WIP – Page 2 – Chesapeake Bay Action Plan

Gilchrest: Jobs & Clean Water for Rural Maryland

By Dawn Stoltzfus | December 12, 2011 |

Check out this great op-ed piece that ran in Sunday’s Easton Star Democrat, authored by former Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, a member of the Senior Bay Scientists & Policymaker’s Executive Council. As Maryland Senator Pipkin’s “war on rural Maryland” naysayers gather on Lawyer’s Mall in Annapolis this morning, to decry policies that benefit both urban and rural areas, these words of common sense couldn’t be more timely.

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Jobs and clean water for rural Maryland
By WAYNE T. GILCHREST

Peaceful. That’s the word that came to mind on this December afternoon as I looked across Kent County’s rolling fields. Many of them glowed with the soft, new-green growth of recently planted wheat, barley and rye.

Then, the decidedly unpeaceful rhetoric of some of my representatives to the General Assembly came to mind. They say there’s a war on rural Maryland. If this is a land at war, it is the most enlightened conflict I’ve ever witnessed. We are being bombed with efforts to create jobs, build healthier streams and rivers, and ultimately to improve our fisheries.

Worcester County Commissioners Kick the Clean Water Can Down the Road

By Kathy Phillips | December 9, 2011

(Posted by Kathy Phillips.)

In an extremely disappointing move, the Worcester County Commissioners have failed to take some very simple steps to protect our local waterways while contributing to state-wide efforts to save the Chesapeake Bay.

At the Worcester County Commissioners December 6th regular meeting, the County Commissioners threw out the Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan documents that county staff had spent months preparing and voted 6-1 not to submit their plan to MDE by the December deadline. In fact, they intend to bury the document and “take their time” cooperating.

Protecting Forests and Increasing Buffers to Restore the Bay and Local Rivers

By Dawn Stoltzfus | November 15, 2011 |

(Posted by Dawn Stoltzfus.)

With all the recent focus on the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and local WIPs, here’s something that may have flown under the radar of Marylanders following Bay restoration efforts: the Maryland Sustainable Forestry Council is developing a set of legislative proposals to achieve a “No Net Loss” of forests in Maryland, due by December 1, 2011. It seems like we could easily be losing sight of the forest for the trees!

Last week, former Maryland State Senator Gerald Winegrad testified before the Council. As Senator Winegrad notes in his testimony [link], “the Sustainable Forestry Council can greatly assist in efforts to restore the Bay by focusing on nonpoint source pollution as forests and wetlands are the greatest protectors of the Bay from pollutants.”

Big Chicken Vs. Clean Bay

By Guest | September 6, 2011 |

(Posted by Roy Hoagland.)

The Pew Environmental Group recently issued a report, “Big Chicken: Pollution and Industrial Production in America,” which included a focus on the pollution problems contributed by agriculture to the Chesapeake Bay. Agribusiness interests quickly condemned the report, claiming that as of today, the industry was both “diligent and innovative” in its work to achieve a healthier environment.

Helping Local Officials Crack the WIP

By Guest | July 22, 2011 |

(Posted by Mary Ann Lisanti.)

Two decades ago, when the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort began, the leadership of local officials was viewed as nice, but not essential. Times have changed. Today, with the deadline to develop local Watershed Implementation Plans looming, it’s clear that when it comes to improving the health of our local rivers and streams, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, the elected leaders of town and county governments and the appointed leaders of local soil conservation, storm water, and planning districts throughout the Chesapeake watershed will be the ones to make it happen.

However, the feedback coming from local government is simply this: They need information, direction, and flexibility in choosing approaches, otherwise budget challenges will keep them from reaching their goals.

The High Cost of a Dirty Bay

By W. Tayloe Murphy Jr. | May 13, 2011 |

(Posted by W. Tayloe Murphy Jr.)

Twenty-five years ago, in a speech to the Virginia Seafood Council, I reminded the audience that when it comes to pollution, there truly is no free lunch. Last year, when states were submitting their cleanup plans to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, amidst a deluge of complaints about the fed’s heavy-handedness, I found myself repeating my warning in an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

But it seems like some folks have yet to get the message. So here I am again.