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Motorists driving on Interstate 68 in the mountains of western Maryland are getting a lesson in geography and the environment. So are those along Interstate 95 near the Maryland-Delaware border.
The Chesapeake Bay Commission last month unveiled the new signs marking the boundary of the Bay's watershed.
"Each one is designed to be a little bit different, depicting the bounties that the local region has to offer," said Ann Swanson, executive director of the commission.
The western Maryland sign, for example, features native brook trout, lively river rafters and a black bear. The signs were paid for with a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Maryland State Highway Administration.
They are part of an ongoing educational effort to highlight the concept of a watershed, or drainage basin, to the public.
The Chesapeake's watershed includes 64,000 square miles -encompassing all or parts of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia-that drains into the Bay.
Last year, the commission unveiled the first watershed signs outside Ocean City, Md. Later this year, new signs are expected to go up on I-81 and I-95 in Virginia, and on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-80 in Pennsylvania.
The Chesapeake Bay Commission is a tri-state legislative advisory panel formed in 1980 to help guide Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania in cooperatively managing and restoring the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.
