Chesapeake Foundation: Following Decades of Decline, There

¶ … Chesapeake Foundation: Following decades of decline, there have been winds of change both literally and figuratively throughout the Chesapeake Bay in 2010. During this period, the estuary's blue crab population increased with over 60%, water clarity enhanced, dead zones withdrew, and underwater grass beds enlarged. While some of these improvements were assisted by lower rainfall and typical wind patterns, they resulted in the ongoing recovery of the rich underwater meadows. However, these positive signals were because of the science-based regulations and hard work by the foundation and its allies.

With education being at the center of our mission, the foundation provided encouraging open-air learning experiences to over 27,000 students, 300 teachers, and 30 principals by June 30, 2010. Since most of the expeditions extended over multiple days, the foundation's total number of participant days was approximately 35,000. In September 2010, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Maryland Education program approved an environmental literacy high school graduation requirement for all students. We also launched a program to research and discharge public service journalism reports to extend our knowledge beyond field experiences.

The other success area was in the courtroom where America's Environmental Protection Agency signed a milestone accord that settled a lawsuit which was presented by the foundation and its allies. The lawsuit prompted the Obama administration to highly prioritize Bay restoration and provide a new federal Chesapeake restoration strategy. The legal action also established a solid deadline of end of 2010 for the agency to endorse a stringent new pollution-reduction diet for the Bay-area states.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation positioned the restoration of Chesapeake at the heart of the national agenda and political debates. This was after the endorsement of the federal Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act 2009 by the Introduction and Senate Committee. We also received an.