October 2020 Volume 30 Number 7 Stream restoration tactics challenged Some environmentalists, local residents question removing trees to repair waterways PAGE 12 BALTIMORE HARBOR ‘FARMING WHILE BLACK’ WATERFALLS, ANYONE? LANC., PA 17604 PA LANC., PERMIT 280 PERMIT PAID U.S. POSTATE U.S. NONPROFIT ORG NONPROFIT Bay Journal Bay obus, PA 17407-0222 PA obus, Jac | 222 Box . P.O | Swimmable & fishable by 2020? Farmers draw on heritage for Explore Ricketts Glen State Park PAGE 2O sustainable practices PAGE 24 in Pennsylvania PAGE 30 CONTENTS NEWS EDITOR’S NOTE 7 Congress extends Bay Program, related efforts 8 Campaign touts Chesapeake National Recreation Area Understanding uncertainty 9 11 Anacostia sites to chosen for cleanup If there is one thing I am certain of, it is that, after 10 Manokin River oyster project put on ‘aggressive’ timetable decades of effort, we still know too little about too 11 Switchgrass growing in popularity for conservation much related to the Bay. As Whitney Pipkin reports in this issue, shad in the James River are 12 Stream restoration techniques draw pushback not recovering after decades of work. There seem to be lots of reasons 15 EPA hit with lawsuits over Chesapeake Bay cleanup but there is a lot of uncertainty as to how much each impacts the fish; 18 Nutrient trends different from what you think – or not probably all need to be addressed, but few of them are. Water samples from the Choptank River Likewise, Tim Wheeler reports on the effectiveness of stream await examination. What they reveal 20 Safe swimming and fishing in Baltimore Harbor? restoration. It’s one of the more widespread — and costly — practices about nutrient trends in the water may 23 Battles continue in MD over forest conservation used to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution. But after decades of differ from what is expected, highlighting 24 Black farmers embrace African practices as empowering the uncertainty created when comparing implementation, it’s still unclear how effective they are in different monitoring and modeling results. See 26 James River shad face upriver battle for comeback settings or whether some techniques are better than others. article on page 18. 28 Shadows of a bustling past haunt Appomattox’s quiet shores It is, in fact, unclear whether many of the actions taken to curb nutrient runoff will have their desired effect on the Bay. Certainly TRAVEL discharges from the wastewater plants have been substantially reduced. 30 Fall in love with Ricketts Glen State Park in PA But the impacts of other actions sprinkled across the Bay’s 64,000-square-mile watershed, from stream buffers to cover crops, are 32 Dave Harp’s Chesapeake: ‘Where Land & Water Meet” harder to measure, and slower to produce results — and likely perform very differently from place to place. While the Bay Program’s compute FORUM model asserts that those actions are driving nutrient levels down, or 38 It’s time to reward Bay cleanup performance will do so eventually, actual water quality monitoring has long pro- 39 Environmental justice: Equal footing in all decision-making duced a more nuanced picture. 40 Match assumptions with results As I report in this issue, a recent U.S. Geological Survey study based on monitoring data didn’t detect any nitrogen reductions from | Engineering with beavers CORRECTIONS 41 Chesapeake Born farmlands during the 20-year span it examined, though it did find The article, Costs clog efforts to QUIZZES | EVENTS | RESOURCES downward trends from the developed lands. prevent sewage overflows in the What does that mean? As the saying goes, “All models are wrong. 42 Bulletin Board | Volunteer | Events | Programs | Resources Some are useful.” But comparing and understanding results from dif- August Bay Journal said the Con- 45 Chesapeake Challenge | Chesapeake blowfish ferent models, and the factors that drive them, can help better under- estoga River is no longer impaired stand what the actual trends are and reduce uncertainty. for aquatic life. Nearly 40 of its 62 COLUMNS Questions about the effectiveness of issues as divergent as shad recov- miles are no longer impaired for 46 Steward’s Corner | The 15th Chesapeake Watershed Forum ery, stream restoration and the effectiveness of Bay cleanup efforts have that use but there are still 22 miles 47 On the Wing | Black vultures: Nature’s cleaning service been around — and reported on in the Bay Journal — for decades. impaired for aquatic life, mainly due 48 Bay Naturalist | Wild brook trout Although progress has been made, the region has, too often, under- to agricultural practices. invested in trying to reduce that uncertainty. The failure to do so could An incorrect credit was given for lead to widespread disappointment if restoration actions do not provide anticipated results. the photo of the brook floater in That’s also something I am pretty certain about. the September Bay Naturalist. The photo is courtesy of the U.S. Fish — Karl Blankenship and Wildlife Service. The Bay Journal regrets the errors. SIGN UP FOR THE BAY JOURNAL OR CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS | PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY The Bay Journal is distributed FREE by Bay Journal Media, a nonprofit news organization. Check one: o New Subscription / Please choose: o Print Only o Email Newsletter Only o Both Print / Email o Change of address o Please remove me from the mailing list Please note that it may take up to two issues for changes to become effective. ON THE COVER Name:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hollin Hills residents Barbara Southworth and Marc Shapiro Address:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ flank a massive white oak, which City:________________________________________________________________________ State:________________ Zip:___________________ botanist Rod Simmons estimates to be about 200 years old. Nearly Email:_____________________________________________________________________________ Phone:________________________________ 80 large trees are in line to be cut OPTIONAL: Enclosed is a donation to the Bay Journal Fund for $ ___________________ down for restoration projects on o From time to time, the Bay Journal includes a list of its supporters in the print edition. Please check here if you would like your gift to remain a pair of streams flowing through anonymous and not be recognized in the Bay Journal. their neighborhood parks. (Dave Harp) Please mail this form to: Bay Journal, P.O. Box 222, Jacobus, PA 17407-0222. bayjournal.com 2 Bay Journal October 2020 Why streamside forests matter Planting streamside forest buffers is one of the most effective actions to help reduce polluted runoff to local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Depending on their setting, forest buffers (also called riparian buffers) can remove 19–65% of 127 the nitrogen and 30–45% of the phosphorus that would otherwise reach the stream. The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Number of miles the Appomattox Agreement calls for planting buffers along 900 miles of streams a year, but progress has lagged. In 2017, the most recent year River flows in Virginia, joining the for which data is available, only 56 miles were planted. James River at Hopewell 10 Number of rivers in the Bay watershed slated for major oyster SHADE & COOLING Shade from the tree canopy replenishment by 2025 cools the water and helps prevent rapid temperature fluctuations that stress brook trout and other fish. 1,161,384 Cool, stable temperatures Plastic bottles intercepted by also promote the growth “Mr. Trashwheel” as they flowed of beneficial algae and REDUCING POLLUTION insects. toward the Baltimore Harbor Forests prevent or reduce a wide range of contaminants, like nutrients and toxics, from 21 reaching the stream Average depth in feet of the Bay and its tidal tributaries FOOD & HABITAT Leaves, branches, logs and 2,500 other woody debris that Approximate acres of tidal wetlands fall into the stream provide food and habitat for insects, found along the Anacostia River during amphibians, crustaceans the 1700s and small fish. REDUCING EROSION Roots and tree branches help prevent erosion by 285,000 stabilizing stream banks. Approximate number of adult brook trout that will be stocked in Pennsylvania streams in 2020 A stream flows through Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania. (Brian Lutz) LOOKING BACK 25 years ago 10 years ago Water access guide published 20 years ago 15 years ago Black rail population declines The Chesapeake Bay Program released an DE joins Bay cleanup effort ‘Dead zone’ hits new record According to the Center for Conservation update to its public access guide to the Bay Delaware pledged to curb its share of nutrient Monitoring showed the largest-ever area of Biology, a species of small marshland bird called and Susquehanna River. The size of a standard pollution as the region worked to clean up the anoxia — water void of oxygen — reported the black rail declined more than 75% in the highway map, the guide was a comprehensive Bay by 2010. Delaware, New York and West in the Bay. Averaged over the summer, an Chesapeake region in the last 10–20 years. The directory to more than 500 sites — including Virginia were not previously part of formal Bay estimated 5.1% of the Bay’s deepest water was a number of breeding sites dropped 80–85%. boat ramps, beaches and natural areas — in the cleanup agreements. New York and West Virginia “dead zone,” according to Bay Program data. Rising sea level was cited as one of the causes. n Bay region. n were expected to join the effort within weeks. n The previous worse year was 1993. n — Bay Journal, October 1995 — Bay Journal, October 2010 — Bay Journal, October 2000 — Bay Journal, October 2005 October 2020 Bay Journal 3 ABOUT US BAY JOURNAL NOTEBOOK The Chesapeake Bay Journal STAFF is published by Bay Journal Karl Blankenship, Editor ([email protected]) Media, an independent nonprofit Lara Lutz, Managing Editor ([email protected]) news organization dedicated Timothy B.