Bay Journal

Topics: People + Society

Forty years ago this fall, a group of school teachers arrived at the remote fishing village of Tylerton, MD, on Smith Island with their sleeping bags. Then, they put on old sneakers and walked into the nearby salt marshes.

Those teachers from Baltimore County were the first group to participate in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Smith Island education program, which was created in September 1978. Almost simultaneously, the CBF launched its Baltimore education program. Both programs are celebrating their 40th anniversaries.

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Tom Ackerman
December 20, 2018
People + Society
0 Comments

Cattle farmer uses down-to-earth practices to beef up the soil

The shaggy Red Devon-Angus and doe-eyed Jersey cattle surrounding Virginia farmer Matt Rales are more than the sum of their parts — though their meat will eventually be sold by the pound. To Rales, they are tools to tangibly address...

Whitney Pipkin
December 18, 2018
Climate Change,People + Society
2 Comments

Efforts strive to make outdoor spaces more inviting, accessible to all

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...

Whitney Pipkin
December 11, 2018
People + Society
1 Comment

Months after storms, Chesapeake debris cleanup presses on

A half-submerged tree trunk bobbed in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. From his perch several hundred feet away aboard a small barge, John Gallagher began giving orders to his crew. Not much needed to be said. By now, the actions of the other...

Jeremy Cox
December 05, 2018
Climate Change,People + Society
0 Comments

People + Society: Archives

Watershed forum celebrates diverse, innovative partnerships (Opinion)

The first weekend of November marked the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s 13th annual Chesapeake Watershed Forum in Shepherdstown, WV. The event was a whirlwind of workshops, socializing, getting lost in the yellow, autumn forest and...

Lucy Heller
November 30, 2018
People + Society
0 Comments

Project to revive shoreline park using dredged material wins support (Blog)

A pioneering plan to revive a faded waterfront community park using sand and silt dredged from Baltimore’s harbor took a couple of small but significant steps forward this week. Community leaders in Turner Station, a historically...

Timothy B. Wheeler
November 29, 2018
Conservation + Land Use,People + Society
2 Comments

What on Earth led to the failure of environmental ethics? (Opinion)

Surveying the current wreckage of federal environmental policies, I’ve wondered: Close to half a century out from the first Earth Day — April 1970 — how could such a dramatic reversal even be possible? Across the board,...

Tom Horton
November 28, 2018
People + Society
3 Comments

Gone with the waves: Storms, rising waters threaten pieces of past

Climate change and erosion are taking steady punches at shorelines in the Chesapeake Bay region, slashing away soil and threatening the structures that stand on it. But resources buried within the land are at risk, too. Archaeologists in...

Whitney Pipkin
November 19, 2018
Climate Change,People + Society
2 Comments

Conservationist looks back on a Shenandoah that nearly vanished

Faye Crawford Cooper didn’t lose her childhood all at once. But she knows how it started. She grew up on a farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, catching turtles, chasing snakes, scooping up tadpoles by the handful, overturning...

Jeremy Cox
October 30, 2018
Conservation + Land Use,People + Society
1 Comment

Time to put the pedal to the metal: Create bicycle-friendly cities (Opinion)

My hope for America’s future? With any luck it’ll be a yawn. Such a future begins with cities. About four in five of us already live in urban areas. Since the 1950s, U.S. cities with populations of more than a million people have...

Tom Horton
October 12, 2018
People + Society
0 Comments

Tangier Island prepares for long-awaited jetty construction

Tangier Island is getting some state and federal help in its long-running battle against the Chesapeake Bay’s punishing waves. But officials said that it won’t be much help with a larger problem: sea level rise. The U.S. Army...

Jeremy Cox
September 28, 2018
Climate Change,People + Society
2 Comments

Justice programs restore lives, communities, the Chesapeake Bay

Behind a chain-link fence topped with razor wire, inmates tend a large plant nursery and vegetable garden. The large expanse dotted with black nursery pots and plants of various sizes grows right outside of the Howard County (MD) Department of...

Donna Morelli
September 27, 2018
Conservation + Land Use,Local Government ,People + Society
0 Comments

Batiuk, the boy, knew Bay was his destiny; as a man he helped change its fate

When he was a teenager packing for a family vacation in the Maine woods, Rich Batiuk brought along some light reading. Among the stack were William Warner’s epic blue crab story, Beautiful Swimmers; Rachel Carson’s wake-up call...

Karl Blankenship
September 12, 2018
People + Society
1 Comment

Alliance to honor environmental leaders at annual Taste gala (Opinion)

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s annual Environmental Awards and Taste of the Chesapeake are just around the corner! This year, our hallmark community gathering takes place Sept. 13 on the Belcher Pavilion’s rooftop Conference...

Kate Fritz
August 09, 2018
People + Society
0 Comments

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