die-off. That, in turn, can lead to “Gracilaria is about equivalent to Gracilaria, which can thrive in In much of the existing scientific declines in other aquatic populations seagrass as a nursery habitat.” temperate to subtropical temperatures, literature, Gracilaria is said to have such as blue crabs, which rely on these One of Virginia’s foremost experts “could compensate for the loss of been introduced to the Bay in the plants for both protection and the on the blue crab, Lipcius has been eelgrass to a large degree,” he said. late 1990s or early 2000s, although habitat they offer to species lower on studying the effects of Gracilaria on Furthermore, Gracilaria has shown new work drawing on Eastern Shore the food chain. this economically and ecologically herbariums by Krueger-Hadfield While Gracilaria may pose a significant species for the past Alga continues on page 7 Bay Journal • December 2018 7

Alga from page 6 A tube worm used pieces the ability to thrive in areas where of Gracilaria seagrass has never grown — not vermicu- just compensating for seagrass loss, lophylla, a Lipcius pointed out, but creating new red mac- areas where small crustaceans and roalga or other species can flourish. “seaweed,” It is because of this potential that to build a Chris Moore, senior scientist for shelter on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in a Virginia Virginia, compared the macroalga shoreline. to hydrilla, a nonnative underwater The alga, grass that was first observed in the native to Chesapeake Bay region in 1982 and the Pacific, within 10 years had spread over 3,000 has spread acres of the Potomac. While hydrilla is through Vir- not native, it has shown a predilection ginia waters to grow in areas that previously lacked but scientists vegetation. Similarly, Moore said, aren’t sure Gracilaria may act as a “pioneer if it will help species” that creates conditions that or hurt the allow native grasses to return. ecosystem. While Gracilaria may be assuming ( © SA some of the functions previously Krueger- filled by seagrass, the two are not Hadfield) interchangeable. A 2017 VIMS doctoral study of the York River seagrass or marsh plants such as Krueger-Hadfield said that efforts said. “We’re not always exactly sure in Virginia, a sub-estuary of the spartina can. are under way to assess the species’ what we’re dealing with.” Bay, found that juvenile blue crabs “It might have a positive effect if biomass within the Bay watershed, Nevertheless, the macroalga’s sheer preferred seagrass to Gracilaria and you look at one facet, it might have a perhaps using drones, although Moore ubiquity in the Chesapeake is driving that seagrass supported three times neutral effect if you look at another cautioned that such a task is especially work forward. as many juveniles in their two earliest and it might have a negative effect on complicated because of the difficulty “It’s not going to be eradicated,” stages of growth. Furthermore, another thing,” she said. of distinguishing G. vermiculophylla Krueger-Hadfield said. “It’s because the macroalga doesn’t have On one point, all researchers agree: from other types of Gracilaria. everywhere.” roots, Krueger-Hadfield noted, it To fully understand Gracilaria’s effect “There is some concern in making Sarah Vogelsong is a freelance writer isn’t able to stabilize sediments like on the Bay, more research is needed. sure we have the right species,” he based in Richmond, VA.

FLOODED ROADS? BLOCKED CULVERTS? DAMAGED TREES? SOUNDS LIKE A BEAVER PROBLEM.

Let Ecotone provide a humane and cost-effective alternative to trapping. Call us today for a FREE consultation! www.ecotoneinc.com 410.420.2600 8 Bay Journal • December 2018 Cattle farmer uses down-to-earth practices to beef up the soil ≈ Cows help to filter water, small farm because he sequester carbon and control believes that, “What gets measured gets invasive species during managed.” Knowing rotational grazing. everything from the By Whitney Pipkin amount of water avail- The shaggy Red Devon-Angus and able to plants to the doe-eyed Jersey cattle surrounding levels of calcium and Virginia farmer Matt Rales are more carbon nestled beneath than the sum of their parts — though the grassy surface will their meat will eventually be sold by help Rales to graze the pound. To Rales, they are tools his cattle with preci- to tangibly address climate change, sion, addressing each and he wants to prove they’re up to component of the soil’s the task. makeup to painstak- Rales, who runs Another Perfect ingly improve it. Day Farm with his fiancée, Abigail To accomplish the Fuller, has begun transforming the most progress in the nearly 800 acres he purchased in 2016 least amount of time, into an ecosystem at peak perfor- Rales is applying mance: one that better filters water and what some might call sequesters carbon — and does so by an extreme version feeding a growing herd of cattle. of rotational graz- The practice Rales uses is called ing. At the peak of rotational grazing. It entails systemati- grass-growing season cally rotating animals through fields, this summer, he was often one small section at a time, Matt Rales and his fiancée Abigail Fuller stand in a field verdant with perennial grasses in mid-July, shifting 300 head of allowing their manure to fertilize one two years after Rales bought the farm in Fauquier County, VA, where he’s grazing cattle to improve cattle to fresh patches area while the remainder rests and the soil. (Whitney Pipkin) of grass — a feat grows vegetation. that involves moving “We use the animals as a tool to the perennial grasses associated with fields that no longer suffer from stand- electric fencing and convincing the create soil that can more effectively the grazing system convert atmo- ing water or dry spots, as well as cows cows that he has greener pastures to infiltrate water and cycle atmospheric spheric carbon into soil carbon — pull- that no longer need dietary supple- offer — as many as four times a day. carbon,” the 34-year-old Rales said as ing it from the atmosphere and storing ments. The Chesapeake Bay Program, This is where the soil study comes he walked the animals toward their it in the soil. They also promote the state-federal partnership that drives in handy. Rather than applying chemi- watering trough. “The byproduct of water quality by reducing erosion and the Bay restoration effort, considers cal fertilizers in response to some of that is healthy, grass-fed beef.” absorbing nutrients. rotational grazing a nutrient-reducing the soil’s trouble spots, Rales allows A growing body of research sug- Rotational grazing is not new to the best management practice. the cows to linger in a patch of land gests that this type of farming could Chesapeake Bay region. Nearly 200 But Rales is going further than most where invasive species are thriving, help turn back the clock on climate grazers are listed in a regional direc- farmers in an attempt to document eating away at it over time. change. Through photosynthesis and tory of grass-based farms, and they the benefits that many have reported In contrast, he moves the cows the development of deep root systems, have plenty of anecdotes to share about anecdotally. He also wants to create quickly through a place where soil a broader market demand compaction is a problem. As much as for the services this type of 99 percent of the farm’s acres are rest- farming can deliver to the ing while the cattle munch, fertilize surrounding environment. and trample the remaining fraction. One of the first things Done properly, this leaves behind Rales did after buying the a matted carpet of plant matter and mix of pastures and former manure-based nutrients that improves cropland in Virginia’s soil health over time. Fauquier County was to take Rales’ intense engagement with a point-in-time “snapshot” of animal agriculture, though driven by its soil. He hired a company his interest in chipping away at climate to extract 4-foot-deep soil change, was at first a surprise to his cores at about 100 loca- and Fuller’s vegetarian and vegan tions throughout the farm, friends. collecting 88 data points What Rales and Fuller are doing from each of them. The Soil “is turning the thought that ‘animal Information System study agriculture is bad’ on its head,” said cost about $100,000, Rales Aria McLauchlan, co-founder of Land said. The cost is one reason Core USA, a Los Angeles-based orga- that Trimble Agriculture, nization that advocates for national and which conducted the study, local policies promoting soil health. typically works with larger “They’re doing so many things so well farming operations inter- and so thoroughly.” ested in applying costly McLauchlan said farmers like Rales fertilizers with precision. make her work easier. She advocates Rales grazes a diversity of cattle breeds, moving clusters of them as many as four times a day at the Rales invested in the peak of grass-growing season and allowing the rest of the farm’s 800 acres to rest. (Whitney Pipkin) study for his relatively Cattle continues on page 9 Bay Journal • December 2018 9

Cattle from page 8 to monetize the work the farm is doing for the environment by receiving for federal programs and market-based payments for the “ecosystem services” incentives that recognize how “regen- it provides. erative agriculture” benefits more than In an ecosystem services market, the farmer’s bottom line. The term businesses or jurisdictions pay land- refers to a system of farming prin- owners to develop or preserve features ciples, including intensively managed and practices that benefit the environ- grazing, that increases biodiversity, ment to offset the impact of pollution enriches soil and improves watersheds. elsewhere. A documentary filmmaker, Fuller One way in which Rales might is uniquely equipped for explain- receive ecosystem services payments ing their goals for the farm without is to participate in Virginia’s wetland getting too far into the weeds. At 32, mitigation program. Federal and state Fuller is the youngest and only female rules encouraging “no net loss” of director of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated wetlands have fueled a growing market series, Chef’s Table, having produced for mitigation banks that developers episodes on some of the world’s top pay into when it’s not possible to avoid chefs. removing wetlands elsewhere. “People always ask me if I’m actu- Looking down from the pasture ally farming,” said Fuller, who moved onto one of two streams that run to Virginia from Los Angeles about through Another Perfect Day Farm, a year ago but still spends almost a Movable water troughs and fencing make Matt Rales’ farming methods possible. it’s easy to see the potential. A sprawl- third of her time traveling for work. “I He hopes to promote the idea that well-managed grasslands can sequester enough ing floodplain below could be turned move the cows with him and help out, atmospheric carbon to reverse climate change. (Whitney Pipkin) into a wetland, Rales said, measuring but I’m more focused on growing the between 85 and 120 acres. But he is farm’s communications and outreach.” that comprise the farming operation. still conflicted about the idea. For now, a majority of the farm’s “I’ve come to the table with some “From a financial perspective, we’d meat is sold through Hardwick Beef, capital. A lot of farmers today inherit have more income [from the wetland an aggregator that sells online and to the land, but that wasn’t the case for restoration] to develop a larger grazing restaurants and shops around New York me,” Rales said. “Now, I’m trying to operation that can positively affect the City. Responding to local demand, the come up with strategies to help it make land,” he said. “But, at the same time, couple has also started hosting pop-up sense until we can get to the point that you’re sort of taking this land — that, sales in the District of Columbia, along we’re self-sustaining.” in my mind, we could be improving in with occasional tours of the farm. Farming is as much an intellectual an even more dramatic way — out of Rales comes to agriculture with exercise as a physical one for Rales. commission.” more experience — in both farming He learned the ropes of growing better This coming year, possibly in the and business — than many others grass during three years working Through photosynthesis and the devel- spring, Rales will test his hunch that in their mid-30s. He knows how to for sustainable agriculture savant opment of deep root systems, perennial grazing cattle could be the land’s best interpret the soil test data, and he has Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms in grasses can help combat climate change use by running another sweeping test plenty of ideas about how to fund a Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. He has by converting atmospheric carbon into of the soils. Two years into the opera- farm that’s producing not only beef but also worked at farms in Zimbabwe, soil carbon. (Whitney Pipkin) tion, a scoop of earth already comes also dividends for the environment. Botswana and California and run a with signs that it’s improving: long His recent purchase of the farmland “suburban farm” in Potomac, MD, Rales and his business partner plan roots that are penetrating deeper into is the culmination of years he spent serving some of Washington, DC’s top to enroll much of their 1,500 acres the ground, and more dung beetles, studying how to manage animals in restaurants, such as Komi and Marcel’s in conservation easement programs. earthworms and fungi. harmony with the environment. by Robert Wiedmaier. The voluntary agreements, which One pasture that had been resting in Rales grew up in Potomac, MD, and “More than anything, I spent a lot compensate landowners in exchange late summer was a picture of diver- earned a degree in environmental sci- of time reading,” said Rales, who liber- for limiting the development or use of sity, dotted with Queen Anne’s lace, ence at Middlebury College in Vermont. ally quotes Allan Savory, a Zimbabwe a property, would provide additional black-eyed Susan, Indian grass and He worked with a business partner, ecologist who popularized the idea that income to the farm. the occasional monarch. But, for all of Charles “Chuck” Kuhn, the founder of well-managed grasslands can sequester But that’s just one of the ways in these things, that picture still can’t tell JK Moving Services, based in Sterling, enough atmospheric carbon to reverse which Rales aims to rely on more than us about the soil, Rales hopes the data VA, to purchase the pair of properties climate change. beef sales for revenue. He also hopes will do the talking. 10 Bay Journal • December 2018 Elusive Eastern black rail proposed for federal protection ≈ Marsh bird’s low-lying nests A bird nests are being drowned more often — increasingly devastated by bander eggs along with them — and the birds holds a are disappearing. sealevel rise, tidal flooding. black rail. The birds can adjust by moving By Karl Blankenship The total upslope but, because marshes are The diminutive Eastern black rail, number of relatively flat, even a small amount of an elusive marsh-dwelling bird that has breeding rising water can push them out of suitable nearly disappeared from the fringes pairs habitat toward trees, roads or stands of of Chesapeake Bay marshes in recent along the invasive phragmites. decades, may soon turn up someplace Atlantic There may be plausible options to save new: the federal list of threatened and Coast is the black rails, Watts added. While the endangered species. estimated birds are mostly found in salt marshes, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to be they will use freshwater wetlands if they proposed listing the bird, whose popula- between have the right conditions — they were tion has been in sharp decline all along 355 and once found in parts of the Midwest and the East Coast, as threatened under the 815. Great Plains, though those populations Endangered Species Act. (Whitney have largely disappeared. A threatened listing means the bird Wiest / Watts said that scientists could try could become endangered throughout all U.S. creating nontidal wetlands with suitable or a significant portion of its range in the Fish and conditions in areas near lingering black foreseeable future. Wildlife rail populations to see if the birds would “We have determined that habitat loss Service) move in. The process would likely take and destruction, sea level rise and tidal some trial and error, he said, because flooding, incompatible land manage- Recent surveys by the Center for director of the Center for Conservation no one knows the exact habitat condi- ment, and increasing storm intensity Conservation Biology in Virginia and Biology, a research organization. “It has tions required by black rails as they are and frequency are the primary threats to the Maryland Department of Natural experienced catastrophic declines and nocturnal and live in shallow marsh areas this subspecies,” the service wrote in its Resources have found that black rails range contraction, and that is ongoing. It that are hard to access at night. proposal. have nearly disappeared in Virginia is declining so fast that is it hard to even “There is some promise that if we Black rails have been losing ground and their numbers have declined by 90 really know where we are in that free fall can get the recipe right, we might be able for a century as the wetlands they percent in the last quarter century in at this point.” to manage the population in nontidal depend on have been drained or devel- Maryland, where only a handful are Watts was the author of an exhaustive areas and that would open the door for oped. In recent decades, though, the found today. 2016 literature review documenting the us to be able to control the habitat much birds have increasingly been squeezed As recently as the early 1990s, the status and trends of the black rail going more effectively and hopefully grow the out as their nests are more frequently black rail was one of the most common back more than 100 years. His report population,” Watts said. inundated by storms and unusually high species of rail found in Bay marshes. was among those used by the service in He also said it might be possible to tides driven by a rising sea level. Birders from around the world visited making its recommendation. modify waterfowl management ponds in The sparrow-sized birds — which Elliott Island in Maryland’s Dorchester Black rails have already disappeared some places to attract black rails. are the smallest members of the rail County to hear the nocturnal birds — from New England, and the service The species was petitioned for listing family — are already listed as endan- they are rarely seen— but they have not said the number of breeding pairs along in 2010 by the Center for Biological gered in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, been reported there in years. the remainder of the East Coast and the Diversity, an advocacy group based in New York and several other states along “The population is in tremendous Gulf Coast of Florida was between 355 Tucson, AZ, which praised the service’s the Atlantic Coast. trouble right now,” said Bryan Watts, and 815. The service predicts continued recommendation. declines in those areas in “We’re relieved that this fascinating coming decades. and secretive bird is getting the protec- The population is in its tion it desperately needs to survive,” said the best shape in coastal Stephanie Kurose, an endangered species Texas, where about 1,300 specialist with the organization. “For black rails were found prior too long we’ve been plowing and paving to Hurricane Harvey last over wetlands that not only provide year. But the hurricane hit crucial habitat for the survival of rails and important habitat areas for thousands of other wildlife species, but the birds and likely caused also protect us against flooding and clean mortalities because it struck our water.” while recently hatched birds She added that the black rail is “yet were still flightless, the another example of all that we stand to service said. lose if we don’t do more to curb emissions The black rails’ depen- and curb climate change.” dence on a thin strip of The service has to make a final shallow water habitat near decision on the proposal by Dec. 10, 2019. the upper edge of the tidal If the species is listed as threatened, the marsh makes them par- service could prevent activities such as ticularly vulnerable. Their fire management, haying and mowing nests are built in clumps in areas where the birds are known to of vegetation that are more be found during nesting and breeding frequently flooded as the seasons as well as post-breeding flightless sea level rises and storms molt periods. become more intense. Local The decision would not affect a sepa- Black rails forage for invertebrates, such as water beetles, in areas that have wet soil or even a populations can survive rate black rail subspecies that is found in thin covering of water. (Woody Woodrow / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ) occasional floods, but the California. Bay Journal • December 2018 11 Young Atlantic sturgeon numbers surge in the James River ≈ Recent discoveries of the juvenile fish stir hope for the species’ comeback By Sarah Vogelsong A bumper crop of juvenile Atlantic sturgeon in the James River this fall is raising some environmentalists’ hopes that the endangered fish may be stag- ing a steady comeback in Virginia’s largest river. “We’re starting to see real momen- tum to see a species come back, but also a river come back,” said Jamie Brunkow, riverkeeper for the James River Association. This fall, as of Nov. 12, 153 juvenile sturgeon had been discovered in the James during routine trawling All of the juvenile sturgeon found in the James River this year were in the 6–11 centimeter range and classified as “age 0,” surveys — a staggering increase over meaning they were likely just a few weeks old. (Matt Balazik) last fall’s yield of just two. Of those, 148 have been caught by lapse in the 1800s, Atlantic sturgeon when three turned up. The next year, lated that the high incidence of juve- Virginia Commonwealth University’s (Acipenser oxyrinchus) have been two more emerged. niles this year may be due to the heavy Rice Rivers Center; 40 of them captured slowly returning to the Bay watershed All five of the earlier juveniles, rains that affected the entire James on Nov. 5 alone. All of the center’s over the last decade. But in the James though, were older than this year’s River watershed this summer and fall. catches were made between the Ben- River, where researchers have identi- discoveries. The two 2017 finds were Sturgeon move upriver to spawn, and jamin Harrison Bridge near Hopewell fied and tagged more than 700 adults, 47 and 52 centimeters in length, the juveniles move slowly downriver and Sturgeon Point, which sits just west juveniles have largely been absent until respectively, while the 2016 juveniles as they grow. Researchers at the Rice of the Fort Pocahontas historical site in recent years. were all less than 43 centimeters in Rivers Center no longer conduct trawls Charles City County. The five juveniles “We seem to have a recruitment length. Based on their measurements, above the fall line, though, because turned up by the James River Associa- problem in the James River of fish Balazik estimated them to be about a of the high incidence of snags their tion were found in mid-October during surviving when they’re young,” year old. equipment encounters upstream. an education program at Presquile Balazik said. In comparison, all of this year’s “It’s a good chance in a normal National Wildlife Refuge. Researchers aren’t quite sure why finds were in the 6–11 centimeter year they’re up there, but maybe with While the finds have sparked excite- juveniles have been so scarce in the range and classified as “age 0,” mean- the stronger flows, maybe they came ment among environmental advocates James. Some suspect predation by ing they were likely born within the downstream a little more quickly,” and researchers — Brunkow called other fish, such as the nonnative blue last few weeks around Osborne Land- Balazik said. the discoveries “extraordinary” even catfish, may be decimating the ranks of ing, where a number of tagged female While Balazik is tempering his when the count sat at nine — some are the young. Disappearing habitat may sturgeon have been detected. excitement until next year, when urging caution in claiming a restora- also play a role: For spawning to occur Juveniles ages one to two years “are researchers can get a sense of how tion success. successfully, sturgeon need a hard, rocky the ones I really love catching, because many juveniles survived their treach- “It is exciting, but it’s still too early river bottom for eggs to adhere to, as those are pretty much safe at that erous early months, Brunkow sees to call it for me,” said Matt Balazik, well as water with low levels of sediment point,” Balazik said. the finds as a hopeful signal of water a scientist with Rice Rivers and the and high dissolved oxygen content. Mere weeks old at the time of quality improvement. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who Other risks include vessel colli- discovery, the 153 juveniles are not “The sturgeon just happens to be specializes in Atlantic sturgeon in the sions, the dredging of spawning areas assured of reaching maturity, and our local mascot here in the James,” James. “These guys have a long way and water intakes at industrial plants. they are too small to be equipped he said, and this year’s juveniles offer to go before I’m comfortable with [the Although it was clear that juveniles with tracking devices that could help “some reason to be excited and posi- rate of juvenile] recruitment.” must exist somewhere in the James, researchers learn more about how the tive about the future.” Overfished in the Chesapeake none were found by either fishermen or fish live and grow in the James. Sarah Vogelsong is a freelance region almost to the point of col- research trawls until November 2016, Both Brunkow and Balazik specu- writer based in Richmond, VA. 12 Bay Journal • December 2018 Spotted lanternfly, a dire threat to crops, shows up in MD ≈ Agricultural interests go And lanternflies may take a bite out on high alert for invasive of the state’s wineries and breweries: Hops and grapes also are on their Asian species that feasts on 70 menu. different plants. Doris Behnke is a University of By Jeremy Cox Maryland extension agent based in The spotted lanternfly, an exotic Cecil County, and she owns a winery insect that feeds like a vampire on the called Turkey Point Vineyard in the sap of fruit orchards and hardwood same county. The lanternfly has trees, has been detected for the first been on her radar since its first U.S. time in Maryland, setting off alarm appearance in Berks County, PA, in bells in the agricultural industry. 2014. When that state blanketed 13 The Maryland Department of southeastern counties in a quarantine Agriculture announced Oct. 25 that it last year, it was a “real eye-opener,” had found a single adult specimen in a Behnke said. trap in the northeastern corner of Cecil She quickly joined the chorus of County, at the northern end of the Bay. Maryland agricultural officials and The county borders Pennsylvania and trade groups warning farmers and Delaware, two states where lanternflies others to be on the lookout. had previously been discovered. “It’s a scary thing because there’s Maryland officials said they are no known control for it right now” moving to stop the invasion in its tracks. beyond some insecticides that only “It’s something we’re looking to appear to be effective shortly after do our best to keep our eye on,” said lanternflies hatch, Behnke said. Kim Rice, program manager for plant “They’re not picky eaters. They attack protection and weed management. “If trees and vines, and it doesn’t have to we can eradicate it, we’re certainly be a certain time of year because they going to try.” don’t go after the fruit.” After the species’ presence was verified in Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey, it seemed only a matter of time before Maryland joined the list, she said. In October, that’s exactly what happened. Behnke’s vineyard is located on a family farm going back five generations. Growing grapes is already challenging enough in Spotted lanternfly adults (winged) and fourth instar (last nymph stage before adult Maryland, with the unpredictable form) feed on a tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), an invasive tree from China. weather and recurring pests, she All stages feed on trees, shrubs and vines and cause damage, but for unknown said. Now, she worries that a reasons, the insect must feed on the tree of heaven to produce viable eggs. (Emelie lanternfly invasion could set the Swackhamer / PennState Extension in Montgomery County) industry back. Since it’s such a new threat, the brownish-gray splotches. But they’re Maryland and U.S. agricultural A single adult spotted lanternfly. This invasive full impact on vineyards and wine not too picky about this either, often officials have set up 15 traps at planthopper-type insect from China is known quality is “unclear,” said Joseph resorting to any smooth surface. strategic locations along the state’s to cause damage to 70 plant species, includ- Fiola, a University of Maryland Experts suspect that the first borders to monitor the lanternfly’s ing grapes, peaches, apples and hardwoods. grape expert, in a special industry lanternflies to reach North America movements. But they’re not sure Maryland agricultural specialists are asking alert in September before the lan- hitched a ride on a shipment of stone whether any regulatory actions will citizens to report any sightings of the insect. ternfly’s presence was confirmed. from their native China. be needed until a fuller picture of its (Lawrence Barringer / Pennsylvania Depart- But he warned that damage from But they are perhaps best known — whereabouts emerges. A quarantine ment of Agriculture, Bugwood.org) feeding coupled with winter cold and despised for — the sticky, sweet like the one in Pennsylvania would stress could kill vines. fluid they excrete. Referred to as limit the movement of plants and But Rice acknowledged that As adults in the summer, “honeydew,” the lanternfly’s excrement outdoor household items out of the lanternflies Lycorma( delicatula) have lanternflies hop from leaf to leaf, using has been known to cover park benches, affected area. several advantages working in their a strawlike mouth to extract sap from patio furniture, children’s play equip- “We don’t know what we have yet,” favor. The Asian imports have no tree bark and plant stems. ment and other surfaces. The goop also Rice said. known predators in the region and can “It’s like draining the gas tank,” invites the growth of a sooty mold that The lone captured insect was a expand into new areas by hitchhiking Behnke said. “Once they drain that can get so thick that it blocks a host male, so it did not produce any egg while in their egg stage on the gas tank, depending on the time of plant’s access to sunlight, Behnke said. masses, she added. underside of vehicles or train cars. year, there’s a point that the plant, The bugs themselves look like In the meantime, officials are Allowing the invasive pest to claim tree or vine can’t build up that energy demonic butterflies. Measuring an imploring the public to collect any even a toehold would be too much, anymore.” inch long by a half-inch wide, they lanternfly adults, nymphs or eggs they Rice said, because of the risk it poses Their victim of choice is a fellow have large, colorful wings. The front might find and report it at to agriculture. Lanternflies feast on Asian invasive, the tree of heaven set tends to be beige with block dots. [email protected]. 70 different types of plants and crops, (Ailanthus altissima). During the The back wings are two-tone — scarlet The insects should be placed in a including apples, peaches, oaks and winter, lanternflies slather the trees with black spots at the bottom while plastic bag and frozen to kill and pines. with masses of eggs that resemble striped in black and white at the top. preserve them. Bay Journal • December 2018 13 Banned pesticide still in some MD stores, spot checks show ≈ Law barring consumer sales of Beekeepers neonicotinoids for outdoor use have been experiencing took effect Jan. 1. severe losses of By Timothy B. Wheeler their colonies Maryland’s pioneering law to for more than restrict the sale and use of insecticides a decade. implicated in honeybee die-offs had Scientists a bumpy debut this year. Spot checks attribute the die- of home and garden, hardware and offs to a variety other stores around the state found of factors, some of them still stocking bug- including mites, killing products that should have been disease, lack removed from retail shelves. of adequate The Pollinator Protection Act, nutrition and passed in 2016, made Maryland habitat loss. the first state in the nation to adopt But a number legislation aimed at keeping consumers of studies — from using neonicotinoids, a widely though disputed used class of insecticides that some by chemical studies have linked to steep population manufacturers declines of bees and other pollinators. — have At least eight other states have suggested adopted different legislation aimed at neonicotinoids protecting pollinators from pesticides. also could be Maryland’s law, which took effect involved. Jan. 1, effectively bans all consumer Neonic- bug killers containing neonicotinoids otinoids disrupt if intended for outdoor use. Only stores the central with state permits to sell restricted-use nervous system pesticides may carry those products, The Pollinator Protection Act, passed in 2016, made Maryland the first state to adopt legislation aimed at of insects, and and they must be kept behind the keeping consumers from using neonicotinoids, a widely used class of insecticides that some studies have some studies counter. They can only be sold to linked to steep population declines of bees and other pollinators. (Dave Harp) have found evi- state-certified pesticide applicators or dence that even farmers, who are exempt from the ban. In a number of cases, Raindrop his office has been short-handed lately. sublethal exposure to the chemicals The law also exempts said, they took photos of the products He explained that he’s only had five of can affect bees. Their widespread use neonicotinoid-containing flea and on display. And in some instances, the seven inspectors he normally has in agriculture as well as home garden- tick repellants for pets, lice and they spoke to store managers or clerks. to check on hundreds of businesses ing has led to their being detected bedbug treatments as well as other “I’ve taken bottles off the shelf statewide and respond to consumer in 59 percent of streams sampled indoor insecticides, including ant and taken them up to an employee complaints. But after speaking with nationwide, including the Chesapeake baits. Neonicotinoid class pesticides or a manager, and said, ‘You really Berlin, he said, he directed the staff he Bay watershed, according to the U.S. include those with the following active need to stop selling this stuff — it’s does have to “beef up” their checks for Geological Survey. ingredients listed on the product labels: illegal,’” said Steve McDaniel, a neonicotinoids. “Most people, they really feel like imidacloprid, nithiazine, acetamiprid, master beekeeper in Carroll County “I told the inspectors to try to do because we got the law passed, we’re clothianidin, dinotefuran, thiacloprid, who participated in the volunteer spot as many as they can,” he said, “… and out of the woods on bee deaths,” or thiamethoxam. checks. speak to the managers of stores, so sales Raindrop said. “What we’re seeing is a Activists who successfully But not all store personnel people won’t let [consumers] purchase it.” trend that’s getting worse.” campaigned for the law’s passage say responded positively when confronted, Howard said two of his inspectors In a nationwide survey released they discovered to their dismay that at said Ruth Berlin, executive director of did find stores still selling products in May, beekeepers reported losing least some banned products were still the Maryland Pesticide Network. that shouldn’t be available to consum- 40 percent of their hives on average being sold to consumers throughout “They said, ‘So what? It’s OK. No ers. They were advised to remove the last year, up from 33 percent the year this year’s growing season. one’s going to make us take it away,’” items from the shelves, he said. before. In Maryland, the average “We started hearing about this in Berlin said. The volunteers’ findings, Berlin said she realizes the state annual loss was even higher, at 49 the spring, in the bee club meetings,” she said, were reported in late summer may lack the staff to get around to percent. said Bonnie Raindrop, legislative chair to the Maryland Department of all stores, and she said she offered to McDaniel, the Carroll County for the Central Maryland Beekeepers Agriculture, which regulates pesticide continue reporting what volunteers beekeeper, said he lost all but three of Association. use in the state. find. “We’re trying to collaborate,” his 26 hives last year, and many other So, she and six other volunteers Dennis Howard, the MDA’s she said. keepers he spoke with saw more than visited 30 stores from May to October manager of pesticide regulation, said But she noted that the law provides half of their colonies die off. and found products that should have the law’s language can be a little for a $250 fine for a first offense, going McDaniel said he has been willing been removed from shelves in 11 confusing, but it does prohibit sales up to $500 for a repeat infraction. until now to give store managers the businesses in the Baltimore and to the general public of neonicotinoid Fining a few retailers, she suggested, benefit of the doubt, because they may Washington metropolitan areas. The pesticides for outdoor use. might send a message to the rest to pay not have gotten the word about the products, many of them listing the “They should be behind the attention and follow the law. And it new law. But with beekeeping being neonicotinoid imidacloprid as an counter,” he said, “for the folks might help, she added, if retailers got a so challenging these days, he said his active ingredient, were on sale in who can actually apply it under the letter in advance of the 2019 growing patience has limits. locally owned nurseries as well as in legislation.” season, reminding them that it’s illegal “If they’re still carrying it next outlets of several national retail chains Howard said that enforcement of to sell outdoor neonicotinoid pesticides spring,” he said, “we’re going to come that sell gardening supplies. the law has been hampered because to untrained consumers. down on [them] with both feet.” 14 Bay Journal • December 2018 Months after storms, Chesapeake debris cleanup presses on ≈ Crews remove navigational a rock or floating on a pier.” hazards washed into waterways Debris removal involves some triage, Gallagher said. His top prior- during floods. ity is snagging anything that poses a By Jeremy Cox threat to boat safety in channels, the A half-submerged tree trunk main thoroughfares for watercraft. bobbed in the waters of the Chesa- Then comes anything outside the chan- peake Bay. nels that could float back that way with From his perch several hundred the wind and tide. feet away aboard a small barge, John In normal times, the hydrographic Gallagher began giving orders to his operation busies itself with placing crew. Not much needed to be said. By buoys, removing abandoned boats and now, the actions of the other three men piloting the state’s three icebreaker had become almost automatic. boats in the winter. The last few “Here’s a good example of what months have not been normal times, the debris looks like in here,” said though. Gallagher, head of the Maryland Gallagher said his crews removed Department of Natural Resources’ 10 boatloads of debris alone from Lake hydrographic operations. “This is right Ogleton, an anchorage off the Severn off the channel.” River. They also spent considerable Chris Ruark steered the boat close Matt O’Neal, a hydrographic engineering associate with the Maryland Depart- time in the Middle and Chester rivers. enough for Aaron Nelson and Matt ment of Natural Resources, right, uses a remote-controlled crane to place a tree The majority of the material has O’Neal, both clad in hard hats and trunk into the agency’s vessel, the R.P. Gaudette. He is assisted by Aaron Nelson. consisted of tree limbs and trunks. But orange life jackets, to fit a pair of large (Jeremy Cox) there have been oddities, including an tongs around the waterlogged tree. industrial chlorine tank and a giant tire Then, they reeled it into the boat’s hull cleanup to continue, after a winter began there, just two years have wit- from an excavator, Gallagher said. using a crane mounted on the side of intermission, well into 2019. nessed more rainfall — and those totals The tire has been repurposed as a the vessel. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were based on the entire 12 months. piece of workout equipment at a gym, Then it was on to the next naviga- also has pitched in, but its boats largely When rain turned heavy this year, but there is no recycling for the rest of tional hazard. concentrate on the federally main- especially in July, it sent torrents of the debris. The trees can’t be ground And the next. tained channels immediately around stormwater across the land into ditches into mulch because they sometimes So it went for Gallagher’s small the Port of Baltimore and District of and streams, down rivers and eventu- contain metal shrapnel, which dam- enterprise as it chipped away at a big Columbia. That leaves the DNR with ally into the Bay itself. ages the state’s tree chippers. assignment: making the Bay safe for the balance of the Bay’s navigable Most media reports about the long- Usually, the DNR boats haul their boating after a summer of epic rains Maryland waters as well as many of its range impacts have focused on the quarry to Kent Island, where it is flushed untold amounts of debris into many tributaries. tons of nutrients and sediment flushed loaded onto dump trucks and taken its waters. This year is on track to rank as one of into the Chesapeake. The waters at the to a landfill in Ridgely. A boat loaded As of Sept. 27, DNR crews had the wettest ever recorded in the mid- mouths of several rivers, including the with 5,000 pounds of debris can’t removed 140,680 pounds of storm- Atlantic. As of Nov. 5, Baltimore had Susquehanna and Potomac, temporar- go very fast or else it risks getting related debris from navigable waters been inundated with 59 inches of rain, ily turned the color of chocolate milk. swamped. So to save time during in the Bay. But the work was far from according to the National Weather Ser- Scientists worried that the sediment Western Shore cleanup jaunts, the done. Gallagher said he expects the vice. Since 1871, when record-keeping would block sunlight from reaching Army Corps has begun making avail- underwater grass beds and able its drop-off site at Fort McHenry. that nutrients would fuel alga Gallagher said that once a piece of blooms that trigger oxygen- debris has lodged itself safely on land, starved “dead zones.” it’s out of his division’s hands. But he But the rushing water also immediately decided that the once- carried large pieces of debris, towering tree trunk in front of Hall’s such as fallen trees and home had to go. It was wedged onto a everyday garbage. While less stone jetty but still partially underwa- troubling to the Bay’s health, ter — free perhaps to catch a ride on a the flotsam represented a future high tide. major headache for boaters, In a flurry of sawdust and flying shoreline communities and water, Nelson used a chainsaw to cut waterfront homeowners. the trunk into three pieces. O’Neal People like Archie Hall. moved the levers of a remote control to Hall, 82, has lived in the lift the chunks into the 36-foot alumi- Bayside Beach subdivision in num boat, dubbed the R.P. Gaudette. Pasadena for 30 years. He has Just as the last piece dropped with never seen as much debris in a thud, something went wrong. A few the Bay as he did this year, he puffs of smoke boiled up from the said. By late October, when crane’s engine. After a few minutes of Gallagher and his crew tied tinkering, the men decided they would up at his dock, most of it had have to retrieve a replacement part been picked up by neighbors from the Army Corps. or floated away. As their boat slowly gathered speed “It was four times this out in the open water, the sunlight Matt O’Neal holds onto a waterlogged tree while Aaron Nelson, a hydrographic engineering asso- bad, floating in and out,” Hall sparkled on the surface, showing no ciate with the MD DNR, cuts into a tree found floating in the Bay near Pasadena. (Jeremy Cox) said. “What’s left is stuck on obstacles in their path. Bay Journal • December 2018 15 Proposed townhomes on VA floodplain draws opposition ≈ Some say revitalization would Potomac-bound be an improvement, others streams to the surface and applying modern worry about precedent for stormwater controls to future development. reduce polluted runoff. By Whitney Pipkin Viani said he A vacant trailer and spray-painted is working with “no parking” sign in Alexandria, VA, stakeholders to see have long made the gravel lot where how the proposal they’re perched look forgotten. But for 8800 Richmond a plan to redevelop the 8-acre site at Highway could be 8800 Richmond Highway — which sits tweaked to address squarely in the floodplain of a Potomac environmental River tributary — is garnering plenty concerns while still of attention and lively debate. leaving enough A Northern Virginia developer room for a viable wants to build 43 townhomes on the development. property that is considered one of Conversations the thoroughfare’s biggest eyesores. with county officials Supporters say the project aligns with already led to Fairfax County’s broader vision for increasing the redeveloping a more than 7-mile strip proposed width of a of the timeworn corridor. section of vegetated But doing so would require buffer between the exemptions from state and local laws townhomes and intended to prevent flooding and creek from 39 feet to protect water quality in the Potomac Dogue Creek was funneled into this culvert in the 1950s when the Sitkin family that owns the 89 feet, Viani said. River and Chesapeake Bay. The property first constructed a small amusement park and roads on site. After its watershed became But that still falls project site cozies up to Dogue Creek, more developed, the creek was diverted to form a new channel, which swelled with water one Friday short of the 100-foot a flood-prone suburban stream that in mid-November after the season’s first snow. (Whitney Pipkin) buffer required by drains the parking lots and roofs of the county-enforced a 1980s-era neighborhood as well as Stewart Schwartz, executive Chesapeake Bay Preservation military facilities. The creek flows into director of the Coalition for Smart Ordinance, a regulation from which the Potomac near George Washington’s Growth, said his organization supports the project is seeking exemption. historic Mount Vernon estate. the redevelopment of the area and Fairfax County has other provisions The Chesapeake Bay Foundation its transition toward a greener, more to deter development from occurring and Audubon Naturalist Society — walkable corridor. But building inside stream valleys and floodplains, groups that don’t typically get involved townhomes in a floodplain, he said, and the county’s environmental staff in smaller development disputes — are doesn’t fit with that vision. have so far been unconvinced by the among a half-dozen regional groups “We have always been strongly developer’s proposed alternatives, opposed to the project, which they say supportive of redevelopment of according to their reports. But the would set a worrisome precedent in parking lots as part of mixed-use county’s Office of Community Virginia’s most populous county. development,” Schwartz said. Revitalization and some members of “We think there is a way to address “But part and parcel of this is the the Board of Supervisors — as well and further revitalization as well as conservation of our streams and as some civic associations — still these environmental programs,” said natural areas.” see the project as an opportunity Peggy Sanner, the CBF’s Virginia In late October, the developer to improve a property that isn’t assistant director and senior attorney. “indefinitely deferred” the project’s currently performing well at all, “And that is to respect what’s in the hearing with the county planning environmentally or economically. [county’s] comprehensive plan, which commission a day before it was “A lot of Richmond Highway has is that you should not be building next scheduled to take place. But Mark needs and challenges, and they will to the stream valleys.” Viani, an attorney representing the continue to be a negative for the Bay Pete Sitnik, who inherited the prospective builder, Stanley Martin and the environment if we don’t do property with his two siblings in 2008, Homes, said that day the project is still anything,” said County Supervisor said his family needs to sell the three “very much alive.” Dan Storck (D-Mount Vernon), who parcels that make up the property, one Besides, he said, “the issues we’re represents the area and supports the of which carries an annual tax bill of presenting are issues we’re going project. about $18,500. He sees the townhomes to confront up and down Richmond Backers of the project claim that as fitting with a broader vision for Lucidity Information Design, LLC Highway.” it will deliver net environmental the corridor, one with higher-end Viani would know. He is president benefits for the creek and surrounding residences that are able to support the recent severe flooding in Ellicott of the Southeast Fairfax Development area. They say it will add streamside improved retail options. He said he’s City, MD, and in Texas and North Corp., a public-private partnership buffers where there aren’t any, reduce willing to donate a portion of the Carolina after massive storms as focused on marketing the Embark hardened surfaces on the site and property to the county, but giving it all evidence of what’s at stake when Richmond Highway renewal project. curb polluted runoff heading into the away is not an option. municipalities build in floodplains. The The big-picture plan entails widening stream. “Could you donate your 401(k) or water, they say, has to go somewhere, the road to make room for bus transit Concerns about increased flooding your house to somebody, and have no and stronger storms coupled with and building clusters of residential could be partially alleviated by the other income?” asked Sitnik, who is 67. a rising sea level are already units to break up the sea of storefronts. Opponents of the project point to exacerbating flooding in streambeds. It also calls for returning buried Floodplain continues on page 17 16 Bay Journal • December 2018 Multifunction stream buffers offer food for thought for PA farms ≈ Ability to plant cash crop may lose some of the pollution-fighting attract more participants but power when they are partially planted with forbs or shrubs. He some question its effectiveness. cited a 2014 study that looked at By Donna Morelli how well various buffers reduced Don English strode along the the amount of toxins reaching mowed path through his streamside waterways. Results showed that buffer on Happy Hollow Farm in wider buffers generally removed southcentral Pennsylvania with the more pollutants, and shrubs confidence of an experienced tour removed up to two times the guide. The tiny headwater stream of amount of pollutants as grass. But Deer Creek gurgled by, hardly visible trees removed up to three times as in the tangled sprays of goldenrod and much as grass and shrubs. deep purple bergamot growing tall in “I personally would love to the sunny spaces between larger trees see at least 35 feet of canopy and shrubs. trees next to the stream with the It was August, and monarch crop trees providing additional butterflies and bees were still flitting width outside of that core buffer,” about. The blueberries were gone, and Sweeney said. “However, life is the elderberries were not quite ripe. a compromise and, if a narrower Stopping, he leaned on stacked core of canopy trees is all that a beehives, pointing out the native trees given landowner can provide, then and shrubs — about 80 species in it is a good starting point that we all — and announced that the bees can later build upon to get where had collected enough pollen from the we need to be.” explosion of flowers here to generate The DCNR grant program 70 pounds of honey so far this year. provides more flexibility on buffer The 4-acre streamside buffer width and plant types than other designed by his landscape architect Don English surveys the streamside buffer that he and wife, Ann, planted five years ago state and federal programs to wife, Ann, filters pollutants from on family land in southern York County, PA. The buffer, which contains trees and plants make it more appealing to more stormwater and provides wildlife to protect water quality, also grows agricultural products— nuts, berries, fruit and landowners. But the grant terms habitat. It also generates nuts, berries, flowers—that could be sold for a profit. (Dave Harp) stipulate that buffers must be a honey and syrup — a bounty that minimum of 35 feet wide, with could also deliver a financial return. the Bay region,” said Tracey Coulter, if any,” said Kelly Rossiter, the DCNR the first 15 feet planted with large tree It truly is multitasking. the DCNR agroforestry coordinator. Rivers Program Specialist. species. The landowner must also “When I designed [the buffer], I had “We are embracing this idea, and we She said buffers might become commit to keeping the buffer intact for never heard the term ‘forest farming’ are funding it.” more valuable over time because they 25 years. before,” Ann said. “When I did, I said, The idea is gaining interest. Vari- could produce some crops, such as The research community is get- ‘hey that’s what we’re doing.’ ” ous tour groups have been funneled blueberries and elderberries, within a ting involved, too. In November, the Planting streamside buffers is an through the Englishes’ farm to see few years, and others, such as chest- Scientific and Technical Advisory important strategy for improving firsthand a mature and productive nuts, walnuts and hazelnuts, as they Committee of the state-federal water quality in the Chesapeake Bay multifunctional buffer. DCNR staff mature. Chesapeake Bay Program partnership region. These strips of trees, shrubs and grant recipients account for some Surprisingly, the grant program was brought together scientists, farmers and grasses secure the soil, filter toxins of the visitors, but Don said the largest able to launch despite the legislature’s and nonprofit organizations to discuss and absorb nitrogen and phosphorus groups have been members of the consistent cuts to environmental pro- multifunctional buffers. Lara Fowler, that would otherwise be carried into nonprofit Pennsylvania Association for grams. To do so, the DCNR partnered a Penn State Law School professor and streams by stormwater. Sustainable Agriculture. with the Pennsylvania Infrastructure STAC member said about 50 people On farms, though, planting buffers The long-term goal is to entice more Investment Authority, a pseudo-state came to the two-day forum. often means taking land out of produc- farmers to plant buffers, a critical step organization known as PennVest, “We recognize that Pennsylvania has tion. In recent years, farmers have in reaching the state’s 2025 goal. which manages revolving loans for such a heavy lift [in the Bay cleanup],” become increasingly reluctant to do so. Most buffer plantings on farmland water quality projects. Fowler said. “Our goal is to put together Pennsylvania is far behind in its are funded by the federal Conservation Executive Director Brion Johnson a diverse group of people — farmers, Bay cleanup goals, and its catch-up Reserve Enhancement Program, which said the funds contributed to the scientists and nonprofits — to explore strategy relies in part on planting provides annual payments for convert- grant program are an investment to how we can accelerate planting more 95,000 new acres of buffers by 2025. ing cropland to streamside buffers. But help PennVest learn if the buffers can multifunctional buffers toward Pennsyl- The state hopes to boost those plant- CREP participation has declined, in eventually produce enough revenue to vania’s goal of 95,000 more acres.” ings by promoting a compromise: part because farmers are reluctant to pay back a loan. Only about half of the projects buffers that yield a cash crop. retire cropland. CREP also prohibits “I am optimistic that it will pay off, funded to date are on farms. Most of The state Department of Conserva- generating income from buffers. With but there is no data to support a busi- the interested landowners tend to own tion and Natural Resources has put state support for multifunction buffers, ness plan at this time,” Johnson said. smaller parcels or have an educational money behind the concept by includ- which can still produce a harvest, Multifunction buffers may produce mission — like one municipality plant- ing funds for “multifunctional buffers” advocates hope more farmers might edible products and potential income, ing a food forest in Lancaster County. in a grant program launched in 2017. plant buffers. but their effectiveness at filtering Others include Amish farmers who So far, the program has helped fund In the meantime, the multifunction pollution may be less than that of a may be looking for a modest financial about 350 acres of new buffers — both concept is attracting a variety of landown- conventional forest buffer. return from the planting, and families multifunctional and conventional — in ers, and officials are tracking results. Bernard Sweeney, a senior research like the Englishes, who have full-time Pennsylvania’s portion of the Bay “Right now we’re trying to get scientist and former director of the jobs elsewhere and consider the buffer watershed at a cost of $1.6 million. buffers in the ground and we’re Stroud Water Research Center in “Our program is sort of unique in documenting cost, growth and yields, Chester County, PA, said that buffers Buffers continues on page 17 Bay Journal • December 2018 17

Floodplain from page 15 prone portion of the remaining acreage as both a solution and improvement. state’s plans to replace a section of “We pay a lot just to keep this highway that floods regularly with an property as is, and we can’t do that,” expansive bridge. That would create said Sitnik, who considers developing more room for the creek to flow in its the commercial-zoned section of natural channel. his property into a strip mall as his But, even if that fix doesn’t come next-best option. If this project doesn’t to fruition, Viani said, Stanley Martin pan out, “we’re going to have to take a plans to build up the land under the low-ball development of some sort.” proposed townhomes to “raise it up The townhomes project is out of the floodplain.” Some neighbors, contingent on the county granting a worried that flood waters might be rezoning request to allow up to eight transferred to their downstream residential dwelling units per acre. properties, are unconvinced. That request will likely face plenty The Sitnik family has owned the of opposition if it proceeds, in part property since the 1950s — briefly because of its broader implications: running a small amusement park Developers wanting to build in there — and has seen firsthand how floodplains elsewhere could cite this unpredictable Dogue Creek can be. In decision as a precedent. the 1980s, the forested area where they Alan Rowsome, executive director Pete Sitnik and his two siblings inherited the property on Richmond Highway a had once run a small park train around of the Northern Virginia Conservation decade ago and have been looking for buyers who can make something more out a manmade lake became a wetland Trust, said turning the property of it ever since. A developer’s offer to turn the lot into 43 townhomes now faces when development upstream changed into a park is still a better fit for the opposition. (Whitney Pipkin) the creek’s dynamics. Soon, the family environment and the community. His donated the more than 15 soggy acres organization is eager to broker a deal “Not only is this an important site other parcels where landowners and to the county. to that end, he said, but it would likely ecologically, but it’s a bellwether site developers are looking eagerly to The Sitniks and Stanley Martin rely on the land being donated and for many others like it,” Rowsome see whether this is going to be an Homes see development of a runoff- finding remediation partners. said. “It’s also about the future of opportunity.”

Buffers from page 16 harvesting woodland food is very labor intensive compared to crops like corn a labor of love. and soybeans, which can be harvested Fifty-six acres to be planted along Pollinators mechanically, and therefore is expensive. tributaries of the West Branch and like this “We don’t have anyone who is central Susquehanna River will mostly swallowtail successfully modeling this,” Burkhart be in or near wilderness and span four butterfly said. “We need more of the DCNR- northcentral counties. have plenty type program to get things on the A Lancaster County project will to choose landscape for proof of concept.” supplement a 17-acre restored flood- from in this To the south, at Virginia plain with a buffer-to-table project: Pennsylva- Polytechnic Institute, researchers Officials from Warwick Township nia stream- surveyed landowners in three are talking with two local restaurants side buffer watersheds to see if there were any about using what the buffer produces designed to trends in the types of people interested in their dishes. feed wildlife in growing food in streamside buffers. David Wise, restoration manager at and humans The findings agreed with Burkhart’s the Stroud Center, has been promoting as well as statement: Small farm owners who are buffers to farmers for about 20 years protect philosophically oriented showed the and has been on the creative end water greatest interest. of several successful strategies. He quality. The There is no reason that researchers, prefers what he calls the “tried and 5-year-old funders and proponents of agroforestry true” method: simply offering farmers buffer on should discount these landowners, a payment for taking streamside Happy said John Munsell, a Virginia Tech cropland out of production through Hollow professor of agroforestry. In some federal programs, sweetened with Farm is areas, those landowners make up a additional funds and perks from often toured significant portion of a watershed. nonprofit organizations like Stroud and by agricul- Small farm and nonfarm the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. tural groups landowners often have goals for their “We would love to see this suc- and conser- land that fit well with multifunctional ceed,” he said of the DCNR program. vationists buffers. Don and Ann English “We’re just not as optimistic as we’d interested exemplify that point. like to be.” in taking on The couple designed and planted The concept isn’t going to appeal similar proj- their buffer on weekends. Their to every farmer, said Eric Burkhart, ect. (Dave weekdays are spent at jobs in the an ethnobotanist who teaches at Harp) environmental field. PennState University and studies “Our goal was not production,” Ann nontimber forest products. owners who this appeals to tend to be who specialize in medicinal crops, said. “It is a long-term commitment, “Not every landowner who has driven more by philosophy and passion herbs, berries, ginseng, mushrooms and we’re doing it for the experience. streamfront property that we want to than your average growers.” and leeks can’t keep up with the Don grew up with that piece of land. It vegetate is going to say, ‘sure I can Burkhart doesn’t think that market- demand. It’s a growing market, he said. was his family farm, and I’ve known it make money on this,’ ” he said. “Land- ing the products is an issue. Sellers On the other hand, planting and for a long time. It is important to us.” 18 Bay Journal • December 2018 New study: Bay’s reduced oyster numbers not due to overfishing ≈ Scientists claim that warmer from some scientists who have been temperatures drove coastwide deeply involved in research on the Bay’s oyster losses and on the long-running declines in shellfish; others effort to restore the population. disagree. “There is something to these climatic By Timothy B. Wheeler cycles and the productivity of living Warmer winters, rather than over- resources,” said Donald Boesch, a profes- harvesting, caused the steep decline of sor of marine science and former UMCES oysters and other commercially valuable president who served on Maryland’s shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay and else- oyster advisory commission for years. where along the Atlantic coast, according Other studies have shown how finfish to a controversial new study that’s getting migrate northward when the waters are pushback from some scientists. warmer, he noted. The study, which appeared in Marine But Boesch said that he thought the Fisheries Review, a quarterly journal of paper lacked sufficient data for the case the National Oceanic and Atmospheric it tried to make. For instance, he said, he Administration, says that multi-year was unaware of any detailed studies that stretches of mild temperatures in would corroborate the paper’s conclusions normally cold weather months altered the about the impacts of warmer water on food web in coastal waters. That impaired oyster reproduction and the survival of the growth and reproduction of oysters, their young. quahogs, soft-shell clams and scallops, The skipjack Rebecca T. Ruark, with Capt. Emerson Todd at the helm, heads home to “I think they really overextended the scientists said. It also led to increased pre- Cambridge, MD, with a boatload of oysters in 1976. The Baywide oyster harvest has evidence to draw such dramatic conclu- dation on shellfish larvae and outbreaks of been declining since the 1880s, with some estimates putting the current Chesapeake sions,” he said. diseases. oyster population at 1 percent or less of its historic abundance. (Dave Harp) Michael Wilberg, another UMCES “The temperatures got warm and that professor who specializes in analyzing changed the whole environment, so [the stated,” they wrote. from 1979 to 2002, the paper notes, and fish populations and fisheries manage- oyster diseases] MSX and Dermo could The overriding influence behind a partially overlaps with outbreaks of the ment, disputed MacKenzie’s assertion flourish,” said Clyde MacKenzie, Jr., coastwide decline of shellfish, the paper’s parasitic diseases MSX and Dermo in that the Bay’s oysters hadn’t been over- the study’s lead author and a longtime authors said, was a shift in environmental the Chesapeake and the spread of MSX fished. “It’s not to say that the environ- researcher at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries conditions brought about by a weather to Long Island Sound off Connecticut. ment doesn’t affect shellfish population Science Center at Sandy Hook, NJ. Mitch- phenomenon called the North Atlantic Harvests crashed in both places during dynamics,” he said, “but overfishing is ell Tarnowski, who runs the annual fall Oscillation. It is an irregular fluctuation that period. definitely possible.” oyster survey for Maryland’s Department of atmospheric pressure over the North The biologists did say factors besides In fact, Wilberg and colleagues of Natural Resources, is the co-author. Atlantic that has a strong, wide-ranging the oscillation have hurt the wild harvest concluded in papers published in 2011 and The paper’s conclusions, especially impact on winter weather on both sides of of oysters, including the loss of reef 2013 that the Bay’s oysters were over- its dismissal of overfishing as a factor the ocean. habitat. The Bay lost the vast majority of fished, with harvest rates exceeding the in the decline of the Chesapeake oyster, When the oscillation is in its “positive” its historic oyster reefs to siltation, accord- ability of a disease-diminished population came under fire from scientists with mode, with strong high– and low-pressure ing to one 2009 report, as well as natural to replace oysters and reefs lost from both the University of Maryland Center for systems abutting each other, warmer, predators and harvest degradation. natural and human-caused impacts. The Environmental Science and Chesapeake wetter conditions prevail over Northern The researchers acknowledge that earlier paper estimated that the bivalve Bay Foundation. Its publication comes as Europe and northeastern North America. watermen, in dredging oysters from the population in Maryland’s portion of the DNR prepares to release a first-ever When the pressure differences are bottom, have worn down the reefs needed the Chesapeake had fallen to much less stock assessment of the oyster population weaker, coastal areas experience colder, for new generations of oysters. As newly than 1 percent of historic levels. They in the Upper Chesapeake, including an dryer weather. hatched larvae, oysters drift in the water recommended imposing a moratorium on evaluation of whether current harvest Though those conditions can vary, for a week or two before settling to the commercial harvests until reefs and a self- levels are sustainable. or oscillate, from year to year, the study bottom. They need to attach themselves sustaining population could be restored. The scientific consensus has long been says that a review of weather data since to a hard surface, such as another oyster At the time, the state’s fisheries man- that overharvesting, disease and habitat the 1860s found two periods when they shell, if they are to survive and grow. agers under then-Gov. Martin O’Malley loss over the decades devastated the Bay’s remained in the warmer, wetter mode for But the authors said that because rejected that recommendation. They did oyster population, with some estimates decades at a time. Coastwide, commercial harvesters were required by fishing embark on an ambitious restoration effort, putting it in recent years at 1 percent or oyster, clam and scallop landings fell regulations to return small oysters to the paired with a sweeping overhaul of the less of historic levels of abundance. From during those periods. water, there were still enough to maintain state’s oyster management. As part of an annual commercial harvest of nearly The authors said that warmer waters and even rebuild the population — had that, the state vastly expanded the areas in 17 million bushels in 1880, landings in winter and early spring stress adult other conditions been favorable. the Bay set aside as sanctuaries closed to have trended downward, hitting historic oysters and other mollusks, causing them “The general idea was it wasn’t commercial harvest. lows in 2003-04 of just 50,000 bushels. to lose weight and produce fewer eggs. overfishing that caused the decline,” Under Gov. Larry Hogan, the DNR The harvest has rebounded some since Those conditions also allow tiny crus- MacKenzie said. The fisheries were essen- last year proposed opening some of those then, though much of the gain has come taceans, especially hordes of speck-size tially self-regulating, he said. As catches sanctuaries for watermen, as Maryland’s via private oyster farming, especially in copepods, to remain active, consuming declined, so did the number of harvesters. wild harvest, after a promising rebound Virginia. the microscopic algae that oysters and The DNR’s Tarnowski is currently on several years ago, has been falling again. MacKenzie and Tarnowski said they other filter-feeding bivalves depend on the Bay full-time conducting the state’s But the General Assembly blocked the found that factors other than fishing pres- for food, the study says. With less food annual oyster reef survey and emailed DNR’s move, ordering the agency to con- sure were responsible for the decline. available, the recruitment of new young that he did not have time to discuss the duct a stock assessment before making “In sum, the steep fall in oyster shellfish suffered. Warmer waters may paper. The survey involves collecting any changes in sanctuaries. That report is landings after 1900 was not simply a also have boosted the population of samples from hundreds of reefs and due by the end of this year. consequence of fishermen overharvesting shrimp that prey on bivalve larvae, the usually lasts from mid-October through Wilberg has been working with DNR oysters on the beds, as many scientists, scientists suggested. November or later. including we authors, have routinely The last such warming spell lasted The paper drew skeptical responses Report continues on page 19 Bay Journal • December 2018 19 ‘Just short of a crisis’: Tensions flare as VA halts oyster seed harvest in James ≈ VMRC also blocks out-of- in their catch numbers state seed transfer permits in at the end of each day’s harvest. Those move to protect resource, state numbers show they watermen’s interests. scooped up 36,000 By Jeremy Cox bushels in the fall of Virginia fishery managers are 2017. Follow-up report- taking the rare step of halting oyster ing put that figure seed harvests in the lower James above 47,000 – which River as they seek to protect the baby is 7,000 more than the bivalves from overfishing. fall season’s cap. Oyster seeds are wild-grown The heavy harvest juvenile oysters, or “spat.” Many appears to be taking a oyster farmers working in the Chesa- toll on specific areas, peake Bay and its tributaries depend Button said. At a reef on regular shipments of fresh seed to known as Point of replenish their lease areas. Shoals, a recent survey The Virginia Marine Resources showed that the density Commission expects to temporarily of cultch, the shells that stop the catch before the season’s oyster larvae latch onto, scheduled closure at the end of the was the lowest recorded year. Without the action, watermen since modern survey- almost certainly would surpass the fall ing began in 2002. quota of 40,000 oyster seed bushels The Chesapeake taken from the river, officials said. Bay Foundation, a The commission also agreed to regional environmental block out-of-state seed transfer permits, organization, applauds effective Oct. 31. Between half and two- the commission’s thirds of the seeds collected from the actions in the James. James are typically sold to Maryland “Obviously, the buyers, according to the commission, Each of the small brown ovals is a juvenile oyster, or spat, that has set on the interior of an old oyster VMRC is trying to make which will decide whether purchases shell. (Creative Commons Image courtesy of Mike Congrove / Virginia Institute of Marine Science) sure that, no matter can resume in the spring based on fall where the seed goes, that surveys of the river bottom. you might have a set that’s 1-year-old, summer that the surge in Maryland the seed areas don’t get depleted,” said The moves come after the commis- [but] you might have some 2-year old demand began in 2011. That’s when Chris Moore, a senior scientist with the sion cut off last year’s spring harvest oysters into it,” said Robert T. Brown, Maryland began giving out $3 million foundation’s Virginia office. — when as many as 80,000 bushels Sr., president of the Maryland Water- in low-interest loans aimed at encour- Donald Webster, a University of were up for grabs — with about a men’s Association. “The hatchery aging oyster aquaculture. Maryland aquaculture specialist, said month left to go. That marked the first seed, it’s all the same year-class.” The Virginia Marine Resources that he hopes Virginia officials don’t time since the cap was enacted in 2011 With natural seeds like those from Commission reacted quickly, creating clamp down further on out-of-state that the commission called on water- the James, “the majority of it is small the fall and spring quotas. For the first oyster seed buyers. men to hang up their hand tongs. stuff, but you’ve got some like this into few years, the James River seed harvest But “I understand where Virginia “Basically, the quota did what it was it,” Brown said, holding his finger and topped out at about 80,000 bushels is coming from,” he said. “My interest supposed to do,” said Andrew Button, thumb an inch or so apart. of young oysters — well below the is I would like to see us get back to head of the commission’s oyster con- The Bay’s aquaculture industry has 120,000 annual limit, Button said. But producing 10 million bushels of oysters servation and replenishment depart- boomed in recent years, overtaking the the last two years may have pushed the between our two states and build the ment. “It’s not really to limit anybody Virginia public fishery’s production value. fishery to its limit and possibly beyond. biggest industry we can.” but a way to protect the resource.” Experts believe that will happen in Mary- To keep tabs on the quota, the Tim Wheeler contributed to this The James, the Piankatank and land as well by some time next spring. commission requires watermen to call report. Great Wicomico are the only rivers Demand is soaring for the James where seed harvesting is permitted River’s oyster seeds. So, too, are ten- in Virginia, but the James is the most sions between Virginia and Maryland Report from page 18 She also questioned the paper’s focus plentiful by far. watermen over the resource. on trends in commercial shellfish land- The James’ public oyster seed area “The way it’s being bought out of biologists on their stock assessment. He ings data, saying that’s not a reliable way consists of a patchwork of reefs west of state by tractor trailer, it’s impossible was to outline its findings at a meeting to gauge the abundance of fish. The catch Deep Creek. To minimize disturbance, for an individual waterman to com- Nov. 19 in Annapolis of the state’s Oyster can be affected by a variety of factors, watermen are barred from dredging for pete with that,” said Tommy Kellum, Advisory Commission. including bad weather keeping harvesters seeds. They can only use hand tongs, president of W. E. Kellum Seafood in Allison Colden, fisheries scientist with on shore, declining markets or changes in which resemble large chopsticks with Weems, VA. “We’ve got to get serious the Annapolis-based Bay Foundation, said fishing regulations. rakes attached at the end. about this. It’s just short of a crisis.” she believes the paper made overly broad Even if the North Atlantic Oscillation Maryland has no natural seed areas, Virginia watermen get hit twice when generalizations about the causes of oysters’ does influence oyster reproduction and so hatcheries, such as the University the seeds are sold out of state, he added. declines in the Chesapeake. And she survival, Colden said, fisheries manag- of Maryland Center for Environmental They not only lose the seeds that could questioned the distinction the authors made ers need to work on what they can do to Science’s Horn Point facility near Cam- be relocated to their own lease areas, but between overharvesting and loss of habitat. maintain and rebuild the population. bridge, help to fill the void. But many they also must compete against those “You can’t say overharvesting is not an “You can’t control how much it oyster farmers prefer the natural seeds seeds once they’re grown into full-size issue, but degradation due to harvesting rains,” she said. “But you can control the because they tend to survive better and oysters and ready for market. is,” Colden said. “If the harvesting weren’t water quality to a certain extent, and you mature to market size sooner. Kellum told the state’s Shellfish there, then you wouldn’t have further can control the harvest or fishing levels “The thing with the natural seed, Management Advisory Committee last degradation of the habitat going on.” in the Bay.” 20 Bay Journal • December 2018

regulation, mindful that a may pose little risk, while some with lack of preparation could relatively lower levels of the nutrient delay or derail its steady could still be prone to pollute. rollout. Farmers fought restrictions on “I have a great deal of phosphorus for years, and Gov. Larry concern,’’ said Sen. Paul Hogan campaigned in 2014 on a pledge Pinsky, a Prince George’s to block the regulation put forward County Democrat and by his predecessor, Martin O’Malley. environmental advocate Hogan promptly withdrew it once in the Maryland General he took office, but about a month Assembly. “I would like to later reinstated it. He extended the be confident that the fields phase-in — seven years instead of are not being overfertilized six — and pledged to pull it back again and running into the Bay.” if it looked like farmers would face He acknowledged, serious financial losses. Farmers finally though, that the state’s accepted it, saying they trusted Hogan farmers have thin profit to take care of them. margins and can’t afford to shoulder much higher costs. Too early to gauge impact “I don’t want them to With relatively few farms affected have to pay out of pocket,” to date, the regulation’s reach is not said Pinsky. “But we have widely felt. Lindsay Thompson, to figure out a way to move executive director of the Maryland the chicken litter to a place Grain Producers Association, recently it’s not going to do harm to canvassed her board of directors, the Bay and the tributaries.” who told her, “they don’t really feel Under the regulation, like they’re far enough along in the a farmer must use the process to really say how it is going to management tool to assess impact them.” Lower Shore farmer Virgil Shockley said he lost money raising corn this year on a pair of fields that the risk that phosphorus But some farmers, fearing the the state phosphorus regulation barred him from fertilizing with his poultry manure. (Dave Harp) could leach or run off changes ahead, are reviving questions a field. Developed by about the justification for the rule. Phosphorus from page 1 More than three quarters of the acreage University of Maryland researchers, “I’ve still got heartburn having to with elevated phosphorus levels is on the tool is a set of calculations for agree to what I agreed to,” said Charles But if farmers have to limit use the Eastern Shore, and 56 percent is quantifying that risk, which factors in Wright, president of the Wicomico of free– or low-cost manure on their in just three counties that make up the the phosphorus level, soil type, slope County Farm Bureau. Though the rule fields, they would need to buy more Lower Shore. of the field and its proximity to surface expensive chemical fertilizers to apply In Maryland, the Shore’s poultry water. Some phosphorus-rich fields Phosphorus continues on page 21 adequate levels of other nutrients, such industry, which generates phosphorus- as nitrogen, that are needed to grow rich chicken manure, is the reason their crops — something that impacts for the rule’s disproportionate impact their bottom line. there. The poultry litter — chicken Virgil Shockley, who raises waste mixed with wood shavings — chickens, corn and soybeans near that has been repeatedly applied as Snow Hill in Worcester County, called fertilizer typically contains more it “a potential disaster in the making.” phosphorus than the crops can use, so The restrictions couldn’t come at it has built up in the soil. On the Lower a worse time, he said. Growers are Shore, soil tests reported to the state struggling financially with the poorest indicate that two-thirds of the cropland harvest they’ve had in a long time has elevated levels of phosphorus. because of unrelenting rains, and crop prices are the lowest they’ve been in Reg could be costly for farms years, in part because of the U.S. trade Shockley’s is one of the farms dispute with China. already affected by the rule. He said So far, only about 100 farms at the he spent $4,000 to $5,000 this year to highest risk for generating phosphorus buy commercial fertilizer for a pair pollution have been affected by the of cornfields where the regulation rule, according to the Maryland prohibited him from using the chicken Department of Agriculture — fewer litter produced on his farm. Between than 10 percent of the number of farms the added fertilizer cost, low yields that could ultimately be impacted. and poor markets, he figures he lost Starting next year, the rule will apply $10,000 on those fields. to at least 250 more operations that Shockley fears the impact of the have fields with somewhat less elevated regulation as it spreads to more fields phosphorus levels, state figures show. and other farms. “You’re going to have And in two years, the coverage will some people go down,” he warned. expand again, with the rule eventually Environmentalists say they’re expected to apply to approximately worried as well. They want to see more 228,000 acres on at least 1,661 farms. evidence that the MDA is tracking While that’s just about a fifth of the compliance with the rule. They’re also The phosphorus management tool, or PMT, was designed to reduce the amount 1.1 million acres of cropland in Mary- questioning whether the state is doing of the phosphorus that could run off some farm fields into local waterways. land, the impact will be felt unevenly. enough to help farmers deal with the (Dave Harp) Bay Journal • December 2018 21

Phosphorus from page 20 it for fertilizer. The poultry industry kicked in about a fourth of the $1.6 is the product of more than a decade’s million spent by the state trucking worth of research, Wright said he animal waste in fiscal 2017, according believes it’s “more political science to the MDA. than actual science.” In all, 249,000 tons of manure Wright said none of the 800 acres got moved in fiscal year 2018, but that his family farms has particularly three-fourths of that came from cows high levels of phosphorus, but he and other livestock, not from poultry knows a few other farms that have houses. Of the 400,000 tons of poultry been affected. litter generated that year, less than “It’s going to be a huge financial 20 percent got moved by the state burden,” he predicted, especially if the program. Private haulers are handling price farmers can get for corn remains the transport of most of the poultry so depressed. manure, Schmidt said. Two years ago, state officials looked at eight farms to see how the Where is all the litter going? phosphorus rule might affect them. On Environmentalists say they’d like one poultry farm, they found that the to know where all of the litter is going cost of raising corn went up by nearly and be shown that it’s being safely a third, from $91 per acre to $123. used elsewhere. Hans Schmidt, assistant secretary “The lack of transparency and of the Maryland Department of accountability on these [phosphorus] Agriculture, said state officials are regulations has been frustrating,” said monitoring the phase-in of the rule and Kathy Phillips, executive director of so far have seen nothing alarming. the Assateague Coastal Trust, which “We feel pretty good where we’re monitors water quality issues on the at,” said Schmidt, who is himself Lower Shore. a farmer in Queen Anne’s County. Some worry that trucking the Farmer Virgil Shockley examines the soggy roots of one of his soybean plants. “We’ve got a good handle on where manure to other fields is setting them Farmers struggled this year with low crop yields because of unfavorable weather high-phosphorus soils are in the state up to become sources of phosphorus and poor markets, aggravated by the U.S. trade war with China. (Dave Harp) [and] on how farmers are handling it.” pollution in the future. Statewide in 2017, Maryland “We really want to get a grip on state rules bar its use on any field some are concerned that they won’t poultry growers produced 307 million these private haulers, what they’re unless the phosphorus level is well have the capacity to deal with a sudden birds, which in turn generated about moving how much they’re moving and below what’s considered elevated. increase in demand for transportation. 400,000 tons of manure. Because some where they’re moving it, to make sure From the fall of 2017 into early In response to queries from Pinsky, farmers will be using less poultry it’s being safely applied, said Matt 2018, state inspectors checked 26 MDA Secretary Joseph Bartenfelder manure for fertilizer, growers will Pluta, the Choptank Riverkeeper, part farms that had been immediately wrote that the Hogan administration likely need to find other places — and of the ShoreRivers watershed group. banned from putting any more on believes it has enough funds other ways — to use it. Some recent State officials say poultry growers phosphorus-saturated fields. Two budgeted to handle manure transport changes in industry practices may be must report how much manure they’re were cited for overapplication and through June 2020. That may change easing the challenge, Schmidt said. shipping off-site, and farmers who take other issues, but the rest had records afterward, Bartenfelder said, when Perdue Farms, for instance, has it must report that, too. indicating they had complied. another 122,000 acres of farm fields shifted from having its growers But Schmidt said the state so far has Though private haulers and the state come under the regulation. clean manure out of poultry houses not compiled data on those privately seem able to handle the current volume Should transportation not prove annually to doing it every three years, arranged movements. He noted that of manure being shipped off farms, a viable option for all of the manure according to a company spokesman. that can no longer be used, the state Some growers are doing a “crust-out” has been encouraging alternative between flocks, removing the top technologies. The MDA has invested layer of litter and putting fresh wood $5.8 million in pilot projects evaluating shavings on top of the remainder. But the feasibility of composting based on 2017 data from the MDA, manure, processing it to generate those changes have not reduced the heat or electricity and separating the overall amount of poultry manure phosphorus from the other nutrients. being produced. The largest proposal to date would still For growers who can no longer only handle a fraction of the Shore’s spread chicken litter on their own poultry litter. fields — or, in the case of many newer It’s not clear how sustainable growing operations, have no crop large-scale alternatives can be, either. fields at all — Schmidt said it appears For more than a decade, Perdue they’re still able to find someone to AgriRecycle, a subsidiary of the take it off their hands. Based on soil Salisbury-based poultry company, sample data collected by the state, offered to clean out chicken houses there are more than enough acres, for free and process the litter into dry particularly on the Upper Shore, where pellets for use by farmers, gardeners phosphorus levels are low enough to and turf managers. But the company safely use the manure. wound up having to buy litter and For several years now, Maryland never made a profit, spokesman Joe has had a manure transport program Forsthoffer said. The pelletizing through which all types of animal Farmer Virgil Shockley checks soybeans in a field that may be too wet to harvest plant has been mothballed, and the waste can be hauled from the farms this year, especially if mildew sets in before the ground dries enough for a com- that generate it to farms that can use bine to work. (Dave Harp) Phosphorus continues on page 22 22 Bay Journal • December 2018

Phosphorus from page 21 Diversity from page 1 diversity among park service staff — this goal on federal lands, and Presi- nearly 80 percent are white — and dent Obama granted the request with a company has replaced it with a smaller of people in the preservation of the either a perception that the stories presidential memo issued in early 2017. composting operation, which takes outdoors begins, in many ways, with told at these sites are not relevant to The U.S. Forest Service was among other wastes as well. inviting more people to enjoy them. ethnic minorities or fail to ensure that the agencies urged to expand their Some growers say they fear the A growing number of organizations narratives connecting their heritage to interpretation of public sites to include businesses selling commercial fertilizer have begun to tackle that challenge. a particular site are well-represented. a diversity of cultural narratives. won’t be able to satisfy a big jump in Efforts are under way at the local, Visitation is also hampered by a lack Kimberly Winter, who manages the demand as more farms cut back on state and national levels to make of reliable transportation to public NatureWatch program for the agency, use of manure. And others, including land– and water-based recreation more lands that are far from residential said she has already seen a “continu- environmentalists, worry that the welcoming and accessible to a broader areas. ous push” for more diversity within its state has not anticipated all the issues range of people. At the same time, But that doesn’t mean that under- programming. But she said new lead- associated with implementing the rule. outdoor enthusiasts who feel excluded represented people have little interest ership has helped to accelerate those “I would like to see a fuller by images and narratives that mostly in the outdoors or enjoying public efforts. (The Forest Service’s previous discussion of the resources needed depict white people enjoying activi- lands. Surveys in 2016 found that 70 chief stepped down earlier this year to implement this [rule],” said ties like hiking, camping and boating percent of voters of color participate amid sexual harassment claims). Alison Prost, Maryland director of are connecting with one another and in the types of activities commonly Winter said the service’s new the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “I speaking up. offered on national lands, and 57 chief, Vicki Christiansen, “gets it” worry that we’re not anticipating the At the national level, a 2009 survey percent of voters of color had visited and has been working on these issues problems or digging in and projecting by the National Park Service drew public lands in the last three years. throughout her career. Five years ago, the quantities,” she said attention to the imbalance of ethnic Bryan said that improving access to the agency also hired a diversity and The regulations allow the MDA inclusion specialist to delay their effectiveness for a year to help make public should problems arise. On Nov. 20, spaces more inviting after hearing concerns from Shockley to a wider range of and other farmers, an MDA advisory people. committee voted unanimously to seek “The intent is, an evaluation of whether a delay is where we have a warranted. Environmentalists on the diverse demographic panel supported the move, though Prost like here in the [Chesa- cautioned that the review “has to be peake] area, that we scientific and objective” for her to go intentionally provide along with a delay. Deputy MDA Secre- direction to our staff tary Julianne Oberg said the evaluation and teams that this has could take several months. to happen,” Winter “We can probably get by next year,” said, “that it’s not Shockley said. It’s the year after, when the passive.” acreage jumps again, that worries him. Winter said that In the meantime, Shockley said he making these efforts was hoping the weather would clear means moving beyond up enough before December so his “the traditional sort of soybeans could dry out enough to get ‘solitude’ image that a decent price once harvested. In mid- mainstream America November, with rain falling every few has of national parks days, he didn’t sound optimistic. and public lands.” “It’s been a perfect circle this year,” She said research he said, ‘‘as far as what could go indicates that most wrong has gone wrong.” advertisements intended As he spoke, he opened an envelope to get Americans out- he’d just received in the mail and doors — the ones that discovered he didn’t get the already Children participate in a water activity at a RioPalooza event in July along the South Fork of the feature quiet mountain- depressed price for a truckload of Shenandoah River that offered outdoor activities to Spanish speakers. The event gave participants top experiences or hikes soybeans he’d recently harvested. the opportunity to paddle down or snorkel in the river, with educational activities and picnics on focused on solitude — Because of the dampness, they weren’t land. (Alan Lehman / Potomac Riverkeeper Network) don’t appeal as much to dry enough to be top quality. He Spanish speakers. figured he’d lost $300 on that load. groups among its visitors. The survey these sites could also benefit com- “People tend to focus on being out “The question becomes: Do you found that 9 percent of national park munities disproportionately affected in the big outdoors as being away from really want to put farmers out of busi- visitors were Hispanic, 7 percent were by chronic health problems. Some people,” said Winter, who met her ness?” he asked “The other question is: African American, 3 percent were illnesses can be at least partially allevi- Bolivian spouse while serving in the Do you want to eat tomorrow?” Asian and 1 percent were American ated by spending time outdoors for Peace Corps. “But we find the opposite Pinsky, the environmental Indian or Alaska Native, while 78 recreation and exercise. desire among Latin Americans. They lawmaker, said he’s still searching for percent were white. Visitation among “We think these lands provide a real might want to have their picnic tables a “win-win situation.” But he’s against minority groups remains well below the opportunity to address multiple issues all together and get out there to enjoy taking a timeout on the phosphorus percentages of those groups within the impacting the lives of way too many the outdoors with family and friends regulation to find it. U.S. population. Despite recent out- Americans,” Bryan said. — together.” “If we delay it, and we save the farms reach efforts, a majority of visitors to The Next 100 Coalition was formed This summer, the Potomac River- and kill the Bay, then the watermen are national parks still “look like me: older during the park service’s 100th keeper Network worked with partners not going to have jobs,” he said. “People and whiter,” then-U.S. Department of anniversary in 2016, when about 45 on a summer-long event series cel- are not going to boat on the Bay. It’s one the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said organizations agreed to work together ebrating the Potomac River and made sector of the economy versus another. during a centennial speech in 2016. to improve diversity and inclusion on a special effort to welcome the His- …It’s a devil’s choice, and I think it’s Barriers that tend to perpetuate public lands. The coalition helped to wrong.” these disparities include a lack of push for a federal directive to promote Diversity continues on page 23 Bay Journal • December 2018 23

earlier this year, Box of Rain and its students will have access to even more educational resources during the 2019 summer program. “The Chesapeake Bay is, often- times, a stone’s throw from where they live, but, before this program, they were not interacting with it,” said Alice Estrada, executive director of the museum and its recently acquired 12-acre nature park. Box of Rain started in the wake of a local tragedy after a man named Lee Griffin was murdered during a carjacking in 2002. The young men involved in the murder were from one of the areas Box of Rain — which takes its name from a Grateful Dead song — now serves. “There are obviously other pro- grams that attempt to connect kids with nature. But this one is really trying to connect these children not only with the Chesapeake Bay but [also] with the maritime culture that is unique to Annapolis,” Estrada said. As organizations large and small work to address disparities in outdoor recreation, others say it is equally important to correct the impression that people of color aren’t already outside and loving it. Some of these A Box of Rain camper leaps off the dock at Truxtun Park in Annapolis in July. Box of Rain, a nonprofit organization designed outdoor enthusiasts say that their to inspire and encourage Annapolis area youth from disadvantaged circumstances, helps children develop life skills and presence goes largely unnoticed and build self-esteem while participating in maritime activities, including swimming and kayaking.(© Sarah Jane Holden 2018) their stories aren’t being told. Danielle Williams, an African American dis- Diversity from page 22 small summer camp in a neighborhood introduce students to sailing, kayak- abled skydiver based in Bethesda, MD, where access to outdoor recreation is ing, swimming and fishing, and has decided to do something about it. panic community. Rather than simply limited — including participation in grown to serve about 100 young people “We didn’t feel like we were being circulating information about some of the many maritime activities central each year. included in advertising or traditional RiverPalooza’s events on Spanish radio to the waterfront culture of Annapolis. After being acquired by the narratives about the outdoors,” Wil- stations or websites, they designed an The program works with schools to Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park liams said. event specifically for Spanish speakers. As a result, Williams started Diver- “Latinos in the greater DC area sifyOutdoors.com, a clearinghouse for really enjoy the environment, and we nearly 30 organizations, nonprofits and think they are underserved in most outdoor influencers from diverse back- events like these,” said Shenandoah grounds, early this year. She also runs Riverkeeper Mark Frondorf. “We Melanin Base Camp, a blog focused on wanted to make it more accessible.” the experiences of underrepresented Using the Spanish word for water in groups in the outdoors. its name, “RioPalooza” provided many “Instead of waiting for a brand to of the same resources as the rest of the deem your story worthy of amplifying, river festival — but all in one day and you see a lot of people starting to tell in both English and Spanish — draw- their own stories,” Williams said. ing 95 people to the Low-Water Bridge Williams said social media has Campground in Bentonville, VA. The helped her to connect with other event served as an introduction to the people of color who skydive and region’s many outdoors and water- people with disabilities who enjoy oriented resources with opportunities camping. The hashtag popular among to fish, raft and snorkel in the slow these groups, #diversifyoutdoors, has S-curves of the Shenandoah River’s been used more than 25,000 times on South Fork. Instagram. Social media accounts and RioPalooza also was sponsored by websites such as Natives Outdoors, Corazón Latino, a DC-based nonprofit Brown Girls Climb or Fat Girls Hiking that runs the Forest Service’s Descubre provide a sense of community to el Bosque (discover the outdoors) pro- people who might otherwise feel alone gram and website to help Latinos connect in certain spaces. with nature and access public lands. Kevin Bryan visits Peirce Mill in Washington DC’s Rock Creek Park. As lead Taken together, their endeavors In Annapolis, a program called coordinator for the Next 100 Coalition, Bryan is focused on ensuring that national are emboldening — and building — a Box of Rain is hoping to encourage park lands remain relevant for at least another century by appealing more equally future for the nation’s outdoor spaces a lifelong interest in the outdoors by to all Americans, especially those who are underrepresented in some public that could bring new meaning to the working with youth. It started as a spaces. (Dave Harp) phrase “biodiversity.” 24 Bay Journal l Tr avel l December 2018

Otsego Lake only a glimmer of great Susquehanna to come The Susquehanna Otsego Lake is massive: an elongated body of water, almost 8 miles long and covering 4,046 acres. Formed River starts its 10,000 years ago when the tongue of a continental glacier 444-mile journey a mile thick — crossing at least a third of the continent — scoured out the Susquehanna Valley from exposed lime- as a lazy creek stone that would become the lake floor. (That limestone in Cooperstown, still helps to protect water quality in the lake because it neutralizes acid rain.) As the glacier retreated, ice melt NY. It begins as filled the depression, creating the lake, the Susquehanna an outflow from River and many of its tributaries. The wooded shores of Otsego Lake are still sparsely Otsego Lake, developed. Some large waterfront mansions there, with where its south- expansive lawns and formal gardens, speak to the wealth of local families, some of whom can trace their lineage ern tip abuts the back to the 1700s. town. Several local businesses rent kayaks and canoes and even power boats. Don’t be surprised if someone at a It then flows slowly public launch site asks where the boat, whether rented or under the Main Street owned, has been last. It’s part of an attempt to stop the Bridge before round- spread — or introduction — of invasive species to the ing a bend toward lake. Water stewards sometimes staff the launch areas to downstream des- inspect your boat and provide a mobile boat-wash station tinations — farms, to rinse it off if necessary. towns and cities in Perhaps the best way to explore the landscape around central New York and Lake Otsego is to visit Glimmerglass State Park, located Pennsylvania — and on the northern shore. You can camp there year-round. ultimately reaching Or, you can also rent a cabin in nearby Betty and Wilber the Chesapeake Bay in Davis State Park or a book a room at a bed and breakfast Maryland. or a Cooperstown hotel. The park is only 8 miles from Looking eastward Cooperstown, so if you prefer your fire indoors while you from the bridge — relax on a cushy couch, options for comfort are many. minutes away from The park has well-marked trails and a good amount of the world-famous lake access for swimming, boating and fishing. The views National Baseball Hall of the lake from picnic areas and the roadside are alone of Fame — you can see worth the trip; Glimmerglass has been called New York’s the first few 100 feet of most scenic state park by reviewers on various websites. that narrow slip of wa- One of the most beautiful views of the lake is from the ter with the lake and expansive front lawn of Hyde Hall, a 50-room mansion distant mountains as built in the 1800s. The entire 593-acre park was once part backdrop. It’s a lovely of the Hyde Hall estate, owned by Englishman George postcard scene. When Clarke, who kept adding onto his country house for 17 This narrow band of water flowing from Otsego Lake in upstate New York is I took in the view this years. The house and grounds are now a museum, and the beginning of the Susquehanna River, which travels more than 400 miles fall, I found it hard to tours are offered from May 26 until Oct. 31. to empty into the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, MD. believe that this small, On my way to Glimmerglass State Park, I found a stop clear stream, reflecting the faded color of the trees back at me, becomes a mile- wide river by the time it reaches Harrisburg. Story & Photos by Late autumn is a quiet time in this part of New York — Donna Morelli a few weeks of crisp days, bright blue skies and maybe a few snow flurries that don’t stick — before the deep freeze of an upstate winter. In the small, quaint village of Cooper- stown, the intense bustle of summer tourism is over and the last leaf peeper has gone home. Of course, the National Baseball Hall of Fame was still humming. About 300,000 visitors from around the world make it their destination each year. Neighborly greetings filled the air as the local population took back its town and enjoyed a meal or a beer. The restaurants and bars had their televisions tuned to the playoffs. The hills and valleys that give rise to both the lake and the Susquehanna River are rich with forests, waterfalls and caverns and chock-full of history. They were home to Native Americans for thousands of years. Much later, they became part of the “Leatherstocking Region,” named for a The Sunflower Cafe, which can be found enroute from series of novels published in the 1800s called The Leather- Cooperstown, NY, to Glimmerglass State Park on Ostego stocking Tales. Lake, is a quaint stop for locally sourced food. 25 Bay Journal l Tr avel l DECEMBER 2018

Forested trails in Glimmerglass State Park (left) are a good way to explore the landscape around New York state’s Otsego Lake, which is the source of the Susquehanna River. The lake and surrounding area are also known for inspiring some of the settings in The Leatherstocking Tales, a series of novels published in the 1800s that feature the fictional frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Much of the landscape along the lake’s shoreline (above) remains undeveloped, due in part to the presence of the state park and a local conservation ethic, providing plenty of outdoor opportunities within short reach of Cooperstown. at the Sunflower Café well worth ing Lion Trail because some say the William Cooper, who owned the land the mansion was built on land where my while. The restaurant is in a little mountain, when viewed from a dis- where Cooperstown was founded Cooper’s farmhouse once stood. The house, painted with sunflowers out- tance, resembles a lion lying down. in 1786. William was able to acquire museum houses several permanent side and inside on tables, walls and in The hike is about 2.4 miles great swathes of land around the lake collections of U.S. art, including artwork on the walls. A blackboard through a hemlock forest and rated and sell lakefront lots to farmers and American Indian art and several outside proclaimed, “We’re not a fast as a moderately strenuous, which I aristocrats. paintings depicting scenes in The food restaurant. Good food takes found fairly accurate. The first quar- Many local spots are named after Leatherstocking Tales. time.” Most of the food is super local, ter mile of the hike included a series characters or events in his son’s It was Clark’s grandfather, Ed- procured within a 15-mile radius of of short climbs. The canopy of hem- books, as well as the family name. In ward, who established the family’s the restaurant. lock and white pines is thick enough the novels, Cooper renames Otsego conservation ethic that continues The menu includes an elk burger, in areas to partially block daylight. Lake “Glimmerglass” because of its today. In 1870, Edward had the which had unfortunately sold out on There was no undergrowth beneath smooth surface. The name was given foresight to start buying land around the day I stopped by. But I enjoyed these giant trees, just straight trunks to the state park as well as the local Otsego Lake to protect it from tomato soup and an extraordinary reaching for the sky. And it was Glimmerglass Opera company. You development. Today, Jane Forbes grilled cheese — made from myriad quiet. So quiet that a tiny chipmunk can also hike to “Natty Bumppo’s Clark — Edward’s great-great grand- choices such as local cheddar, Gouda, scurrying about in the dry leaves on Cave” on the eastern shore of the daughter — is president of the Clark fig jam, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, the forest floor made me jump. Even lake, said to be one of Cooper’s Foundation, which supports the and asparagus. The soup and my the birds made little noise in the favorite childhood hangouts and the Otsego Land Trust, Otsego County custom-made grilled cheese hit the heavy, mature forest. Two white- inspiration for a cave Natty uses in Conservation Association and other spot, and I was ready for the trail. tailed bucks bounded away when I one of the novels. To find it, drive organizations that preserve the land- Of the four short trails in the park, approached. along Route 31 and look for a histori- scape around the lake. The founda- I chose the Sleeping Lion Trail. It The forest had both the look and cal marker and a very small pull-off. tion, itself, owns approximately was the only one with some eleva- feel of Natty Bumppo country. Be- The trail isn’t long, but it is a rocky 3,000 acres of farmland, forests and tion. The park brochure also said it cause that’s what it is. and challenging climb. lakeside property, which Jane Clark was the best choice for seclusion, and Natty (Nathaniel) Bumppo (por- The Fenimore Art Museum is is committed to maintaining in its I wanted to get into the woods that trayed by Daniel Day-Lewis in the located on the former estate of one largely natural state. have remained the same since the 1992 movie, The Last of the Mohi- of Cooperstown’s influential philan- The result, for the visitor, is an op- Clarkes lived in Hyde Hall. cans) is the fictional frontiersman in thropists, Stephen Carlton Clark. portunity to explore a small, out-of- The loop trail climbs up and down The Leatherstocking Tales, a woods- Clark was an avid art collector and the-way town that offers a variety of the slope of Mount Wellington, which man and trapper raised by Indians, in 1944 donated one of the family’s attractions amid a landscape where rises behind the mansion. The peak is complete with leather stockings and lakeside homes and much of his art you can marvel at the origins of a on private land, so this trail only takes fringed jacket. The author, James collection for the museum. The estate mighty river and imagine a glimpse you half way. It’s called the Sleep- Fenimore Cooper, was the son of was called Fenimore House because of Natty Bumppo on its shores. 26 Bay Journal • December 2018 Your generosity is blooming wonderful! There’s no greater sign of Richard Von Schilling the Bay Journal’s success Hampton, VA Charles Wachsmuth than the compliments and Chester, MD donations received from Barry Williams readers like you. Your gifts Pasadena, MD Howard V. Yarus to the Bay Journal Fund Dahlgren, VA continue to make our work In Honor of Tom & Mary McGarvey Bob & Debbie Young possible, from coverage Baltimore, MD of the Bay restoration and Bernice Colvard the health of its rivers, Annandale, VA to the impacts of climate Mary Chetelat Baltimore, MD change, toxics, growth and Craig Dranbauer invasive species on the Baltimore, MD region’s ecosystem. Our staff Evelyn R. Waring Quinton, VA works every day to bring Chet & Gwen Wise you the best reporting on Dallastown, PA environmental issues in the Rob Wood Bay region. We are grateful Glen Rock, PA Edward Dexter for your donations. Please Baltimore, MD continue to support our William Meeks success! Baltimore, MD Warren & Cheryl Evans Dunnsville, VA Advocate Asters bloom along Maryland’s Nassawango Creek in November, heralding fall’s last hurrah. Marsha VanBourgondien (Dave Harp) Stuart Ashton Chesapeake, VA King George, VA Gambrills, MD Harry & Jane Wells Harold Schoeffler Larry Bannerman Benefactor Dundalk, MD Susan & John Wierman Russell Hill Irvington, VA Lafayette, LA George Belt Towson, MD Baltimore, MD Marietta M. Schreiber Linda Learman Supporter Annapolis, MD Chester, MD Jeffrey Putt, Sr. Chestertown, MD Jeffrey Renner J. Frank Bernheisel York, PA Hagerstown, MD Mark Shmorhun Ronald Parks Gaithersburg, MD Falls Church, VA Sponsor Baltimore, MD John J. Reynolds David Berzellini Leesburg, VA Doug Sievers Sidney Bragg In Memory of Dr. Joe Mihursky North Potomac, MD Baltimore, MD Richmond, VA Mike & Mary Jane Reber Charlotte Roscher Judith Stribling Greg Bowen Zeb Brundage Lusby, MD Ruther Glen, VA Bivalve, MD Prince Frederick, MD Hague, VA P. T. & W. O. Rogers Eric Ruark Robin Thomas Sandra Bowers Steve Cassis Heathsville, VA Galesville, MD Rosemont, PA Elkton, MD Frederick, MD Bill Smyth Marilyn E. Sadowski David Trubey Philip Briddell Perry B. Duryea III Powhatan, VA Rochelle Park, NJ Baltimore, MD York, PA Montauk, NY Catherine M. Urbanek George Savage, Jr. Gregory L. Van Blargan Clark Burbee Denise Frey Silver Spring, MD Cape Charles, VA Montgomery Village, MD Annapolis, MD Reno Carbonetta Taylors Island, MD I want to help the Bay Journal maintain and expand coverage  $15–$49 Friend Mary Jane Cathers of issues related to the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Palmyra, VA Yes!  $50–$99 Supporter Walter & Randy Childs Cape Charles, VA Enclosed is my tax-deductible gift of $  $100–$149 Sponsor  Ralph Comegna My check made payable to “Bay Journal Fund” is enclosed. 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Box 222, Jacobus, PA 17407-0222 Matilde Ott & Dennis Powell, Jr. The Bay Journal Fund does not share the names of its donors or their addresses with other organizations. Bozman, MD Continued on page 27 Bay Journal • December 2018 27

Continued from page 26 Philip & Jay Yount Winchester, VA Martin Zahn Fred Dolezal Williamsburg, VA Deltaville, VA Alice F. Dorshow Friend Catonsville, MD In Memory of Esther Quinn from Howard Quinn Patricia Dove Baltimore, MD Huntingtown, MD E. D. Yost Ted & Lorraine Edwards Charlottesville, VA Hague, VA Robert W. Baker Scott Fickbohm Ashburn, VA Burlington Flats, NY R. Benner Karen Footner Annapolis, MD Neavitt, MD Tim & Susie Brown In Memory of David J. Frie Greenbush, VA from Joan Frie Lottsburg, VA Mary S. Cooper Baltimore, MD Arthur Gernand Emmitsburg, MD James D. Iams Timonium, MD Kevin Goff Barbara & Peter Kauneckas Tappahannock, VA Kilmarnock, VA John Gorzo Bob & Sue Lee West Friendship, MD Shady Side, MD Brent Heath Joyce & David LeGrande Gloucester, VA Moseley, VA John Howard John LoPresto Towson, MD Elkton, MD Walter & Marie Hussey Berries from Euonymus americanus pop out of their pod along the banks of Nassawango Creek Regina Minniss Palmyra, VA on the Delmarva Peninsula. Also know as American strawberry bush or, appropriately, Hearts-a- Baltimore, MD Judith Jaqueth bustin, the solitary plant grows in shady areas. (Dave Harp) Ed Stein Salisbury, MD Baltimore, MD Gayle Jayne Harry Loyd Michael Reis Clint Slocum Pete Yarrington Centreville, MD Mathews, VA Silver Spring, MD Essex, MD Silver Spring, MD David & Sherry Jeffery Jon A. Lucy Dennis Rice Fred Stockman Ted Boettger St. Michaels, MD Gloucester, VA Salisbury, MD Milford, CT Cambridge, MD Charles S. Johns Joan C. Matthews Steve Wann & Rosana Fuhrmann Tom Straehle Karen Clark Harrisburg, PA Bryans Road, MD Hayes, VA Westminster, MD Arnold, MD Michael Kahn Alice McGregor James Barry Royer Sara Szczurko Robert Groeber Coatesville, PA Burien, WA North Prince George, VA Salisbury, MD Warwick, MD Brian Kelly Daniel Miller Bob Ruedisueli Norman Tadlock John Hoy Baltimore, MD Parkville, MD Vienna, VA Lancaster, VA Glen Burnie, MD Bonnie May Kersta Edmund & Lorna Miller Theron I. Russell Paul & Nicki Tiffany Joseph Lane Yorktown, VA Fairfax, VA Baltimore, MD Cape Charles, VA Smithsburg, MD Bill Killinger Linda Mullineaux J. Thomas Savage Leo J. Vollmer Martha Madary Berlin, MD Keymar, MD Cape Charles, VA Kennedyville, MD Severna Park, MD William & Henrietta Kodrich Len Nawrocki David & M. Diane Scholten Willis Ward In Honor of Sherwood Bowditch Clarion, PA Covington Township, PA Mechanicsville, MD Mathews, VA from Mary Helen Morgan Cobbs Creek, VA Kriemelmeyer Family Trust Christopher Nolte Charlotte Schomburg Nadine White Waldorf, MD Bowie, MD Greenbelt, MD Oakton, VA Paul Rogers Cape Charles, VA Sandra Laden Peter Perina Charles Sheaffer Andrew Wiest In Memory of Harold Galup Rockville, MD Mathews, VA Ronks, PA Vienna, VA from Norma Ruffing Carolyn Laffey Richard & Diane Potts Katherine Shelly Maureen Wilkerson Glenshaw, PA Nanticoke, MD Lancaster, PA Thompson, PA Bethesda, MD John Vaszko David Lawlor Marc Ratte Byron Slade William Yeaman Rockville, MD Indian Head, MD Middletown, DE Glen Rock, PA Washington, DC Lloyd Lewis Ann Reed Soon Ballantine Slayman John Young Edgewater, MD Portsmouth, VA Palmyra, PA Williamsport, PA Continued on page 28 Thank You To These Philanthropic Donors The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation 28 Bay Journal • December 2018

In Memory of Charles Bolgiano Continued from page 27 from Barbara Bolgiano Ronald Wilner Lancaster, PA Baltimore, MD David Herndon Melodie Anderson-Smith White Stone, VA Fayetteville, PA Gene Hicks Francis Baker Bel Air, MD Chesapeake Beach, MD Michael J. Jacobs George Belt Linthicum, MD Chester, MD Woody James George Brantley Dutton, VA Baltimore, MD Ruth Jensen Craig Breining Easton, MD Baltimore, MD Cathy Keifer Donald Brown Gaithersburg, MD Lexington Park, MD Bernie Klemanek Richard Burbank Mineral, VA Lusby, MD Michael Kubisiak Tina Callis Lusby, MD California, MD Laura Kunkel Joseph Doherty Annandale, VA Chestertown, MD Myrl & Roberta Lemburg Pam Faggert Virginia Beach, VA Glen Allen, VA Jeanette Line Kathie Goc Falls, PA Bumpass, VA Carol MacCubbin Ron Gray Forest Hill, MD Halifax, PA Judy Maher David Hafer Chesapeake, VA Lewisburg, PA Michael Marcus Burch Harmon Reisterstown, MD Catonsville, MD The fading green of spatterdock lilies dapple the reflection of autumn’s vivid colors on Maryland’s Claude Matthews Fred Hecklinger Nassawango Creek on the Delmarva Peninsula. (Dave Harp) Aylett, VA Annapolis, MD Chris Mills James Hillard Montgomery Raimond John & Deborah Burk Michael Waltz & Cheryl Parrish Reedville, VA Baltimore, MD Baltimore, MD Lutherville, MD Lancaster, PA Margaret O’Neill Donald Hoch James Renner Nuala Carpenter Priscilla Arenas Baltimore, MD Port Haywood, VA Wayne, PA Kensington, MD Baltimore, MD Catherine Page Keith Homza Steve Retallick Judy Caswell William Barnes Edgewater, MD Crewe, VA Cobb Island, MD Catlett, VA Fredericksburg, VA In Memory of Darrel E. Schneider David Hutton Jean Ruffin James Curtis Brandy Beazley from Bonnie Palmer Catonsville, MD Virginia Beach, VA Hampstead, MD Ladysmith, VA Sykesville, MD Kari Johnson Edward Sabin Frank Decesare Leo Boyer In Honor of Debbie Los Angeles, CA Pasadena, MD Cambridge, MD Tower City, PA from Claire & Roland Perez C. G. Keesee, Jr. Steve Scala William & Linda Gerber Eleanor Bradford Fairton, NJ Glen Allen, VA Rockville, MD Cambridge, MD Richmond, VA Scott Perkins Bernard & Mary Jo Kobosko Pat Schooley Bev Hamilton Donald & Sara Lee Brohawn Frederick, MD Reisterstown, MD Hagerstown, MD Parkville, MD Tyaskin, MD George Petersen Donald Kormann Douglas W. Shade David Hommet Joseph Chronowski Annandale, VA Baltimore, MD Reinholds, PA Gaithersburg, MD Rosedale, MD Julie Regan Jerry Krebs Jimmie Shipp Ann Lasky John & Ive Chubb Stateline, NV Manchester, MD Winchester, VA Annville, PA Beaufort, SC Ken Richards Michael H. Leakan Carmen Shortt Jessica Mendoza Richard Colliflower Silver Spring, MD Bethesda, MD Richmond, VA Towson, MD Bushwood, MD Andrew & Angela Schatz Rob Leigh Herman & Barbara Smith Ed Morgereth M. Hanford Day Hampstead, MD Queenstown, MD Baltimore, MD Baltimore, MD Silver Spring, MD Craig Seltzer Michael Lipford Rich & Allison Stiles Roy & Grace Newsome Cliff Dean Chesapeake, VA Henrico, VA Finksburg, MD Harrisburg, PA Annapolis, MD Milton Shannon, Jr. Peggy Ludwig Kevin Tennyson Thomas O’Brien Frances J. Doherty Baltimore, MD Marriottsville, MD Rockville, MD Kingsville, MD Martinsburg, WV Jack Thompson Joan C. Matthews Geoffrey Tobias Patricia Quinn Paul Doyle Gordonsville, VA Bryans Road, MD West River, MD Herndon, VA Annapolis, MD Al Tyler, Sr. Al Minutolo Charles Stephen Ward Janis E. Ranck E. N. Escobar Baltimore, MD Crozet, VA Annapolis, MD Powhatan, VA Princess Anne, MD Frederick Walters S. Ridgely Morison Polly Weldon Robert Ridgely Domenico Firmani Rockville, MD Delmar, MD Las Cruces, NM Glen Arm, MD Mount Airy, MD John Ward John S. Neild, Jr. John. J. Wernsdorfer Gene Siudyla Claire Gerber Cobbs Creek, VA Cambridge, MD Jacobus, PA Virginia Beach, VA Baltimore, MD Gregory Whalen Paul Palmieri Jim & Juanita Wightman Rich & Allison Stiles Gloria Guba Aldie, VA Baltimore, MD Blacksburg, VA Finksburg, MD Fayetteville, PA David L. Zonderman Carol Parfet John Winchester Jacob Stoltzfus Stephen Hanyok Solomons, MD Williamsburg, VA Milford, DE Myerstown, PA Elkton, MD Jeff Trader Jay Perry Amelia Wright Gary E. Thomas Wayne Harman Pocomoke City, MD Towson, MD Church Creek, MD Bendersville, PA Towson, MD Charles Pritchard Davis Wrinkle Carl Zulick Karin Harrison Chesapeake Beach, MD Richmond, VA Fairfax, VA Bel Air, MD Continued on page 29 Bay Journal • December 2018 29

Continued from page 28 Marc Imlay Mark Gilbert Bryans Road, MD Jeannette, PA Darlene Faye Adams Katherine McAloon Susan R. Grabb Baltimore, MD Alexandria, VA Laneview, VA George Allan Fred & Margaret Mech Anne Graber Henrico, VA Wilmington, NC Newport News, VA Bayford Oyster Co. Nick & Cheryl Stevenson Jack Graham Franktown, VA Saint Mary’s City, MD Hamilton, NJ Ben Buppert Steven Gregory Sykesville, MD Mitch Graham Baltimore, MD Richmond, VA J. Frank Collins Lew Gross Nottingham, MD Virginia Grimes King George, VA Owings Mills, MD Charles Fletcher William Grove Sykesville, MD Eda E. Grothouse Belle Haven, VA Fawn Grove, PA Judith Floam Robert Guiles Baltimore, MD Carolyn Hommel Montgomery Village, MD Catawba, VA Frank Gallagher Bruce Gundy Solomons, MD Kevin Howr Kilmarnock, VA Mohnton, PA Kathie Goc David S. Gussman Bumpass, VA Lolita Kiorpes Port Republic, MD Toano, VA Karen Gravelle Alma Hackett Onancock, VA Robin Lane Townsend, DE Salisbury, MD K. Hess David Haller Lititz, PA Rodney Layton Salisbury, MD Hagerstown, MD Richard Hostetter Paulette Hammond Lititz, PA Virginia Phillips Gaithersburg, MD Baltimore, MD Laurie Lane Anne Harrison Catonsville, MD Caroline Sherony Lusby, MD Riva, MD William L. Lumpkin Joe Hartmann Barboursville, VA Craig Turner Columbia, PA Dunkirk, MD John Lyding Joseph Hasenmayer Silver Spring, MD John Fusek Medford, NJ Newport News, VA John Maciolek III Davis Hays Gettysburg, PA Kermit H. Katzaman Arlington, VA Harrisburg, PA Shelley & Dennis Miller Elaine Hendricks Frederick, MD Mary Kilbourne Greenbelt, MD Upper Marlboro, MD Debra Morris Pamela Henry Elkton, MD Linda Learman Columbia, MD Chestertown, MD Their seeds spread by the wind to benefit next year’s monarch Richard & Alta Richardson butterflies, these milkweed pods stand in contrast with the blue Charles Hess North Chesterfield, VA Michael W. Moscatello State College, PA Georgetown, TX water of a farm pond. (Dave Harp) Beverly Roane Elizabeth Hill Dutton, VA Donald & Cynthia Piercy Kennedyville, MD Yorktown, VA Casey Bryant Catherine Devito John P. Rolfes Linthicum, MD Glen Burnie, MD David Hoff Chestertown, MD Becky & Don Reed Chestertown, MD Fredericksburg, VA C. T. Bullock Ionna Dobrescu John Fred Seitz Lancaster, PA Basking Ridge, NJ Robert Hollenbach, Jr. Hyattsville, MD Nancy E. Adams Dornsife, PA Worton, MD Winston Burks Tim Doherty Thomas Torbit Bedford, VA Ashburn, VA James Holton Jarrettsville, MD George & Carol Alexander Chesapeake, VA Penn Yan, NY Bill Burnham Tom Dulz David Wasson Onancock, VA Artemas, PA Susan Hubbard Essex, MD Armory Living Trust Virginia Beach, VA Mike & Alene Case Henry Eick Guy Wilkerson Williamsburg, VA Wapwallopen, PA Roseland, VA Gene & Susan Huntsman Sterling, VA Carl Atkinson Havelock, NC Norris D. Williams, USN (Retired) York, PA Carl F. Cerco John M. Elkin, Jr. Albuquerque, NM Urbanna, VA Don & Debby Hyson King George, VA David Barkdoll Baltimore, MD Grover Chamberlain Joan Ellis C. Whitney Aldridge III York, PA Ted Jacobsen Silver Spring, MD Easton, MD North Chesterfield, VA Peter Bergstrom Orangeville, PA Ruth Colburn Saxtons River, VT Jared & Mary Clemmer Elaine Entwisle Diana Jensen Gettysburg, PA Cliff Berqstresser Punxsutawney, PA Solomons, MD Derwood, MD G. Chandler Fox Damascus, MD Don Cordts William Evans John Jensen Falls Church, VA Gail Berrigan Manasquan, NJ Damascus, MD Aylett, VA Don Schweitzer Leverett, MA Martin Crabill Joe & Kim Fehrer Thomas Johnson Fruitland, MD Gregory Bertin Gettysburg, PA Cape Charles, VA Washington, DC Weston Young Centreville, VA Brad Crosby Theodore Feitshans Barbara Jones Salisbury, MD George & Peggy Bogdan Mechanicsville, VA Raleigh, NC Exton, PA Mysore Nagaraj Baltimore, MD Bill Cullen Paul Fialcowitz Barbara Kaehler Lewistown, PA Mary Ann Bower Westminster, MD York, PA Worton, MD Diane Bellomo Mill Hall, PA Timothy Cunningham Larry & Jean Fry Brian Kane Baltimore, MD Alan Brandt Towson, MD Ocean Pines, MD Alexandria, VA Raymond E. Dodson Columbia, MD Brian & Karen Czarnowski Deborah Gardner Paul Kavanagh Baltimore, MD Kevin Brittingham Galesville, MD Yardley, PA Lincoln University, PA Celeste Dudley Windsor Mill, MD Lorraine Davis Gerry Gavin Teresa Kempisty Gloucester, VA Greg Brown Arnold, MD Havertown, PA Smithsburg, MD Joseph Gorney Lincoln University, PA Daniel De Simone Chris Geringer Kevin Kendall Clifton, VA In Memory of Finton Cordell Washington, DC Newark, DE Reading, PA James J. Hearn from Eileen Cordell Deltavile Oyster Company Karen Gianninoto Ronald J. Klauda Severna Park, MD Lutherville, MD Deltaville, VA Preston, MD Prince Frederick, MD 30 Bay Journal • December 2018

Commentary • Letters • Perspectives This orum‘half measure’ might be enough to save Bay for next generation By JoelF Dunn Eighteen million people call the Bay watershed home. That means we have 18 million reasons to protect this landscape and, incidentally, we will have an additional 4 million reasons by 2050. If we don’t increase our focus on protecting and restoring “A man the Chesapeake, our children and knows that grandchildren won’t experience the the world same Bay that we do today — full of is not given wildlife, history and wonder. by his The World Wildlife Fund recently fathers, but released a startling report that said, borrowed on average, we have seen a 60 percent from his decline in the world’s mammal, bird, children.” fish, reptile and amphibian populations Although since 1970. That means over the course the author of two generations, we have seen of this more than half the world’s wildlife quote is disappear. under If I am honest with myself, I am debate, not surprised that the numbers are there is no as high as they are. I have witnessed debate over firsthand the impact that deforestation the truth it has in all of the various places I have contains lived throughout my 41 years — New (Dave England, the Pacific Northwest, Harp). Central and South America, and most recently, the Chesapeake. The WWF’s of the Chesapeake Bay watershed by profit advocates; ecosystem investors; findings simply add up all of the conserving and restoring working A distant goal of protecting Native American tribes; and many habitat loss and land use changes into lands and natural lands and the places others to share knowledge, financial one solid statistic. that matter for the future of our region. 50 percent of the watershed’s resources and innovative solutions. Globally, it is clear that our natural Something like this can and should Importantly, we have also begun to move assets can no longer be taken for only be done with willing landowners working lands and natural from viewing conservation as individual granted. Closer to home, we must take and using precision conservation acts to conserving and connecting larger action to make sure that the Chesapeake techniques, so that it is done at the lands would still leave ecosystems. remains a thriving ecosystem for direction of communities and in the around 39 percent available We all want a vibrant economy, generations. We would want Rachel right places on the landscape. strong communities with places to work Carson to confirm to our grandchildren In November, the Wyss Foundation for future growth and live, working farms and forests, that spring is just as boisterous as we launched an unprecedented $1 vital habitat for native wildlife and remember it being as children. billion campaign to help nations and development clean water. We also want to preserve We would want Aldo Leopold to conserve 30 percent of the planet our shared heritage, recreational confirm that the “fierce green fire” has by the year 2030. “From the forests and other needs of society. opportunities and quality of life. And, not died out. We would want Teddy that supply our drinking water to the we should consider all of the interests, Roosevelt to tell us that we have been rugged backcountry that inspires the A distant goal of protecting 50 percent needs and desires that come to bear fierce stewards of the most glorious imagination of our children, everyone of the watershed’s working lands and on our beloved Chesapeake in forums heritage a people ever received. on Earth has a stake in conserving natural lands would still leave around 39 where all may feel free to learn, be open We need to adopt the Native our planet’s wild places before they percent available for future growth and and transparent, and listen to others. American philosophy of thinking are gone,” said Hansjörg Wyss, the development and other needs of society. Let’s take Wilson’s and Wyss’ ideas seven generations into the future — philanthropist who launched the Wyss The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed to our own backyard and, with those and plan and act for them. In the face Foundation. Both Wilson and Wyss are Agreement committed to protecting insights as a beacon, seriously think of global catastrophe, it’s time to do thinking big, and we need to take the 2 million acres of additional land by through how these ideas apply to our things wildly differently and to think same approach in the Chesapeake. 2025, along with 300 new public access Chesapeake Bay and watershed. and plan at previously unimaginable Currently, approximately 22 percent sites. It’s now almost 2019, and we’re For us all, it is time to think big, spatial scales. of the land area in the Chesapeake halfway to both the 2-million-acre goal because our Chesapeake is the biggest Noted conservationist E. O. Wilson, watershed is conserved. This includes and the access goal, which is certainly asset we all share, and with careful author of Half-Earth, proposes a bold important working lands, rich farm- something to celebrate. stewardship, we can pass on something plan to save our imperiled biosphere: lands and productive forests, as well as But we need to begin to identify goals we are proud of to our children and Conserve half the surface of the Earth, our natural lands, including national beyond 2025. We’ve gotten this far with grandchildren. This is the goal of a both land and ocean, to maintain nature. and state parks and wildlife areas. an “all of the above” strategy, bringing lifetime. It’s time to put serious consideration In comparison, approximately 11 together federal, state and local officials; Joel Dunn is president & CEO of into setting a goal of maintaining half percent of the watershed is developed. private landowners; philanthropists; non- the Chesapeake Conservancy. Bay Journal • December 2018 31 orum Commentary • Letters • Perspectives How can we understand a Chesapeake we’ve never seen? F“Why will you ask for other glories when you have soft crabs?” —Oliver Wendell Holmes, chiding Baltimore in an 1860 essay By Tom Horton

Nowadays, around 350 million to 450 million blue crabs inhabit Chesapeake Bay, according to accurate surveys. That’s not harvests, mind you, but all crabs — soft and hard, from thumbnail size up. It supports fishing that both watermen and chicken- neckers are fairly happy with. But how happy should we be? Should we expect more in our quest to restore the estuary’s health? Consider: In 1883, W. K. Brooks, a Johns Hopkins scientist who studied the Chesapeake closely, found Virginia hard crabbers routinely making up to two dollars a day, selling their catch for a penny a dozen. That translates to around 20 bushels — and they were using sail power or rowing only, run- ning trotlines, working only the Bay’s shallow fringes, no more. Crab pots, which would have let them harvest deeper water, hadn’t been invented. A vintage photo of the oyster fleet in the Chesapeake Bay, probably around the early 20th century. And they were knocking off work by around 10 a.m. — noon at the latest. get it,” the old captain said. “You don’t guides us toward establishing sanctuar- Hard crabs, Brooks wrote, had so know what you never saw.” ies where reefs can once again form. little value that fish netters shook them So Kennedy’s fine and readable A provocative final chapter exam- from their meshes, leaving thousands effort, released in late November, does ines how the pre-European Chesapeake crushed and dying on the shorelines. a real service as modest upturns in Bay may have been different ecologically As for soft crabs, which had begun water quality have us daring to think as a consequence of its bounty. Shoals to fetch a decent price, the town of about what a “saved” Chesapeake of spawning fish, so vast they created Crisfield in high harvest would ship might look like. It’s not just about waves coming upriver that were visible 180,000 of them a day in 1909, with quantity. The book describes oysters at a distance, were bringing into the Deal Island adding another 50,000 stretching almost continuously for 140 estuary massive amounts of nutritional a week. In 1916, as many as seven miles along the Eastern Shore from energy harvested from the oceans, in railroad cars of fresh softies rolled out Kent Island to Cape Henry in 1869. their flesh, feces, urine, mucus. of Crisfield some days. But that was grossly unlike the origi- Likewise for the sky-darkening flights These crab stories are told by Chesapeake Born nal state of oysters in the Chesapeake, of waterfowl, whose nightly noise likely retired University of Maryland Kennedy writes; rather it represented kept native humans awake, and whose scientist Victor S. Kennedy in his new restoration goals. the efforts of 1,700 dredge boats and taking flight could be heard miles away. book, Shifting Baselines in the Chesa- Such forgetfulness can happen 3,000 tongers working at the time in From across the continent they brought peake Bay: An Environmental History quickly. In the 1980s, the late Martin Maryland alone — breaking apart the in their bodies and their wastes, signifi- (Johns Hopkins Press). O’Berry — who for decades captained dense but widely separated reefs in cant energies to fuel Bay food webs. Kennedy has examined the Bay’s research vessels for the University which oysters naturally occurred — and Perhaps a lot of the nitrogen that now past abundances of seafood, from of Maryland — had tears in his eyes scattering the mollusks far and wide. fuels too much algae in the modern Bay terrapins and sturgeon to oysters and when he told me how frustratingly For a time, this scattering must have was tied up then in the living tissues of shad and waterfowl, sifting through impossible it was during fish surveys seemed an improvement, as oysters, all of those fish and birds. anecdotal evidence and early surveys to make politicians, environmental freed from their reefs, grew fuller and “You cannot manage what you do to arrive at a sense of just how full of managers and young scientists under- fatter and easier to harvest. Now we not understand,” the author says; and life the Chesapeake was as Europeans stand just how enormously abundant know it also made them more vulner- this book moves us toward under- began to settle it. the Bay had once been. able to covering by sediment, and it standing better the great gift that was His book also pulls together an They were thrilled with the marine destroyed the massive capacity of the Chesapeake Bay. accounting of how thoroughly we squan- life that came up in O’Berry’s trawls. reefs, themselves, to harbor myriad Tom Horton has written about dered the “immense protein factory” He’d explain how it paled in compari- other Bay life. the Chesapeake Bay for more than praised by journalist H. L. Mencken. son to what similar trawls yielded just Perhaps though, it explains the 40 years, including eight books. He Kennedy says “generational 25 or 30 years before — before the big belief, deeply held to this day by oyster- lives in Salisbury, where he is also a amnesia” relating to historical abun- declines in seagrasses and oxygen hit men, that “working” the bottom is professor of Environmental Studies at dances risks setting the bar too low for the Chesapeake. “But they just didn’t vital to healthy oysters, even as science Salisbury University. 32 Bay Journal • December 2018

Commentary • Letters • Perspectives CBF celebratesorum 40 years of immersing students in watershed experiences By TFom Ackerman boats, and even one authentic Forty years ago this fall, a group of skipjack, help school teachers arrived at the remote participants get fishing village of Tylerton, MD, on out on the water, Smith Island with their sleeping bags. in addition to Then, they put on old sneakers and canoes. In all, walked into the nearby salt marshes. about 34,000 stu- Those teachers from Baltimore dents, teachers County were the first group to partici- and principals pate in the Chesapeake Bay Founda- participate in the tion’s Smith Island education program, programs each which was created in September year, learning 1978. Almost simultaneously, the about the Bay, its CBF launched its Baltimore education tributaries and program. Both programs are celebrat- its challenges. ing their 40th anniversaries. The CBF The two initiatives were significant is still on the steps in a wider, national move toward cutting edge of experiential learning born in the environmental 1970s. Students learn best through education. It took experience and by reflection on that a lead role in the experience. The idea is embedded in No Child Left modern educational practice, but at the Inside Coalition time, it was novel. The CBF played a in 2006, pushing major role in that experiment, and the back against the Smith Island and Baltimore programs “teach to the were its outdoor laboratories. Forty years ago, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation began environmental education programs on Smith test” approach. It The Tylerton facility was born when Island and in Baltimore Harbor. To date, the organization has educated more than 93,000 students, also was a leader the foundation bought a house from a teachers and principals at Smith Island alone. Pictured here in a photo from the 1980s are a mixture of in the successful retiring waterman and his wife. Bill CBF educators, island youths and participants. (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) effort to make Goldsborough, the first CBF manager environmental of the program, hauled in government Who buys marshes? of place and culture. As part of that literacy a high school graduation surplus bunk beds to accommodate 20 But Paul Marshall introduced study, the participants paddle canoes, requirement in Maryland. The guests. Goldsborough and Don Baugh, Goldsborough around town. Also, the conduct experiments from the deck of organization helped implement that another early CBF educator, also man- children of the island immediately took a workboat, interview local residents regulation by fostering curriculum aged to add a second bathroom. The to the program. Curious, they often and more. They put down their mobile development. Furthering that success, young men were desperately (and reck- peered through the center windows. devices and pick up seine nets. They all of the Bay states and the District lessly) using power tools to complete They welcomed the new children. explore and see awe-inspiring sights: of Columbia agreed to develop a the plumbing while lying in standing Gradually, the foundation and Smith a heron rookery on a remote island, comprehensive and systemic approach water under the house just before the Island began to get brilliant stars in to environmental literacy for all teachers arrived. acquainted. a vast dark night, students. The original center also included Since 1978, a sea horse on an The CBF’s most recent educational a dock, a T-Craft outboard, a crab more than 93,600 From its earliest days, oyster reef. innovation is its Student Leadership shanty, and four locally built wooden students, teachers the CBF realized that saving From its earli- program. It provides an opportunity skiffs. In other words, the facility was and principals have est days, the CBF for students to not only experience much like any other household and visited the Smith the Bay would take decades. realized that saving and understand the Bay and its issues, holdings on Smith. Island facility, usu- the Bay would take but to lead others in actions to restore But conservative island villages ally staying several decades. Educating clean water. can take time to adjust to newcomers, days. The education center has been young people to carry the mission For example, the CBF’s Pennsyl- especially long-haired young men. expanded to include two homes. forward in subsequent generations vania Student Leadership Council Local watermen suspected Goldsbor- In the same time, more than 84,100 became a core objective. (I, for created an advocacy campaign to make ough was a game warden working participants have participated in the instance, got my start at the foundation the Eastern hellbender the official state undercover. Why else would someone Baltimore program. Students spend as a high school student visiting the amphibian. The campaign resulted in use binoculars if not to spy for illegal a day aboard Snow Goose, a former Smith Island center.) state legislation and an article in the duck hunting? authentic Chesapeake workboat con- Today, the CBF Education Depart- Wall Street Journal. Looking back, Goldsborough verted into a floating classroom. Snow ment is nationally recognized. It Many of those student leaders recalled it was a comical twist that Goose replaced Osprey, the original operates 15 education programs in initially were inspired to help the Bay helped improve relations. The CBF had craft commissioned for the Baltimore Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and after a field experience on Smith Island purchased some marshland from elders operation. the District of Columbia. Smith Island or at other CBF outdoor programs. The Paul and Ullie Marshall, thinking that The philosophy of the programs is one of four facilities for multi-day magic of immersion is still at work. being landowners might improve the remains true: Educate students about education experiences, and Baltimore Tom Ackerman is the Chesapeake organization’s standing. It probably the Bay by immersing them in it. Give is among 11 programs for single-day Bay Foundation’s vice president for provoked only more head-scratching. them a deep and powerful experience experiences. A small fleet of power Education. Bay Journal • December 2018 33

Commentary • Letters • Perspectives Groupsorum would rather fight for the Bay than fight for funding ByF Chanté Coleman restoration projects that protect What if we local water quality, promote healthy did not have The four-part series, The Bay’s communities and help the states meet to focus our Pollution Diet: Is it Working?, their pollution reduction goals. resources to highlighted many aspects of the state Projects like rain gardens and battle the new of the Chesapeake Bay restoration forest buffers are installed on a daily administration effort. basis thanks to nonprofits combining and keep the We agree that we are witnesses their own fundraising efforts with cleanup from to incredible progress, including the limited grant resources available. shutting down? the resurgence of Bay grasses and Our watershed’s nonprofit community We could have improvements in water quality. We understands the connection between spent the last also agree that progress has been continued funding and progress for the two years slower than anticipated. There are a Chesapeake. working to few key considerations, though, that They are also one of the reasons increase, rather were not highlighted in the series. why this work continues to receive than preserve We must remember that the Bay funding at all. Bay funding; took centuries to become impaired, We cannot overlook the dramatic focused on and it will take longer than a few years shift that occurred with the 2016 getting more of work to restore it. election. As a reminder, the Trump targeted funding But it is cleaner, and much of this administration attempted to eliminate in Pennsylvania; progress is due to the hard work of funding for the restoration effort. and taken the nonprofit community. The more Our members fought hard alongside other actions than 230 member organizations of our Congressional delegation to accelerate the Choose Clean Water Coalition to ensure $73 million in crucial our progress. have played a major role in getting funding continued to reach the U.S. This attempted the restoration effort where it is today. Environmental Protection Agency’s reversal must From national nonprofits to local Chesapeake Bay Program, state and be appreciated watershed groups, this community local governments, and nonprofit for the impact has installed countless on-the-ground organizations. it had on the restoration effort, and it is likely to Give them Knowledge, continue. What do we do now? Share your Passion If anything, the last two years have Nonprofit organizations are continually helping landowners to shown us install rain gardens and streamside buffers and to take a variety Help preserve that elections of other stewardship actions. Many have also been vocal advo- independent journalism matter. Voting cates to maintain federal funding for the regional Bay cleanup for future generations matters. The effort. (Dave Harp) coalition and its when you include members have fought hard to keep the state or local legislator, sign a petition, the Bay Journal in your Chesapeake Bay cleanup a bipartisan or voice your opinion in person. We effort, and everyone needs to feel will continue to see progress if we Estate Planning empowered to voice their opinions and work together toward our common concerns around the progress we are goal: clean water. making. Chanté Coleman is director of the Write to your congressperson or Choose Clean Water Coalition.

Let Us Know The Bay Journal welcomes letters pertaining to Chesapeake Bay issues. Letters should be no more than 400 words. Send letters to: Editor, Bay Journal, 619 Oakwood Drive, Seven Valleys, PA 17360-9395. E-mail letters to: [email protected] Contact us and your estate planning attorney Letter writers should include a phone number where they can be reached. Longer commentaries should be arranged in advance with the [email protected] editor. Call: 717-428-2819. Views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect jacqui caine (540) 903-9298 those of the Bay Journal or Bay Journal Media. 34 Bay Journal • December 2018

stewardship. To learn more, adopt a of an effort to reduce nonpoint stream or get a proposed site, visit source pollutants in urbanized and [email protected]. Groups WorkdayMake sure that whenWisdom you industrialized areas in relation to can also register their events at participate in cleanup or invasive the County’s Municipal Separate trashnetwork.fergusonfoundation.org. plant removal workdays to protect Storm Sewers (MS4) permit. the Chesapeake Bay watershed Cleanup supplies are provided. Info: Little Paint Branch Park and its resources that you also [email protected]. Help the Maryland-National protect yourself. Organizers of Volunteer Opportunities Capital Park and Planning almost every workday strongly Resources Commission remove invasive species urge their volunteers to wear long Kid’s Christmas bird count 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. the last Saturday in pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks Land & water conservation grants Children, ages 8 and older, December, January and February at and closed-toe shoes (hiking or The Maryland of Department can participate in the annual Little Paint Branch Park in Beltsville. waterproof). This helps to mini- Natural Resources is seeking Christmas Count at Nixon Park near Learn about native plants. Sign in for mize skin exposure to poison ivy local proposals from counties and Jacobus, PA, 9–11:30 a.m. Dec. 27. a safety orientation. Gloves and tools and ticks, which might be found municipalities for Public Outdoor Participants will join birding mentors are provided. Info: Marc Imlay at at the site. Light-colored clothing Recreation Projects for grant funding from York (PA) Audubon, who [email protected], also makes it easier to spot ticks. from the National Park Service’s will lead teams on hikes, explain 301-442-5657. Hats are strongly recommended. Land and Water Conservation Fund. binoculars, help identify birds and Although some events provide Projects must be in direct support of submit finds to eBird. Children Cromwell Valley Park work gloves, not all do; ask when public outdoor recreation. Eligible must be accompanied by an adult. Cromwell Valley Park near registering. proposals include the acquisition, Register by Dec. 24 at 717-428-1961. Towson, MD, needs volunteers for Events near water require development and maintenance of Habitat Restoration Team / Weed closed-toe shoes and clothing that outdoor recreational areas, facilities Eden Mill Nature Center Warrior Days: 2–4 p.m. Dec. 15 and can get wet or muddy. and properties, including athletic Eden Mill Nature Center in Jan. 16, 26 & 30 and Feb. 6, 9, 23 27. Always bring water. Sunscreen fields, boat launches, fishing piers, Pylesville, MD, is looking for All ages (12 and younger w/adult) are and an insect repellent designed playgrounds, trails and more. volunteers, ages 5 & older (minors w/ welcome. Remove invasive species, to repel both deer ticks and Municipalities and counties are adult) to help refurbish old bat boxes install native plants and maintain mosquitoes help. eligible for up to a 50 percent 9:30-11 a.m. Dec. 29. Register by restored habitat. Service hours Lastly, most organizers ask that matching fund with requests capped Dec. 15. Call 410-836-3050 or email are available. Meet at Sherwood volunteers register ahead of time. at $800,000. Preliminary application [email protected]. House parking lot. No registration is Knowing how many people are forms are due by Dec. 18. Info: required. Info: Laurie Taylor-Mitchell going to show up ensures that dnr.maryland.gov/land/Pages/LWCF- Become a VA Master Naturalist at [email protected]. they will have enough tools and Grants.aspx. Virginia’s Fairfax and Merrimac supervisors. They can also give Farm Master Naturalist chapters are Magruder Woods directions to the site or offer any Impacts of plastic accepting applications for January Help Friends of Magruder Woods suggestions for apparel or gear These websites offer information 2019 basic training courses. Master 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Saturday not mentioned here. about plastic pollution: Naturalists are a corps of volunteers in December, January and February ≈ Impacts of Plastics: Visit who manage and protect natural remove invasive plants in the epa.gov/trash-free-waters for an EPA areas through activities such as forested swamp in Hyattsville, MD. return at 5 p.m. Carpool contact: Trash Free Waters program webinar plant and animal surveys, stream Meet at farthest end of the parking Laurel Imlay at 301-277-7111. by Dr. Chelsea Rochman, a leading monitoring, trail rehabilitation lot. Info: Marc Imlay at 301-283- expert on the effect of human and teaching in nature centers. 0808, [email protected], Snap a stream selfie litter, as well as information on the Master Naturalist courses for (301-442-5657 the day of event); or Water quality in 80 percent of movement and sources of aquatic new volunteers include ecology, Colleen Aistis at 301-985-5057. U.S. streams is unknown. Help to trash, impacts of mismanaged trash, geology, soils, native flora and bridge the information gap by taking toxicological threats of plastic and fauna, and habitat management. American Chestnut Land Trust a selfie in one’s backyard or nearby case studies, preventing trash at the Info: fairfaxmasternaturalists.org and The American Chestnut Land stream. Info: iwla.org/streamselfie. source, best management practices, [email protected], Trust in Prince Frederick, MD, needs policies & programs, trash-free merrimacfarmvmn.weebly.com. volunteers for invasive plant removal Count birds at Nixon Park waters projects, international workdays 9–11 a.m. Thursdays and Nixon County Park near Jacobus, initiatives, statutes & regulations, CBL Visitor Center 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Wednesdays. All PA, needs volunteers for the Cornell the Clean Water Act & Trash-Free Volunteer docents, ages 16 and ages (16 & younger w/adult) are wel- Laboratory of Ornithology’s Project Waters, Unpackaging your life and older, are needed at the Chesapeake come. Training, tools and water are FeederWatch, a citizen science the Marine Debris Campus Toolkit. Biological Laboratory’s Visitor Center provided. Preregistration is required. program in which participants count ≈ When Did We Become a on Solomons Island, MD. Volunteers Info: 410-414-3400, acltweb.org, the number and identify species of Plastic Society? This trash awareness must commit to a minimum of two, [email protected]. birds visiting feeders from November video is available at youtube.com/ 3– to 4-hour shifts each month in through early April. Volunteers watch?v=dq5oXEVW07k. the spring, summer and fall. Training Ruth Swann Park commit to a one-hour time slot on ≈ Plastic Fibers in Drinking sessions are required. Info: Help the Maryland Native Plant Tuesday or Wednesday every other Water: Visit orbmedia.org/stories/ [email protected]. Society, Sierra Club and Chapman week. Data is forwarded to Cornell Invisibles_plastics/? to learn about a Forest Foundation 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for its nationwide project that tracks recent study that found 94 percent Adopt-a-Stream program the second Saturday in December, winter bird population trends. of tap water sampled in the United The Prince William Soil & Water January and February remove Beginners are welcome. The park States contained micropolastic fibers, Conservation District in Manassas, invasive plants at Ruth Swann is ADA accessible. Info: Andrew at (although the significance to human VA, wants to ensure that stream Park in Bryans Road. Meet at Ruth 717-428-1961. health is not well understood). cleanup volunteers have all of the Swann Park-Potomac Branch Library support and supplies they need for parking lot. Bring lunch. Info: Marc Floatable monitoring program Virginia Water Radio trash removal projects. Participating Imlay at [email protected], 301-283- The Prince William Soil & Water Visit virginiawaterradio.org for groups receive an Adopt-A-Stream 0808, (301-442-5657 day of event). Conservation District in Manassas, audio files featuring sounds and sign from the PWC Public Works Carpoolers meet at the Sierra Club VA, needs volunteers to help assess Department in recognition of their MD Chapter office at 9 a.m. and and trace trash in streams as part Bulletin continues on page 35 Bay Journal • December 2018 35

Park passes for 4th graders The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is partnering New Submission Guidelines with the U.S. Department of the The Bay Journal regrets it is least two months in advance. See Interior’s Every Kid in a Park program not always able to print every below. to provide fourth-grade children notice it receives because of ≈ Submissions to Bulletin Board and their families free admission space limitations. Priority is given must be sent either as a Word or to national public lands and state to events or programs that most Pages document, or as simple text Bulletin from page 34 parks. The Maryland Park Service closely relate to the preservation in the body of an e-mail. PDFs, will honor the federal passes, valid and appreciation of the Bay, newsletters or other formats may music that relate to Virginia’s waters, through Aug. 31, 2019, at all 75 state its watershed and resources. be considered if there is space from the Cumberland Gap to the parks. The passes are also valid at 16 Items published in Bulletin and if information can be easily Atlantic Ocean. Virginia Water Radio national parks, six national natural Board are posted on the online extracted. is produced by the Virginia Water landmarks, five national wildlife calendar; unpublished items are ≈ Programs must contain all of Resources Research Center, which refuges and two federal heritage posted online if staffing permits. the following information: a phone is solely responsible for the show’s areas in the state. The program’s Guidelines: number (include the area code) or content. goal is to increase access to public ≈ Send notices to e-mail address of a contact person; lands and facilities for children at an [email protected]. Items the title, time (online calendar Creek Critters App impressionable age to ignite their sent to other addresses are not requires an end time as well as a The Audubon Naturalist’s Creek interest and love for the outdoors. always forwarded before the start time), date and place of the Critters App empowers people to It also offers teachers resources for deadline. event or program. Submissions check on the health of their local planning field trips, including free ≈ Bulletin Board contains events must state if the program is streams through finding and iden- access for classes and eligibility for that take place (or have registration free, requires a fee, has age tifying the small organisms — or federal transportation funding. In deadlines) on or after the 11th requirements, has a registration creatures — that live in freshwater addition, the DNR offers educational of the month in which the item deadline or welcomes drop-ins. streams, then generating stream health resources for teachers. The pass is published through the 11th of ≈ January/February issue: December 11 reports based on what they find. The covers admission, but does not cover the next month. Deadlines run at ≈ March issue: February 11 free app can be downloaded from amenities and services, such as boat the App Store and Google Play. Info: rentals, camping or staff-led tours. anshome.org/creek-critters. To learn For details or to print a pass for this native trees and plants that provide Turf / lawn programs about partnerships or host a Creek year, google Every Kid in a Park and shelter and habitat for wildlife. For information on the Prince Critters event, contact follow the directions on the website. They also suggest approaches to William Soil & Water Conservation [email protected]. reduce pollution. Free Bay-Wise District’s 12 Steps to a Greener Lawn Wildlife education trunks signs are given to homeowners / Building Environmental Sustainable MD tree nursery accepting orders The Maryland Department of who demonstrate sound practices. Turf BEST Lawns programs, low-cost, The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is offering a Homeowners can also evaluate research-based programs for lawn Natural Resources is accepting online variety of wildlife education trunks their property online using the education, contact: 703-792-4037 or orders for shrub and tree seedlings for use by teachers, homeschool MD Yardstick, which tallies their e-mail [email protected]. from the John S. Ayton State Forest educators, naturalists, scout leaders pollution-reducing gardening and Tree Nursery for the spring 2019 and other instructors. These free landscaping practices. To have a Stormwater management info planting season. The nursery offers interdisciplinary tools are designed yard certified as Bay-Wise, though, Businesses and nonprofits inter- more than 50 species of shrubs and to interest students in local wildlife homeowners need to have the ested in landscaping and turf manage- trees for large-scale plantings on while building on disciplines like Master Gardeners visit and evaluate ment, stormwater pond management, private land to meet a wide variety art, language arts, math, physical their landscape. Contact: Esther wildlife concerns, recommendations of conservation, environmental and education, science and social Mitchell at [email protected] or for maintaining landscapes, protecting reforestation needs. It also offers 20 studies. Each trunk contains an visit extension.umd.edu/baywise/ water quality and pollution prevention different “pollinator friendly” options. educator guide with background program-certification. Click on can call 703-792-6285 to schedule a A minimum order of 25 seedlings information, lesson plans and “download the yardstick” to evaluate free site visit. per species is required; supplies are hands-on K–12 activities, as well a landscape and/or vegetable garden. limited. Info: Google John S. Ayton as activity supplies, books, furs, VA water monitoring test kits State Forest Tree Nursery. replica tracks and videos. Trunk Marine debris toolkit The Virginia Department of subjects include aquatic invasive The National Oceanic and Environmental Quality is distributing Watershed education capsules species, bats, black bears, furbearers, Atmospheric Administration’s Office a limited number of water monitoring Prince William (VA) Soil and Water white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. of National Marine Sanctuaries and kits to test for dissolved oxygen, pH, Conservation District’s watershed Trunks are available at seven the NOAA Marine Debris Program turbidity and temperature. These kits capsules, which teach students about locations around the state and can have developed a toolkit for students are available for free to schools and the important functions of watersheds, be borrowed on a first-come, first- and educators in coastal and inland organizations that do not have water are available, first-come, first served. served basis for up to two weeks. areas to learn about marine debris monitoring equipment. The DEQ Info: pwswcd.org/educators, educa- Info: Google Wildlife Education and monitor their local waterways. requests that participants use these [email protected]. Trunks. This toolkit is a collaborative effort to kits as part of the EarthEcho Water reduce the impact of trash on marine Challenge (formerly known as World Environmental education grants Learn if your yard is Bay-Wise ecosystems through hands-on citizen Water Monitoring Challenge. See EcoTech Grants offer up to $2,500 Master Gardeners in Prince science, education and community worldwatermonitoringday.org). Groups to engage children in inquiry- George’s County (MD) takes outreach. Info: Google marine debris with their own monitoring equipment based, STEM-related projects that part in Bay-Wise, a program that monitoring toolkit for educators. can also participate in the event. leverage technology and/or use offers free consultations on sound Teachers, or those who work with a nature-based design to address environmental practices for county Bilingual educator resources large number of students, can request environmental problems in local residents’ yards to help them certify Bilingual lessons are available in a free kit. Contact: Stuart Torbeck at communities. This cycle’s application their landscapes as Bay-Wise. English and Spanish for Interstate [email protected] deadline is Jan. 15, 2019. Info: The Master Gardeners look for Commission on the Potomac River and provide a mailing address, the captainplanetfoundation.org/grants/ healthy lawn maintenance, efficient Basin educational programs. Info: ecotech. watering and pest control, and potomacriver.org/resources/educator. Bulletin continues on page 36 36 Bay Journal • December 2018

city, not only for native plants and educators includes workshops; farm- out of the nature center’s viewing animals, but for residents as well. It fresh meals, speakers; networking; windows. helps communities identify a suite of farmer-to-farmer chats; and seed, All of the walks are free. ambassador animals that represent book and small tool swaps. Info: Preregistration is required. Info: 717- habitat types within, and historic to, futureharvestcasa.org/conference. 428-1961. this area; shares practical resources for supporting specific wildlife Events / Programs Chesapeake’s rays & sharks needs; monitors and encourages The Annapolis Maritime Museum Bulletin from page 35 the collection of citizen science CBEC School’s Out Camp invites the public to Sharks and data; and develops a culture of The Chesapeake Bay Rays of Chesapeake Bay: Proving number of monitoring locations and conservation and stewardship. The Environmental Center in Grasonville, “Common Knowledge” Wrong at the number of participants from the toolkit highlights 20 ambassador MD, invites children to its Winter 7 p.m. Jan. 10. The lecture by John organization or school expected wildlife species from four different Wonderland School’s Out Camp F. Morrissey of Sweet Briar (VA) to participate in the EarthEcho habitats. These animals represent a 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Dec. 28 (after-care College is part of the museum’s Water Challenge. This information variety of conditions that are present available until 5 p.m.) for a day of winter lecture series. Admission is helps to determine how many kits in high-quality environments for hands-on nature exploration and $10. Registration is not required; pay a group needs. The Virginia Water human, plant and animal health. play. Activities include environmental at the door. Info: M. K. Richardson at Monitoring Council provided the kits The multi-platform toolkit is lessons and games, hiking trails and 410-295-0104 x3, for this effort. designed to help partners prioritize exploring the woods, arts & crafts [email protected]. community greening projects based and healthy snacks. Participants must Emerald ash borer program on representative species, citizen bring a lunch and water bottle and Help restore a 1912 river tug The Virginia Department of For- science data and spatial analysis dress for the weather. Dress in layers The Chesapeake Bay Maritime estry’s Emerald Ash Borer Cost-Share that includes social, economic and and bring a change of clothes in case Museum is inviting the public to Program will help landowners and ecological indicators. Info: fws.gov. your child gets muddy. Details will help restore the 1912 river tug, organizations (nonprofits, schools, be sent by email to all registrants a Delaware, this winter and spring homeowner associations, municipali- MD 2019 state park passes few days before the camp. Fee: $45. through its Apprentice for a Day ties) treat ash trees to prevent their The Maryland Department of After-care is an extra $10. Preregister at Program. Participants work side- death by the emerald ash borer. Info: Natural Resources’ 2019–2020 bayrestoration.org/schools-out-camp. by-side with CBMM shipwrights Meredith Bean at 434-220-9034, Annual State Park and Trail Passport, Info: email [email protected]. and learn the fundamentals of [email protected]. To which provides unlimited day-use boat-building during this stem-to- learn about the invasive insect, visit admission and boat launching at state VA gardening classes stern restoration. Work days are emeraldashborer.info. To participate parks, and a 10 percent discount The Virginia Cooperative Exten- scheduled 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on select in free webinars, visit on state-operated concessions and sion Master Gardener volunteers and dates beginning Jan. 12–13. Work emeraldashborer.info/eabu.php. boat rentals is available. The annual staff invites the public to it Basics will begin on Delaware’s keel, stem passport is valid for a full year from of Gardening Series and Vegetable and horn timber in early 2019, then Bay Backpack the month of purchase, instead of Gardening Series at the Haymarket- progress to framing and planking Provided by the Chesapeake Bay by calendar year. (For example, a Gainesville Community Library in in the latter half of the year. Work Program’s Education Workgroup, the passport purchased in April 2019 Haymarket, VA. on deck structures will follow, with Bay Backpack is an online resource will expire in April 2020. It comes ≈ Basics of Gardening: 1–4 p.m. the project anticipated to take two for educators with information about in a self-contained packet with a Jan. 12, Feb. 16 & March 9. Learn years. Built in Bethel, DE, by William funding opportunities, field studies, detachable hang-tag for use in any the science behind gardening. H. Smith, Delaware once hauled curriculum guides and lesson plans vehicle. Proceeds from passport Class focuses on research-based scows on Broad Creek — often related to the Chesapeake. Contact: sales fund the operations and knowledge of plant and soil health; laden with lumber — and towed ram baybackpack.com. maintenance of state parks, including right plant, right place; plant profiles; schooners to and from Laurel, DE. conservation, education and pest management; and best practices Participants can sign up for a single Baltimore biodiversity toolkit interpretation of cultural, historical for sustainable landscapes. day for $50, a full weekend for $90, The Baltimore Biodiversity Toolkit and natural resources. Maryland’s ≈ Vegetable Gardening Series: or two full weekends for $170. To addresses the need for high-quality 75 state parks include more than 10:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m. Feb. 16, 23 & register online, or for information, and accessible green space in the 900 miles of trails for biking, hiking March 2 (snow date 3/23). Learn how visit cbmm.org/shipyardprograms. and horseback riding, water access to make, manage an organic garden To follow this restoration or and camping facilities. The cost from scratch. other shipyard projects, visit is $75/MD residents and $100/ Classes are free. Preregisration cbmmshipyard.org, where progress Chesapeake Challenge non residents. Adults, ages 62 and is required. Info: pwcgov.org/ reports, photos and videos will be Answers to older, can purchase a Golden Age grow,[email protected]. posted. Pass for $10 that provides a lifetime pass entitling them to free day-use York (PA) park hikes Anita Leight Estuary Center Nighton page Moves 38. entry and a complimentary boat Upcoming hikes offered by the Programs at the Anita C. Leight 1. C 2. C 3. D 4. B 5. D launch as well as half-price camping York County (PA) Department of Estuary Center in Abingdon, MD, 6. B 7. C 8. A Sunday through Thursday at state Parks & Recreation, include: include: parks. Passes are available online at ≈ Marshmallow Hike: 9:30–11:30 ≈ DIY Snow Globes: 11 a.m.–12 Bay Buddies ShopDNR.com. a.m. Dec. 28 & 1:30–3:30 p.m. Dec. p.m. Dec. 15. Ages 4+ Fee: $5/ Answers to 29. Meet at Hidden Laurel Picnic project. Forums / Workshops Area’s Pheasant Pavilion in Rocky ≈ Holiday Wreath-Making Beddy Bye Ridge Park, York. Stroll through the Workshop: 2–4 p.m. Dec. 15. Ages Sustainable ag conference woods to search for signs of nature. 8+ Materials, refreshments provided. Beasties Chesapeake Alliance for Warm up with hot chocolate around Fee: $10/project. on page 38. Sustainable Agriculture’s Growing a fire. ≈ Quartz Crystal Jewelry: 1–2 1. C 2. D 3. Several times a day Our Future Harvest: 20th ≈ Last Hike of the Year: 9:30–11 p.m. Dec. 16. Ages 8+ Design, create 4. Predator 5. A 6. B 7. D 8. A Anniversary Conference takes place a.m. Dec. 30, Nixon Park, near a bracelet, necklace or earrings with Jan. 17–19 at the College Park Jacobus. Hike in the woods and quartz crystals. All supplies provided. Marriott, MD. The conference for meadows along the Old Field Trail. beginning farmers, foodpreneurs and Later, sip hot chocolate while gazing Bulletin continues on page 37 Bay Journal • December 2018 37

possible. Info: accommodations, call 410-887-5370 Naturalist from page 40 fws.gov/refuge/Patuxent. or 410-887-5319 (TTY), giving as much notice as possible. Reduce, Dispose of Chemicals Properly Cromwell Valley Park ≈ Never pour household chemicals Upcoming programs at Cromwell Eden Mill Nature Center down drains. Read the labels to learn Valley Park near Towson, MD, include: Upcoming events at Eden Mill how to properly dispose of chemicals. ≈ Trivia Trail Trek: 10 a.m.–2 Nature Center in Pylesville, MD, ≈ Fight weeds and insects with p.m. Dec. 16. All ages. Pick up a include: products that contain plant-derived, Bulletin from page 36 self-guided trail book, answer the ≈ Birds in Your Backyard: 1–2:30 nontoxic ingredients. Make insect trivia questions, return to the Nature p.m. Dec. 16. Ages 6+ Learn to repellents using common house- Fee: $10/project. Center for a prize! Free. Drop-in identify birds at winter backyard hold items like garlic, vinegar and ≈ Tails & Tots: 3 p.m. Dec. 16. program; no registration. feeders. Make a suet bird feeder to cooking oil. Ages 6 & younger. Listen to a story ≈ Full Owl Moon Night Hike: attract birds at home. Bring a mug to ≈ Contact your local government about an animal or habitat. Event 5:30–7 p.m. Dec. 21. Ages 8+ Start use for the craft. Fee: $5. office to find out about recycling may include meeting a live animal, a with a short talk in the center, then ≈ Preschool Nature Series: 10 –11 as well as programs for household craft or acting out the story. Free. No go outside to search for “Mr. Hooty.” a.m. Dec. 18 (Solstice Celebration) hazardous waste disposal. registration. Dress for weather. Fee: $4. Jan. 8 (Migration - On the Move) ≈ Winter Solstice Celebration: ≈ Wellington Woods Winter Ages: 2–5. Programs include nature Reduce Waste 2–3:30 p.m. Dec. 22. Ages 4+ Cozy Walk: 1–2:30 p.m. Dec. 22. Adults. games and activities, story, craft, ≈ Recycle your mobile phone, up around the pellet stove to listen Naturalist-led hike. Free. hike. Fee: $10 per session. personal computer and other electronic to a story, sip hot chocolate. Take ≈ Visit the Nature Center Day: ≈ Winter Hiking Series: Sounds devices. a short hike to collect materials to 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Dec. 23. All ages. of Winter: 4 p.m. Dec. 26. All ages. ≈ Leaves don’t have to end up in create a solstice lantern for home. Visit the animals, have a free cup Learn about birds that live at Eden the landfill or the burn pile. Instead, Fee: $3. of hot chocolate or coffee. Free. Mill year-round. Fee: $3. consider mulching, composting or ≈ Full Moon Campfire:7–8:30 Drop-in program; no registration. ≈ Cocoa & Snow: 4 p.m. Jan. 2. curbside collection. p.m. Dec. 22. Ages 3+ (15 & younger ≈ Law of Claw & Fang: 1–2 p.m. Ages: 4+ Learn how snow is made, ≈ Plan meals to reduce food waste. w/adult) Fee: $5. Winter is the best Dec. 29. All ages. Learn about food make a snowflake to take home, ≈ Go paperless. time for stargazing. View the full chains, help feed the animals. Free. sip hot cocoa, read a story. Fee: $5. ≈ Use local recycling programs. moon near a campfire to keep warm. Drop-in program, no registration. Register by Dec. 19. ≈ Holiday Open House: 12:30– ≈ Debris Shelters: 1–3 p.m. ≈ JR Scientist / Homemade Lava Reduce Car Use 4:30 p.m. Dec. 23. All ages. Visit Dec. 30. This program takes place Lamp: 4:30 p.m. Jan. 4. Ages 5–14. ≈ Reducing car use will decrease the naturalist, take holiday-themed at Cromwell Valley’s Primitive Learn about density while making the amount of nutrients & toxic photos with animals, snack on light Technology Laboratory. Ages 10+ homemade lava lamps. Fee: $4. substances flowing into storm drains. refreshments. Free. No registration. Learn how to make a winter debris Register by Dec. 21. ≈ Plan trips to minimize miles driven. ≈ Meet a Critter: 1 p.m. Dec. 23. shelter. Free. ≈ Historic Grist Mill Tours: 10 a.m. ≈ Combine errands to avoid unnec- All ages. Meet a live animal up close, ≈ Wintertime Natural Ornaments: or 2 p.m. Jan. 7 & Feb. 11. All ages. essary trips. learn what makes it special. Free. No 1–3 p.m. Jan. 5. Ages 8+ Make Guided tour. Fee: $3 ≈ Use public transportation, bicycle registration. wintery decorations using natural ≈ Fly Tying for Fly Fishing: 7–8:30 or walk when possible. ≈ Twiggy Creatures: 11 a.m.– objects. Fee: $4. p.m. Jan. 8. Ages 8+ Members of ≈ Join a carpool or ride-sharing 12:30 p.m. Dec. 29. Ages 4+ Enter the ≈ Bread & Butter: 1–2:30 p.m. Jan. a local fly fishing group will offer program. woods to search for wildlife, collect 6. Ages 5+ Learn how to use a clay instruction, guidance on popular fly ≈ If possible, telecommute to work. items to make a twiggy creature. earth oven, make bread and butter. patterns for all experience levels. ≈ Purchase fuel-efficient automobiles. Fee: $3. Fee: $5. Materials, equipment/tools provided ≈ Critter Dinner Time: 1:30 p.m. ≈ Polliwog Preschool Club: 10:30– for those who do not have their own. Maintain Car Dec. 29. All ages. Watch turtles, 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Jan. 8 to Feb. Fee: $5. ≈ Maximize fuel efficiency by fish, snakes eat while learning about 12 or 10:30–11:30 a.m. Wednesdays, ≈ Homeschool Social Studies / keeping a car maintained and properly them. Free. No registration. Jan. 9 to Feb. 13. (Register for one You Say You Want a Revolution: inflating tires. On average, tires lose Ages 12 & younger must be series only.) Ages 2–5. Explore nature Series meets 12:15-2 p.m. Jan. 10, about 1 psi per month and 1 psi for accompanied by an adult. Events through hands-on activities, nature 17 & 24. Ages: 6–12, parents do every 10-degree drop in temperature. meet at the center and require play, stories, crafts. Dress for the not attend. Learn how the Industrial ≈ Clogged air filters can cause up preregistration unless otherwise outdoors. Non-mobile siblings only; Revolution affected children with to a 10 percent increase in fuel noted. Payment is due at time of parent/guardian must be an active an emphasis on the milling industry. consumption. registration. Info: 410-612-1688, participant. Fee: $80 for six sessions. Fee: $30 for series. ≈ Avoid unnecessary idling. Most 410-879-2000 x1688, Registration for Polliwog Preschool ≈ Tweet Treats: 4:30 p.m. Jan. new cars do not need to be warmed up. otterpointcreek.org. Club can only be made on-line. 10. Ages 6+ Learn about local birds, Unnecessary idling wastes fuel, costs ≈ Winter Birding in the Valley: make a treat to hang outside your money and pollutes the air. Owl & kestrel program 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Jan. 12. Adults. window. Fee: $8. Register by Dec. 27. ≈ Fix car leaks so engine fluids like The Patuxent Research Refuge Hike with an expert birders. Bring ≈ Winter Wildlife Hike: 10 –11:30 oil and antifreeze don’t drip onto the near Laurel, MD, invites visitors binoculars. Free. a.m. Jan. 12. All ages. Wander ground and run off into waterways. of all ages to meet two of North ≈ Animal Adaptations to Cold: through the woods to explore ≈ Dispose of used motor oil and America’s smallest birds of prey, 1–2:30 p.m. Jan. 13. All ages. Learn habitats, search for signs of activity. antifreeze at a gas station or a landfill the American kestrel and Eastern where turtles, frogs, snakes go in Dress for weather. Fee: $5. with an oil-recycling program. screech owl, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m. winter Free. Minors must be accompanied ≈ To learn more about how you Dec. 15 & 22 at its National Wildlife Ages 12 & younger must be by an adult for all programs unless can make a difference, look up these Visitor Center. Learn how the kestrel accompanied by an adult. Except otherwise specified. Preregistration is organizations on the internet: Alliance uses its acrobatic prowess, while the where noted, preregistration is required for all programs. Call 410- for the Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake owl is a stealthy, silent hunter. The required for all programs. To register 836-3050 or email Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Bay event is free, although donations are online, visit cromwellvalleypark. [email protected]. Native Plant Center, Chesapeake Bay appreciated. Preregistration required. campbrainregistration.com. Info: Registration closes 24 hours in Program, U.S. Department of Energy. Info: 301-497-5887. For disability- [email protected], advance of program. Weekend Kathy Reshetiloff is with the U.S. related accommodations, notify the cromwellvalleypark.org, program registration closes at noon Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chesa- refuge, giving as much notice as 410-887-2503. For disability-related on the prior Friday. peake Bay Field Office in Annapolis. 38 Bay Journal • December 2018

currents to soar. D. All of the above. 6. Many birds sing at night. Which of these is not a reason? A. To mark their territory B. To make it difficult for nearby predators to sleep C. To attract mates D. There is less background noise, so their song carries farther. 7. Nocturnal fish, in general, have behaviors and physical features that differ from those of diurnal fish. Which of these is not true? Night Moves A. They are more likely to be solitary Let’s call it a night. For many, this and carnivorous. means the day’s activities are done and B. They tend to not swim as fast as it’s time for rest. Yet for many of Earth’s diurnal fish. inhabitants, activity is just beginning. C. They tend to have smaller eyes. This quiz will test you on how much D. They are more likely to be yellow- you know about nocturnal creatures. ish brown or red. As light levels drop at Answers are on page 36. night, these are the first colors on the spectrum to become imperceptible. 1. Approximately what percent of 8. As far as scientists can tell, mammals are nocturnal? A raccoon sleeps in a pecan tree. Raccoons are primarily nocturnal. (Dave Harp) plants do not sleep. Even so, they are A. 50 percent creations of habit, and many of their B. 60 percent 3. Many nocturnal have a tapetum have a Jacobson’s organ, which can life processes can be tied to either day C. 70 percent lucidum in their eyes. (Humans do not.) detect scent on moist air. Where is this or night. During the day, they use the D. 80 percent What does a tapetum lucidum do? organ located? sun’s energy to turn water, minerals 2. The ability to see in the dark is A. It is a tissue at the back of the eye A. In their nostrils and carbon dioxide into sugars (food) important. Many nocturnal animals that reflects light for better vision in B. In the roof of their mouths during a chemical process called have larger eyes and pupils to allow low-light situations. C. In a small pit in each cheek photosynthesis. What do they do at more light to get in. Also, their retinas B. It causes the eyes of some D. In their ears night? are almost entirely composed of rod animals, such as cats, glow in the dark. 5. Many small birds, even those usu- A. The sugars move to different parts cells, which can capture even the tiniest C. It is a tissue at the back of the eye ally active during the day, will migrate at of the tree, where they are “consumed.” bit of light. Their retinas contain fewer that allows animals to collect ultraviolet night. Why? B. Their roots release excess sugar cone cells than animals that are active light in the dark. A. The air is less turbulent. and water into the soil. in the day. What do cone cells detect? D. A & B B. They use the stars to navigate. C. They use moonlight to store this A. Depth perception 4. A heightened sense of smell is C. They can use the same routes energy into food reserves for the winter. B. Movement also present in most nocturnal animals. as birds of prey, which, as a rule, D. They turn this energy into a C. Color Many amphibians and reptiles, as well must migrate while the sun is out to pesticide. D. Clarity as some mammals (but not humans), take advantage of daytime thermal — Kathleen A. Gaskell

Did you ever wonder what D. B & C which tighten up when the tend to perch close to the goes on in an animal’s brain 3. If you are a mammal, are animal is awake. tree trunk, high up in a tree or body while it is sleeping? you more likely to sleep once D. The bird’s breath forces when they sleep. Why? Take this quiz to learn about a a day or several times a day? out any parasites that might A. The trunk provides few animals’ sleeping habits. have burrowed under its better shelter than an outer Answers are on page 36. Bay Buddies 4. Some animals sleep feathers. branch. out in the open; others hide 6. Why do wading birds B. The trunk may still hold 1. Dolphins swim while Beddy-Bye Beasties! when sleeping. Which type of warmth from the day’s sun. animal is more likely to sleep like herons and egrets stand they sleep. How do they in water while they sleep? C. Predators climbing the manage this? out in the open, a predator tree will cause vibrations and 2. Why do brown bats — species or a prey species? A. The water cools off A. Dolphins sleep in shifts, which can sleep 12–19 hours their feet, which reduces their noise, alerting the bird in and those that are awake at a time — sleep upside 5. Why do some birds body temperature and helps time to escape. poke the sleeping ones if they down from the ceiling? sleep with their bills (which the birds to sleep better. D. All of the above. start to sink. A. It causes blood to flow contain their nose openings, B. They can sense 8. Why do fish sleep with B. Dolphins only sleep for to the brain, which keeps called nares) tucked under approaching predators their eyes open? a minute at a time, which is the bat alert to danger, even their shoulders or backs? through sounds and vibra- A. Unless they are a shark, not enough time for a dolphin while sleeping. Plus, the bat’s A. It warms the air that the tions in the water. they don’t have eyelids. to drown. muscles are most relaxed in bird breathes, should tem- C. The sounds and vibra- B. Their eyelids are trans- C. Dolphins can turn off this position. peratures get cold at night. tions in the water lull them to parent, so it only looks like half their brain, and the other B. They are less likely to B. It deadens the sound of sleep. they are not sleeping. half lets it know when it is be spotted by prey there. a bird’s whistling or snoring D. They might fall out of a C. They don’t want to miss time to come up for air. Not C. It’s easier for a bat in its sleep, making the bird’s tree during a deep sleep. out on any nearby action. only that, but they keep one to take off flying from this location less obvious to 7. Smaller birds (whose D. Their eyes help them eye open to keep a lookout position. In fact, their wings predators. feet can clamp around a blend in better with their for predators. aren’t strong enough to take C. The position stretches branch so they don’t fall out surroundings. D. Dolphins don’t sleep. off from the ground. out the bird’s neck muscles, of the tree while sleeping) — Kathleen A. Gaskell Bay Journal • December 2018 39 Saltmarsh sparrow needs tide to turn in its favor if it is to survive By Mike Burke A threatened or endangered listing can be a lifesaver: Just Chesapeake marshes in the witness the rebound of the bald winter have a special charm. An eagle. The act can be used to extraordinary range of warm brown, help save critical habitat as well ocher and russet tones lend the grasses as prioritize limited federal a hypnotic quality. At this time of the conservation dollars. year, I tend to focus my attention on The habitat squeeze the Chesapeake’s bountiful waterfowl. is especially acute in the But the marsh grasses are always Chesapeake region. For there, adding a backdrop of ineffable centuries, the land around the beauty to any visit. Bay has been sinking, as Ice We were in the Blackwater National Age geologic forces continue Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, to be felt. Until recently, the MD. Our attention turned from the subsidence has been mitigated by snow geese to the simpler pleasure of the natural addition of peat from scanning the marsh for songbirds. dying vegetation in the wetlands. The LBBs — little brown birds in But climate change, sea level birding lexicon — are always there, rise and increased storm severity camouflaged among the scrub and are interrupting this cycle of grasses. There were song sparrows, renewal. As more and more wrens, Savannah sparrows and lots of humans develop property right white-throated sparrows. up to the marsh’s edge, the My focus turned to another wetlands are unable to retreat sparrow, comically stretched between naturally to higher ground. two reeds, with tiny feet firmly Luckily for the saltmarsh grasping the separate stalks. sparrow, conservationists aren’t While this bird had a white throat waiting for an endangered patch, it also had a bright orange species listing to take action. eyebrow and similarly colored malar Audubon Maryland-DC is (moustache) region forming a triangle leading a host of government, on each side of the head. nongovernmental organizations The bird’s body and flight feathers and private sector partners in a were typical of sparrows, a mix of habitat restoration project just a blacks, browns and whites. It had few miles from where I stood. a streaked buffy breast band and The Audubon Society’s heavily streaked sides. I was watching Chesapeake chapter owns a a saltmarsh sparrow (Ammospiza 700-acre sanctuary nestled caudacata). inside Maryland’s Fishing Bay Saltmarsh sparrows are closely wetlands complex just south of related to Nelson’s sparrow. Until Blackwater. The parcel has a recently, the two species were natural depression that is now considered one, called sharp-tailed flooding, turning the area into an sparrows. The new name is perfect. ever-expanding open water pond. These sparrows inhabit a narrow band Critical habitat for the saltmarsh where the tide turns and are the only Researchers band a saltmarsh sparrow at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge sparrow — and similarly songbird restricted to the tidal salt in New Jersey. (Chelsi Burns / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) imperiled swamp sparrow — is marshes of the Atlantic. disappearing. During the winter, saltmarsh the same fate a month later. Even as I watched the saltmarsh sparrows can be found from the lower Nestlings are fed a diet exclusively sparrow at Blackwater, the coalition Chesapeake to Florida and across the of arthropods (invertebrates such was busy altering the hydrology of upper Gulf Coast. as adult and larval insects, tiny the nearby site to let the pooled water In early spring, they head north crustaceans, and spiders) plucked flow away into adjacent tidal creeks. where they breed from the mouth of the from tidal flats or while clinging to The Audubon-led partnership hopes Chesapeake all the way up to Maine. marsh grasses. After seeds set in late to demonstrate one way to preserve Saltmarsh sparrows tend to occur in summer, saltmarsh sparrows add them essential habitat in the face of climate- discontinuous pockets, largely because to their diets. They favor cordgrass and driven sea level rise. their favored habitat is so fragmented. spartina. Conservationists around the While its range is extremely With their narrow habitat niche country are investigating a wide array restricted, saltmarsh sparrow and frequent nest failures, saltmarsh of management interventions to save mating habits are nothing short of sparrows are in steep decline. The our marshes and the birds that rely on promiscuous. Females typically lay population crashed 75 percent between them. This project is among the most about four eggs per nest… and they 1998–2012. With a 9 percent decline innovative. average 2.5 different fathers per brood! annually, the species may be extinct in I continued to watch the saltmarsh The wide-ranging males play a another 30 years without intervention. sparrow precariously balance between minor role in reproduction. It is the built near the edge of the tide line. Spring The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service two reeds. All I could think was: hang on! female who constructs the nest, broods high tides, especially around full moons, is conducting a study to determine And hope for the help that is on the way. the eggs and feeds the young. often inundate these nests. Females will if the bird should be protected Mike Burke, an amateur naturalist, Nests are a simple open cup of grass quickly build new nests, which may face under the Endangered Species Act. lives in Cheverly, MD. December/2018 Volume 28 Number 9 The Bay Journal NONPROFIT ORG. P.O. Box 222 U.S. POSTAGE Jacobus, PA 17407-0222 PAID DULLES VA PERMIT # 510

The Bay Journal is printed on 100% recyclable/recycled paper using vegetable-based inks. www.bayjournal.com Gifts for the holidays, resolutions for the New Year! By Kathy Reshetiloff avoid harming this critical habitat and food source. With the holiday season upon us, ≈ Don’t pour expired or leftover our attention turns to giving gifts to drugs down the sink or flush them friends and family or ways to contrib- down the toilet. They can end up in ute to charities. Thoughts also turn local streams and rivers. Instead, toward New Year’s resolutions as we return unused medicine to a consumer look for ways to improve ourselves or drug return location. our world. So this is a perfect time to reflect on how to reduce your impact Use Less Electricity on Earth by helping to conserve the ≈ Much of your home’s energy is air, water, land and wildlife that Barks for supplied by burning coal, which sends surround and sustain us. If you need the Bay: pollutants into the air a little help deciding what you can do, Pick up ≈ If possible, set your thermostat here’s a gift list to choose from. after your to 68 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter pet. Pet and 78 degrees in the summer to cut Conserve Water waste down on energy use. ≈ Using less water means that less contains ≈ Turn off lights and unplug appli- water is treated in a sewage treatment nutrients ances when not in use. For hard-to- plant or septic system. and bac- reach outlets, plug devices into a power ≈ Fix leaky toilets and faucets. teria that strip that can easily be switched off. ≈ Take short showers instead of can wash ≈ Run dishwashers, washing baths. Cutting your shower time by into local machines and dryers only when full. five minutes can save 10–12 gallons of water- ≈ Wash clothes in cold water. water per shower. ways and ≈ Hang your clothes outside to dry ≈ Turn off water when not in use eventually instead of using dryers. while brushing teeth, shaving or wash- the Chesa- ≈ Buy energy-efficient appliances. ing dishes. peake if ≈ Make sure your house is properly ≈ Install a low-flow shower head. left on the insulated. ≈ Run only full loads of laundry ground. ≈ Replace incandescent, halogen and dishes. (Kathy and compact fluorescent light bulbs ≈ Instead of asphalt or concrete, use Reshet- with energy-saving LED bulbs. porous surfaces like gravel or pavers to iloff) pave your driveway or patio. Maintain Septic Systems ≈ Pick up after your pet. Pet waste or a permeable layer of rocks. ≈ If you have a septic system, have contains nutrients and bacteria that can it pumped out every three to five years. wash into local waterways if left on the Protect Waterways This will allow your septic tank to ground. ≈ Keep sewage in a portable toilet operate efficiently. or holding tank on your boat. Dispose ≈ Be careful not to flush or pour Practice Conservation Landscaping of it only at an approved pump-out anything into your drains that will kill ≈ Plant native plants. Native plants facility. the bacteria that live in your septic provide food and homes for native ≈ Thoroughly clean your boat’s hull tank. Healthy colonies of bacteria in wildlife and generally require less and all fishing gear before moving to your septic tank are necessary for the overall maintenance. another body of water to prevent the process that treats wastewater and ≈ Decrease the size of your lawn. movement of invasive aquatic plants reduces the nutrient inputs that reach Replace it with shrubs, trees, gardens try nontoxic alternatives like soap, salt and animals. groundwater. or meadows. or vinegar. Pull or dig up weeds. Learn ≈ Stow and secure used bags, ≈ Don’t use garbage disposals; they ≈ If you must water your lawn to live with them. bottles, fishing lines and other trash on contribute unnecessary solids and or outdoor plants, do so in the early ≈ Start a compost pile to reduce your boat so litter doesn’t fall into the grease to a septic system. morning. Water evaporates in the heat your carbon footprint and put organic water. ≈ Don’t plant trees or shrubs near of the day. waste to work feeding household and ≈ Never dump bait or aquarium the drain field; their roots can clog ≈ Try safer alternatives for control- garden plants. species into a storm drain or body of drain lines. ling pests. If you must buy toxic prod- ≈ Protect the soil below your water ≈ Distribute water-using activities ucts, choose the least toxic product you gutter downspout by using drainage ≈ Follow speed limits and no-wake throughout the week to avoid overload- can find and never buy or use more tiles or splash blocks to redirect and laws to avoid churning up sediment or ing the system on any given day. than you need. slow stormwater. Or, direct downspout eroding nearby shorelines. ≈ Instead of chemical weed killers, flows into rain barrels, rain gardens ≈ Steer clear of Bay grass beds to Naturalist continues on page 37