Capt. John Smith was the Chesapeake Bay's original tour guide, sailing and paddling with his crew of English settlers over 3,000 miles of water then teeming with forests, fish and wildlife - not to mention native Americans.

Smith's early 17th century travels, recorded by him in maps and writings, are now officially memorialized as the nation's first water trail, authorized by Congress in 2006.  It's still a work in progress, though, and now the National Park Service has drawn up a comprehensive management plan that weighs how to improve public access to the trail and how best to use it to educate people on the bay's natural history and its native culture.

One idea - the park service's "preferred alternative" - is to flesh out a land route complementing Smith's water travels. That would ensure that the trail isn't reserved solely for hardy outdoors types in kayaks and canoes -a  big plus.  But it also could add appreciably to the trail's expense and change the experience, too. 

The plan also talks about placing more historic signs and education centers around the bay and preserving those bits of the landscape that still resemble the wilderness Smith traveled through 400-plus years ago.

Members of the public have until Nov. 5 to share their views about how they'd like to see the trail developed and managed over the next 20 years.  To learn more about the trail, go here and here.  To see the plan and comment on it, go here.

("Smiths Falls" historic marker on Route 222 north of Port Deposit, where explorers paddled up Susquehanna River until stopped by rocks.  2005 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Some rare beetles and some homes may have to go on Calvert County's eroding Chesapeake Bay cliffs, a government panel has suggested.

A "steering committee" made up of federal, state and local agencies has proposed letting some cliffside homeowners shore up their patch of the crumbling bluffs, even if it means killing some legally protected Puritan tiger beetles.  But the plan also calls for moving or buying those homes in imminent danger of falling into the bay, using a combination of federal and state funds.

This Solomonic proposal comes after eight months of talks about how to resolve conflicting concerns over the safety of Calvert's clifftop homeowners and the survival of the tiny beetles, which dwell in the cliffs below the human abodes.  Brownish-bronze on top and blue on their bellies, Puritan tiger beetles are deemed threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act and endangered under Maryland's similar species law - meaning they're so close to becoming extinct it's illegal to kill or disrupt them.

It's not clear yet how many homes might be targeted for possible relocation or buyout, or what it would cost taxpayers.   The plan urges Calvert County to seek federal emergency-management funds to complete a risk assessment.   It also talks about tapping Maryland's Program Open Space fund to buy the houses or substitute beetle habitat.  That may concern some, since that fund was originally set up to buy parkland and recreation spaces for Marylanders, and the real estate slump has shrunk the property transfer tax revenues available for preserving land. 

A total of 234 homes are within 100 feet of the cliffs lining the bay in Calvert, and 83 are within 20 feet of the edge.  The cliffs are losing a foot or two feet a year, but 10- to 15-foot chunks have fallen in following a recent storm.   Twenty homes are within 10 feet, 19 within five feet and one house actually is hanging over already.

The plan was presented to the Calvert County commissioners this week.  The Washington Post reported that many homeowners aren't satisfied.  Those closest to the edge fear there won't be time for the county to secure the funds needed to move their homes, since the grant application is to go in by year's end.

Property owners have complained for years that they've been prevented from getting state or federal permits to shore up the base of the cliff beneath their homes because of the tiny beetles, which are found only in a few bluffs in Calvert, Kent and Cecil counties and in a stretch of similar habitat on the Connecticut River in New England.

A few owners have been allowed to pile boulders at the foot of their cliff, or take other shoreline stabilization measures.  But the report notes that revetments and other control measures at the water's edge do not keep the tops from crumbling, and may worsen the undermining of cliffs on adjoining properties.  Not to mention that shoreline stabilization may destroy the beetles' habitat, as they're found only in steep, bare cliff faces. 

Even so, the government panel says the beetle population, estimated at only 2,000 last year, is still strong enough to withstand some losses, so some property owners may qualify for "incidental take" permits to destroy beetle habitat, though some mitigation would be required, probably restoring or protecting beetle habitat elsewhere.

The proposal also lays out options for longer-term responses to the problem once the immediate dangers are dealt with.  But it notes that so far, no one has come up with a proven strategy for halting the cliffs' erosion.  At least some of the land loss, officials say, stems from storm-water soaking into the ground atop the cliffs and weakening them.

To see the entire plan, go here.   For more on the beetles, go here.

(Homeowner's fence hangs over cliff at Chesapeake Ranch Estates, March 2010 - Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor.  Puritan tiger beetle - photo U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Here's another reason to think twice about all the candy handed out and consumed around Halloween.  Not just that it's unhealthy to eat too many sweets, but some chocolate is bad for its producers as well.  Turns out a lot of the cocoa that goes into our chocolate comes from farms where children are forced to work. 

Although many chocolate companies pledged nearly a decade ago to end abusive farming practices in West Africa, source of 70 percent of the world's cocoa, a recent report by Tulane University’s Payson Center for International Development says problems continue.  The practices are spotlighted in a new documentary, "The Dark Side of Chocolate."

So while most of the little bananas and goblins going door-to-door this weekend will gladly take whatever treats are offered, there'll be some out there handing back treats of their own.  They'll be giving the homes they visit "fair trade" chocolate, meant to raise public awareness of the forced child labor and environmental degradation that is reportedly widespread in cocoa farming.

Under pressure from activists, chocolate manufacturer Green & Black’s, which is owned by Cadbury, and ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s pledged this year to achieve Fair Trade certification for all their products worldwide.  Cadbury and Nestle have obtained Fair Trade status for some of their products abroad. 

Now, activists are pressing the Hershey Co. to become the first U.S.-based company to get certification that its chocolate products are made under Fair Trade practices. 

The Pennsylvania-based chocolate maker recently issued its first corporate social responsiblity report and said it was working with others in the industry through the World Cocoa Foundation to improve conditions for cocoa farming families.  The company also has an organic chocolate brand, Dagoba.  But activists fault it for not committing to the independent Fair Trade certification process to ensure its cocoa and other ingredients come without environmental or social downsides.

For more on the Reverse Trick or Treating campaign organized by Global Exchange, go here.

(Reverse trick-or-treating 2008, photos courtesy Global Exchange)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Leaves are falling, the weather's cooling.  Community groups are getting their last licks in on cleaning up local streams before winter sets in.

On Saturday, Oct. 30, from 8:45 a.m. to noon, volunteers are needed in Catonsville to clear litter, tires (where do they all come from?) and other junk from Bull Run, one of the many overlooked and (until now) neglected streams that flows into the Patapsco River, the most ailing tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. 

The Friends of Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway, which is organizing the cleanout, urges volunteers to wear waterproof boots, long pants and shirt (to protect from thorns) and bring work gloves, water and sunscreen.  Volunteers are to meet at the Catonsville Armory, 130 Mellor Avenue, before crossing the road to get at Bull Run.  Walk-ups welcome, but to sign up online, go here.

Next weekend, on Nov. 6, the cleanup shovel swings to the other side of Baltimore, as volunteers tackle Bread and Cheese Creek, a colorfully named but trash-strewn tributary of Back River, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

The area to be policed, from Merritt Boulevard to Plainfield Road. was cleaned out last fall (as pictured above), but litter, junk and shopping carts from nearby shopping centers have found their way into it again - necessitating another cleanout.  (This is why some more systemic approaches to litter need to be found - before volunteers burn out on the Sisyphean task of repeatedly removing tons of debris from their neighborhood streams, only to have to do it all over again in a year or two).

For more, go here. 

(Bread and Cheese Creek cleanup, September 2009.  Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Voters are deciding in the coming week who will be governor of Maryland for the next four years. The Chesapeake Bay and the environment are just two of many issues where incumbent Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. differ - if only in some cases in approach and rhetoric.

The Baltimore Sun's editorial board has posted twin videos of each candidate answering its questions about those issues.  You can see them here.

Also, in case you mssed it, I had an article examining their positions a couple weeks ago, which you can read here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, News
        

Goucher College and the University of Maryland College Park rank among the greenest institutions of higher learning in the nation on the latest College Sustainability Report Card, boosting their grades to A- on the annual rating of everything from campus food and recycling to green building and the handling of their endowments.

Greenest seven in the nation - with 'A' grades - were Brown University, Dickinson College in Carlisle PA, University of Minnesota, Oberlin College, Pomona College, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and Yale University.

Goucher and UMCP got top marks on the green-ness of virtually all aspects of campus life and operations, but got marked down, respectively, for their lack of endowment transparency and "shareholder engagement," the latter term referring to whether the school uses its stock ownership to take public stands at shareholder meetings on issues like climate change.

Johns Hopkins University, meanwhile, saw its grade slip to a C-plus this year, with just middling scores for food, recycling and green building and similarly poor assessments of its endowment operations.

Loyola University, the only other Maryland school rated, improved its grade this year to a C.

For more on the Maryland ratings or the college sustainability report card, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Going Green
        

The Nanticoke River on the Eastern Shore, which many consider to be the Chesapeake Bay's most pristine - or least degraded - river, has earned a B-minus health grade overall on the first report card put together by scientists and water watchdogs.

The report card, released today, finds that while the river's water quality was good enough overall to support fish and shellfish, the upper stretch reaching into Delaware and the creeks feeding into the Nanticoke were plagued by high levels of nitrogen.

"Despite its general health ... it does have issues, nutrients being one of them," EB James, executive director of the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, said in an email.  "Whereas the Maryland portion of the river is heavily wooded and has lots of marshes, the Delaware portion has a great deal of farmland and a more urban nature- at least at the head of the river in Seaford."

Many consider the Nanticoke the most biologically diverse and healthiest of the Chesapeake Bay's rivers.  Its 30-mile length is free of dams and still supports good fisheries.  It boasts the northernmost stand of bald cypress on the Atlantic coast, and the highest concentration of bald eagles in the Northeast.  At its mouth, where it meets Blackwater and Fishing Bay, is Maryland's largest tidal marsh.  The 725,000-acre watershed is 46 percent forested, 39 percent farmland and only 6 percent developed.

The report card gave the Nanticoke proper and its largest tributary, Marshyhope Creek, B-minus grades, tying the upper Western Shore's Bush and Gunpowder rivers for the highest health ratings earned this year by any Chesapeake Bay waters assessed by University of Maryland scientists.  But Broad Creek and other creeks feeding into the lower river fared worse, and Fishing Bay, which influences water quality in the lower river, scored poorly across the board, earning a D-plus for poor water clarity, high nutrient levels and even potentially unsafe bacteria counts.   Only the Baltimore area's Patapsco and Back rivers have been rated worse, with an 'F' health grade.

The report card says treated wastewater from sewage plants, septic systems and industrial activities, plus over-application of fertilizer on farms and residential lawns, are all sources of the river's elevated nutrient levels. For more, go here.

(Marshyhope Creek, May 1995.  Baltimore Sun photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Who says being runnner-up is anything to be ashamed of? A Glen Burnie Sears store has come in second nationally in the Environmental Protection Agency's first energy efficiency contest for commercial buildings, reducing its energy use by nearly 32 percent over a year. Not too shabby.

Out of more than 200 retail stores, offices and institutional structures that entered EPA's National Building Competition, the Sears at Marley Station Mall on Ritchie Highway came in just behind a 10-story dormitory at the University of North Carolina in the race to be declared the "biggest energy loser."

"We're damn pleased with our store really taking a lead and coming out and doing something special," said Michael E. Brown, director of environmental sustainability for Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill.  And while the company really really wanted to win the contest, Brown takes solace in noting that "we did beat J.C. Penney," which placed third with a store in Orange, CA reducing its energy use by more than 28 percent.

The 14-year-old Glen Burnie store slashed energy use through a combination of lighting retrofits and good old-fashioned diligence on the part of its staff.  Putting in new, more efficient lighting accounted for perhaps half of the savings, Brown said, but the other half came from things like turning off lights when leaving storerooms, adjusting building temperatures and applying weather stripping  to cut down on heat losses.

"A large part of it really has been these things every person can do," he said, praising the leadership of the store's energy team, pictured here.  "Sound discipline - the same things I do in my house." 

The store's managers and 170 "associates" didn't just go around unscrewing light bulbs or turning the thermostat down willy-nilly.  They did the commercial equivalent of a home energy audit, scanning the 198,000 square foot structure with a thermal imaging camera to spot drafts where warmed or chilled air was leaking.   And the lighting retrofits improved illumination in the store while cutting down on the number of lamps needed.

Cutting energy costs by nearly a third is a big deal in these tough times, especially for retailers.  Brown said EPA estimates that every 10 percent reduction in energy use is equivalent to a one percent boost in sales.

The Glen Burnie store's achievements will provide tips and inspiration for the other 928 Sears stores and more than 1,300 Kmarts now run by Sears, according to Brown.  "Really, more than anything, what we found is this is an awesome way to engage our associates (aka employees)," he said.

For more on the EPA contest's 14 finalists, go here. 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Most of the time B'more Green focuses on Baltimore, Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. But recently we got a chance to chat briefly with Ed Begley Jr., the Hollywood star for whom green is a way of life and not just a cause.

How could we resist?  We've been a fan of Begley's ever since he played Dr. Victor Ehrlich in the hit 1980s TV series "St. Elsewhere."   And he's kept us laughing in Christopher Guest's comedies (For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, This is Spinal Tap).

But Begley has been seriously green almost as long as he's been acting. He combined his two passions a few years back in a Discovery network cable TV series, "Living With Ed," that featured Begley and his wife Rachelle Carson trying to shrink their carbon footprint.

Begley is so hep on saving energy that he's wired a bicycle so he can generate enough electricity pedaling it at home to power his toaster.

When we spoke with him, Begley wasn't pushing anything that radical. He wanted to plug an energy-efficient water heater, but beyond that he just offered common-sense tips of things anyone can do around the house to lower their utility bills.  For more, check out his Living with Ed website.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

The poignant tale I reported over the weekend of the last house on Holland Island collapsing into a rising Chesapeake Bay has hit a nerve with some readers, it seems.

Michael F. Young, a friend of Rob Fitzgerald, the Virginia venture capitalist whose foundation recently acquired the island, flew over it this summer and took some aerial pictures - a couple of which you see here.  Young, of McLean, VA., thinks they are among the last images captured of this iconic structure before it collapsed.  

You can see in them how water washes around and under the house at high tide, and how fragmented the island is now.  The image below is looking north to the house, with the broad expanse of green at the bottom the marshy southern portion of the island.

To see all of Young's photos, go here. 

David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post provided another take today on the quixotic struggleto save the house by retired minister Stephen White. More haunting pictures, too.

 And for those who want to see where the island and house are, you can do so via Google maps.  The orange rectangle to the northwest is the barge sunk offshore as a kind of breakwater.  Thanks for this suggestion from Wally Coberg at the Cinema Group in Baltimore.

Richard Scher with the Maryland Port Administration wrote that he wished I'd said a little about the restoration of Poplar Island, an exception to the litany of bay islands vanishing under relentless assault by waves and ice.  Poplar, farther up the bay, also had a colorful history, hosting a cat "fur farm" at one time and as many as 85 residents at one time.  By the 1990s, it was long abandoned and practically washed away altogether, with only a few acres left of the 1,500 that existed when English settlers first landed there in the 17th century. 

But Poplar has been spared by a decision to place there the muck dredged from shipping channels approaching Baltimore harbor.  Today, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the island has been restored to its 1850s size and contour, and plans are to expand it another 500 or so acres.  Though the bay's fading maritime culture won't be restored to the island, it has become a haven for shorebirds and waterfowl, which also have been getting squeezed out by the sprawling development of the bay's eastern and western shores.

The port and Corps are looking to do similar restorations of a couple other vanishing islands, Barren and James.  But like Poplar, they're unlikely to stem the loss of bay fishing communities that began a century ago.  

Smith and Tangier islands, the two still-inhabited isles in the middle of the bay, also are under watery assault, and authorities are working on pricey plans to protect them for at least a while longer. 

But the islands' culture may vanish before their physical abodes do.  As Pete Lesher of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum points out, both islands have been losing population, as young people leave for school and jobs elsewhere.  Fishing has been an increasingly hard way to make a living in recent years.

(Top two photos, aerial views of Holland Island summer 2010, courtesy Michael F. Young; bottom, Holland Island house in water, Oct. 21, 2010, Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a stunning expanse of marsh and wildlife on the Eastern Shore, is getting a bit bigger.

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-MD, announced today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is buying 766 acres on the eastern portion of the refuge, at a cost of $2.4 million.

The 27,000-acre refuge in Dorchester County holds a third of Maryland's tidal wetlands and provides major habitat for migratory waterfowl, bald eagles and other wildlife.  The 766-acre "Spicer tract" expansion was accomplished in cooperaiotn with the Conservation Fund, which bought the land last year and then sold it to the federal government. 

In geographically related news, plans are taking shape for the Harriet Tubman State Park Visitor Center near the refuge, the state Department of Natural Resources announced.  The center is scheduled to be built by 2013 on the 17.3-acre tract that the state acquired in a swap with the federal wildlife service.  The DC-based Conservation Fund played a role in that deal as well.

The center is to feature interpretive exhibits recounting Tubman's life growing up in slavery on the Shore, her work with the Underground Railroad to free other slaves after she'd escaped at age 27 and her civil rights advocacy.  The park is to include a walking trail, reflecting pond and pavilion.

Cardin, Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-MD, have introduced legislation to create a national historical park honoring Tubman.

(Baltimore Sun photos of Blackwater: aerial view, 2005, by Doug Kapustin; bald eagle, 2002, by Jerry Jackson)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, with your help, The Baltimore Sun plans to chronicle a day in the life of Charm City's denizens - through the eyes (and lenses) of its readers.

If you've got a camera or a cell phone that can take pictures, we want to see what you see that day - the places you go, the people you meet, the experiences you have.  Whatever looks interesting on Oct. 26, we'd like you to snap a picture and send it to us.  We'll publish some of the best at baltimoresun.com/entertainment

For fans of B'more Green, I'll make a special appeal to capture the environment around you, whether outdoors or in.  Gone fishing, or walking the kids in the park?  Recycling at home or office?  See some colorful fall foliage, migrating birds or some sparkling water?  Snap it  and share the myriad ways in which we interact with the world around us.

So on Tuesday, Oct. 26, send in your visual slice of B'more to pictures@baltimoresun.com

(Baltimore Sun photos by Jed Kirschbaum and Llloyd Fox)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Join Baltimore Green Works for their next Sustainable Speaker Series, Connecting & Protecting Our Food and Water as Resources, on Saturday, October 23rd from 10am-2pm (registration begins at 9:30am). Hosted at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, the Series will feature a discussion on the history of the canning industry along the shorelines of the Chesapeake Bay.

Following the discussion, local leaders will conduct breakout sessions about the current trends and concerns surrounding agriculture and our waterways as resources. Delaware’s Secretary of Agriculture and lima bean expert, Ed Kee, will open the morning’s event as he traces the history of food processing industry along the shorelines of the Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Kee is an internationally recognized expert on vegetable science and the author of Saving Our Harvest: The History of the Mid-Atlantic Canning and Freezing Industry.

Other speakers include Lindsay Dahl of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families; Gaylord Clark of Two Oceans True Foods, Inc.; Tyler Brown of Real food Farms; and Patty Lovera of Food & Water Watch. MICA’s Sustainable Farming Class will present the film A Documentary on Baltimore’s Food Ecology.

This event is free and open to the public. Children’s activities and workshops will be available throughout the day for youth ages 5-13. Registration for the breakout sessions and youth activities will happen from 9:30-10am. Please be on time to ensure participation.

Donations of $10 are suggested but not required. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, visit Baltimore Green Works at www.baltimoregreenworks.com.

Image of cans at the Baltimore Museum of Industry courtesy of Amanda McLean.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Aiming to make a dent in the detritus fouling the Middle Branch, more than 2,000 volunteers are scheduled to swarm the neighborhoods bordering this tributary of the Patapsco River on Saturday.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is scheduled to join other city officials and the chairman of the newly formed Baltimore Water Alliance clean streets, alleys and gutters that drain into the Middle Branch.  Organizers report that 2,123 volunteers from 124 neighborhoods have signed up to participate.

Much more is needed, of course, to permanently reduce the torrent of trash littering the harbor.  But it'll be a good demonstration for the uninitiated of how what gets dropped in the streets can wind up in the water.  

The fall cleanup begins at 8 a.m. at the Rowing Club, 3001 Waterview Ave.

(Students and National Aquarium staff plant wetlands grasses along Middle Branch shore at Westport.  2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Watermen and others who want to get in on Maryland's new push for oyster farming can apply for a piece of $2.2 million the state is offering in subsidized aquaculture loans.

The O'Malley administration has put a mix of state and federal funding into a revolving loan fund to be run by Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation.   The state also is offering training, business planning and other technical support for raising oysters.

Cost of starting out in oyster farming can range from $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the scale of the operation, officials say.  Many watermen and other small businesses may have trouble obtaining adequate credit from traditional lenders, especially since it'll take up to three years before any oysters are ready to harvest and sell.

Maryland Watermen's Association President Larry Simns was quoted in a state press release calling the state loan fund "a good start."

Those wanting to raise oysters next year must apply by Nov. 15 to lease bottom from the state Department of Natural Resources.  Those seeking financial assistance need to apply by Nov. 30.  For details, go here.

(Oysters tonged from private shellfish bed in Patuxent River.  2008 Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, News
        

Building commercial wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic coast could well produce enough electricity to meet the state's goals for generating renewable energy - but significant hurdles must be overcome to realize that potential, a new study says. 

So says a new study by the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research.

"Offshore wind is not a slam dunk for Maryland, but the potential remains very strong," says Matthias Ruth, the study's principal investigator and director of the UM center. "It's economically feasible and environmentally advantageous, but will require some tough trade-offs, compromise and collaboration between public and private sectors."

Offshore turbines are increasingly common in Europe and elsewhere, but have yet to be built in the United States.  Various economic, political and technical issues must be resolved the study says.

The recent pullback by Constellation Energy from seeking to build a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs may boost the momentum for offshore wind, the report says. 

Also helping was the recent announcement by a Google-led investment group of its plans to underwrite development of an offshore wind transmission grid along the East Coast.  Maryland has joined with neighboring Mid-Atlantic states in seeking to coordinate its wind development.

Getting electricity from wind turbines off Maryland appears to be much less costly if the transmission lines come ashore on the Delaware coast - an estimated $20 million at Bethany Beach versus $200 million near Ocean City, the report says.

There's also potential for turbines off Maryland's coast to interfere with radar operations at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, and with radar on military ships and planes in the area, the report notes.

To read the full report, go here.

(Thanet offshore wind project southeast coast of England.  Photo via AFP/Getty, supplied by Vattenfall, Swedish state-owned utility operating the turbines.)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Prepare to get your hands dirty (in a good way). The fourth annual DIY Fest will take place this Sunday, October 24th at St. Johns Church. Free and open to the public, DIY Fest will offer a series of workshops on just about anything you can imagine – see the list below, or visit the DIY Fest website for more information.

Located at 2640 St. Paul Street, DIY Fest begins at 12 noon and ends at 6pm.

WORKSHOPS:

Urban Foraging (12:00 – 1:00)

Zines & the Art of Self-Publishing (1:10-2:10)

Reusing Yarn Fiber for Knitting/Crocheting (1:45-2:45)

Cordage, Flint Knapping & Fire by Friction (2:15-3:15)

Alternative Business Models Panel (3:00-4:00)

Pumpkin Carving/Painting (3:15-3:45)

Infant Care Workshop – Baby Dooty (3:45-4:45)

Roadside Repair (4:15 – 5:15)

Urban Composting (4:30 – 5:30)

Home Brewing (5:00 – 6:00)

Intro To Screen Printing (5:00 – 6:00)

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The state's first industrial wind project is almost ready to begin generating electricity, the Cumberland Times-News reports.

Construction is nearly complete on the 28 turbines that Constellation Energy has been erecting along an eight-mile stretch of Backbone Mountain south of Oakland in Garrett County, the paper reports.  Crews working since March have broken down the tall cranes used to put up the towering turbines, which stand 415 feet high from the ground to the tip of their rotor.  (The photo above is of one being assembled in July.)

Employees for Clipper Windpower, which made the turbines, are checking each one over and have cleared more than half to begin generating power, the paper reports.  At least some should be ready to start operating within the next week.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Farm Fresh Exhibitor

Head over to the Washington Convention Center this Saturday and/or Sunday, October 23rd and 24th, for the Green Festival. The event will feature live music, yoga classes, DIY workshops, urban farming and gardening, local organic food, an organic beer and wine garden, green business seminars, and even an eco fashion show. Speakers include Amy Goodman, Gilberto Gil, Patti Moreno, Ralph Nadar, and many more (over 125 in total). Also, more than 300 exhibitors will be set up selling eco-friendly products. There's even a bike valet!

For tickets and information, visit www.greenfestivals.org.

Image courtesy of Green Festival Press.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Could another manatee - or more than one - have found its way up the East Coast this summer, swimming into the Chesapeake Bay all the way to Baltimore?

The National Aquarium staff has been scrambling to confirm reported sightings of a manatee in the Patapsco River in recent days.  Jennifer Dittmar, who coordinates marine mammal stranding efforts for the aquarium, said a fisherman reported seeing a manatee in the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River by Harbor Hospital last Wednesday.

Another sighting was reported Sunday by the crew aboard a city fire boat at Fort McHenry, Dittmar said.  Neither report could be confirmed, though.

The only confirmed sighting was in August, Dittmar said, when Ryan Neal took the above photograph from the railroad bridge at Swan Park near the mouth of the Middle Branch.

Dittmar said she's been working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials in Florida, where manatees normally live, to find and assess the health of this wayward animal. She emailed local marina operators Monday asking them for help in tracking the animals, which are native to Florida.

"The current water temperatures of the Upper Patapsco are quickly becoming too cold to support a manatee and its natural food source, which are submerged grasses," Dittmar wrote.

If anyone spots what they think is a manatee, they're asked to take a picture of it if possible and call 410-373-0083 to report it so authorities can check it out.

Manatees have been wandering up the coast repeatedly over the years.  One that's been given the name Ilya popped up last year around Havre de Grace in late summer and then made its way all the way to New England - possibly swimming through the Chesapeake & Delaware canal to get from the upper bay back to the Atlantic coast.  

Ilya was still in New Jersey waters when the fall chill set in, prompting authorities to capture it and return it to Florida to recuperate.  Sightings this summer have been so fleeting that it's been impossible to tell if Ilya has made a return visit to the bay, or it's another one.

For more on manatees, go here.

(Photo by Ryan Neal, courtesy National Aquarium)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

The last house standing on Holland Island, an eroding sliver of land in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, has been claimed by the water.

The two-story frame structure, abandoned and badly damaged by Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003, has been teetering on the brink of collapse for some time.  High winds over the weekend apparently did it in.  The picture here was taken by Shawn Ridgley, an educator at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Karen Noonan Center in southern Dorchester County.

Tip of the Sun visor to former colleague Tom Pelton, now with the Bay Foundation, who first reported this on the foundation's Bay Daily blog.

Once occupied by 2-300 people and more than 60 homes, the island had been eaten away so badly by storms and the bay's rising sea level that it was abandoned in the early 20th century.  It was used as a hunting preserve and a campsite by countless kayakers and boaters in ensuing decades.  An Eastern Shore minister and former waterman bought the island in the 1990s, and set up a foundation intent on preserving it - but ultimately couldn't muster enough resources or help.

For more on this vanishing slice of bay geography and history, go here and here.

(Photo by Shawn Ridgley, Chesapeake Bay Foundation)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

For those interested in whether commercial wind turbines might get built off Maryland's coast one day, the Sierra Club is sponsoring a forum about it Wednesday night (10/20) in Annapolis.

Speakers include representatives of NRG Bluewater Wind, the company planning to put turbines off Delaware's coast, the Maryland Energy Administration and the state Department of Natural Resources, which has been mapping the near-shore waters and assessing wildlife and shipping impacts.

The forum will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the media center of Annapolis High School, 2700 Riva Road.  For directions, go here.  For more information, contact Carmen Paral at 410-760-6680 or cparal@verizon.net

(Wind turbines near Donghai bridge in Shanghai, March 2010.  AP photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch has been honored by environmentalists as a champion of green causes in Annapolis.

The Maryland League of Conservation Voters bestowed its annual John V. Kabler Memorial Award Monday night on Busch, who's represented Annapolis in the House of Delegates for 23 years - the last seven as speaker. 

Fred Hoover, chairman of the league's board of directors, hailed Busch's "many accomplishments" in promoting legislation to clean up waterways, restore oysters, protect sensitve shoreline and make it easier for citizens to sue to enforce environmental laws.

(2009 Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Builders are looking to delay imposition of a strict pollution "diet" for the Chesapeake Bay, saying more time is needed to study it because of its "national implications, extremely high costs and technical complexity."

The National Association of Home Builders called on the Environmental Protection Agency to give the public 180 days to review and comment on the federal cleanup plan, instead of the 45 days provided.   Federal regulators, who unveiled the draft plan Sept. 24, set an abbreviated comment period because they have pledged to finalize the plan by year's end.

EPA's "Total Maximum Daily Load" would impose limits on how much nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment can be discharge into the bay and its rivers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, New York, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.  The states have laid out plans to comply with the federal plan by setting limits of their own on farming, on sewage and rain water washing off city and suburban streets and lawns.

"The new TMDL will impose extraordinarily difficult regulatory requirements on the citizens who live in the Bay states," said NAHB Bob Jones, a home builder in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "EPA has already announced that these plans are a blueprint for the rest of the nation, which is all the more reason to make sure the public has ample time to carefully study these proposals."

UPDATE:  The Chesapeake Bay Foundation issued a statement opposing the builders' request, saying, "This is merely an attempt to delay and derail the clean-up process for short-term profit and narrow interests' benefit."

For more on the plan, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

On this day in 1860, Baltimore's Druid Hill Park was dedicated, making it the third oldest public park in the country.  

After serving as an encampment for Union troops during the Civil War, the former estate became a green magnet for generations of Baltimoreans to stroll, drive and play, acquiring a minaret-topped bandstand and conservatory.  The city's first public park is also home to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Festivities marking the park's anniversary concluded over the weekend, but it's not too late to enjoy its 745 acres of natural splendor - or to contribute to it by paying to plant a tree.  For more on the park and how to help green it, go here.

(Youngsters enjoying tennis lesson during Druid Hill Park's 150th anniversary festival.  Special to the Baltimore Sun by Colby Ware)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

All paths lead to Linthicum today, as nearly 200 outdoor enthusiasts and officials are expected to convene there for Maryland's first "trails summit."

The daylong event will feature presentations and brainstorming on how to improve - and improve access to - all the trails used by untold thousands of hikers, bikers, pet lovers, horse riders, paddlers and even commuters. It's an outgrowth of four reigonal roundtable discussions held this summer to mull the future of the state's trails system.

"System," though, may be a generous term, as no one seems to have a handle on how many trails there are overall in the state. The state Department of Natural Resources maintains more than 1,000 miles of land-based trails, plus another 600 miles over water, according to John Wilson, DNR's trails coordinator. But there are many more that have been blazed by federal and local governments and by nonprofit groups, he says.

It's too late to register for the summit, but go here to learn more about it and have your say.

(Bicyclists ride beneath Carrollton viaduct on Baltimore's Gwynns Falls Trail. 2008 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Ever stumble across some berries while hiking and wonder if they're edible? Well, Parks & People are holding a workshop this week to help.

Leda Meredith, author of "The Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local on a Budget," will conduct an urban foraging tour of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park on Thursday. She will teach participants to identify edible plants that grow in urban areas and provide some samples of foods made with wild ingredients.

Meet at 10 a.m. at the Orianda House (aka Crimea Mansion), 1901 Eagle Dr., Baltimore. There is a $5 suggested donation. RSVP to Alex Kraus at (410) 448-5663 ext. 119 or alexandra.kraus@parksandpeople.org.

Baltimore Sun file photo of Leakin Park hikers. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Food
        

Check out these creepy crafts - all locally made and perfect for the scariest day of the year!

Big Bat Stained Glass by Ogden Art Haus, Skull Hair Clip Fascinator by Peachy Tuesday, Felt Play Food by Felt Playground.

Hometown Appetite by Amanda Rae K, Spider Necklace by Two Reasons, Felt Hairclip by Sweet PB.

Hand Painted Sign by Country Workshop, Spider Web Necklace by Agna, Lampwork Skull Bead by Dorset Hill Beads.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It is a well-known fact that orange peels make great accessories. Okay so maybe it’s not necessarily “well-known” but it should be!

While on a recent stroll through Hampden, I popped into Earth Alley – a stylish boutique on Elm Avenue that sells eco-friendly and fair trade gifts. I was surprised when shop owner Eva Khoury suggested that I smell one of the necklaces she had for sale. I obliged and unexpectedly inhaled the sweet scent of citrus. “Its orange peel jewelry,” she said.

The tradition of orange peel jewelry originated in South America. Typically, the peels are dehydrated, dyed, and shaped into funky and playful necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and sometimes key chains. Do a little web browsing and you’ll find a healthy handful of examples, one of which is Joca Orange – a Colombian group that collects the peels from juice vendors and restaurants, and then distributes them to local artisans. They’re work is available for purchase online.

Of course, you can make your own orange peel jewelry. First, remove peels from the orange with a paring knife, scrape away excess pith with a butter knife, cut them into small strips and place them face down on a cutting board. After a few days, the moisture will evaporate. It’s at that point when you can begin to experiment with manipulating the peels into unusual shapes, like spirals, twists, or whatever you can imagine. If you want to try your hand at dyeing the peels, that will have to be done prior to cutting and drying.

Happy peeling!

Image courtesy of One World Projects.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

This Sunday(Oct. 10), environmental activists and concerned citizens around Baltimore and the world will turn out for thousands of "work parties"  to demonstrate their readiness to do something themselves about climate change. 

The "Global Work Party," as it's been dubbed, is organized by 350.org, a group that's been agitating for action to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.  (350 stands for the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that some scientists say is the safe upper limit before disastrous changes occur in climate)

Here in Baltimore, there'll be a batch of events, including a bike ride, tree planting and workshops on how to heat homes using locally grown "biomass," aka corn.  In Columbia, scouts will build a "giant carbon cube" and plant trees, while other folks will be learning about how to save energy and installing solar panels.

To find an event near you, go here. More than 7,000 work parites in nearly 200 countries are listed.

(Students at University of Maryland, College Park showing their support; Photo by Andrew Grossman, courtesy 350.org)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The time of year has arrived to begin gathering supplies for fall crafting. Just look around – on the street, in the yard, on the playground – and you’re sure to find a plethora of natural treasures!

Sweet gumballs make the prettiest wreaths, and cornhusks can be fashioned into adorable dolls. There’s no shortage of acorns right now (unless the squirrels get them all before you do) and they can be used to create an army of creatures – all you need is a packet of those quirky sticky eyes. Autumn leaves, when preserved with Mod Podge or wax, add a vibrant affect to just about any decoration.

Image courtesy of 5 Orange Potatoes.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

A moment of silence, please, for the compostable SunChips snack bags.

Snack maker Frito-Lay revealed this week it is yanking most of its 100 percent biodegradable SunChips bags amid a deluge of consumer complaints that the packaging is too noisy.

The company had ballyhooed the bags, made from plant material, as a game-changer when they were trotted out 18 months ago. But the green appeal apparently was no match for the racket the pouches made when consumers ripped them open and reached in for a chip. No sneaking a snack here. Sales have dropped 11 percent amid an outpouring of grousing about the noise.

Frito-Lay, a division of Pepsico, says it'll keep selling plain SunChips in the compostable bags, but will revert to the oiriginal packaging for the other five chip flavors.

Maybe it's just me and my failing hearing, but I wasn't that put off by the crackling of the new bags. It was obnoxious, sure, but not enough to skip the occasional SunChips snack.

The company's still touting its compostable bags on its website, by the way.  But perception is reality, especially in the marketing world, so it seems Frito-Lay's going back to the drawing board to search for a quieter green packaging.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Sarah Kelber)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Maryland's environmental regulators say they took a record 3,099 enforcement actions in the past year, though penalties collected dipped by 23 percent.

In its annual enforcement report, the Maryland Department of the Environment says the number of actions taken for violations of air, land, water and radiation regulations increased by nearly 7 percent overall in the 12 months that ended July 1.  

That's the highest tally since reporting began in 1998, and a 54 percent increase in actions taken since the beginning of the O'Malley administration, the report notes.  But much of that big jump in enforcement actions came largely in one area - checking on X-ray machines used by dentists and doctors.  Not counting radiation safety, the overall increase was 21 percent the past four years.

The agency collected $5.1 million in penalties, down from $6.5 million the previous year, but officials noted the prior total was inflated by the imposition of a single $4 million fine.

Overall, inspections, audits and spot checks of businesses for compliance with environmental regulations increased by nearly 2 percent, the department reports.    

Not everything was up.  The number of inspections, audits and checks for water pollution violations slipped, as did visits to construction sites - perhaps a reflection of the continuing building slump in that case.  The number of actions taken increased, though, as did penalties collected.   The state has come under fire in the past year for its oversight of industries and municipalities discharging to rivers, streams and the Chesapeake Bay; the Waterkeeper Alliance petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to strip Maryland of its delegated authority to enforce water pollution laws unless the state does a better job.

The agency made fewer inspections for air pollution violations, but took more enforcement actions.  It noted the drop in its oversight was mainly of "low-impact" businesses, while those emitting the vast majority of pollutants got more scrutiny.

There also appeared to be a couple bottlenecks.  The new regulation of Maryland's large poultry farms  on the Eastern Shore got off to a slow start, with only a fraction of them filing their required permits and being inspected.  State officials say the lag is because of a shortage of technicians to help the farmers develop required plans for keeping their chicken manure out of streams and ground water.

The attorney general's office also has a backlog of 348 enforcement cases on which it hasn't acted, the report notes.  Though cases referred for legal action have grown significantly (816 last year, versus 340 in 2007), the number of attorneys handling them has not.

To see the report, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Local officials and farmers in the New York portion of the Chesapeake Bay's watershed are complaining that pollution-reduction measures proposed for their area would be exorbitantly costly and still wouldn't clean up the water enough.

They told the Binghamton, NY Press and Sun-Bulletin that the steep reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus called for by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the New York portion of the Susquehanna River drainage would be impossible to reach and cost billions in improvements to sewage plants, retrofits of storm drains and pollution control measures on farms.

"We don't feel the EPA's limits are achievable by any means," said Chip McElwee, executive director of the Broome County Soil & Water Conservation District. "You could take the sewage treatment plants off line, we could go live in the woods, and then eliminate half of our farms; that's how you would have to get there."

"We need to try and do everything we can to try to slow this down and try to change it,"  Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau, said.

EPA put forward its own regimen for reducing bay-fouling nutrients and sediment from New York after finding serious deficiencies in the cleanup plan the state proposed.  EPA officials have said the pollution reductions called for are based on the latest computer modeling and monitoring of water quality.  They added that they're prepared to work with state officials to come up with alternative remedies that might be more palatable and less costly. 

New York wasn't alone in being found wanting by the EPA - the federal agency said there were  significant gaps in plans put forward by five of the six states in the bay watershed.  Only Maryland came away needing no more than minor adjustments in its strategy, in EPA's judgment.  That doesn't mean farmers and local officials here are going to be let off the hook - the state's plan was more thorough than the rest in identifying potential pollution control measures, though Maryland has yet to actually say which ones it plans to pursue. When it does, expect a few howls closer to home, too.

The states have until Nov. 29 to submit revised cleanup plans, with EPA planning to finalize its overall bay pollution diet by year's end.

For details on EPA's and the states' bay restoration plans, and a listing of public comment opportunities in the next month, go here. 

(Downtown Binghamton, NY, 2005. Special to the Baltimore Sun by Kathryn Deuel.)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

While most energy-saving measures involve spending up-front (insulation) or doing without (turning thermostat down), there's one way to save energy that's cost-free and relatively painless - stop throwing away so much food.

A pair of scientists at the University of Texas at Austin estimate that Americans waste the equivalent of 350 million barrels of oil a year - or about 2 percent of the nation's annual energy needs - by discarding uneaten food or letting it spoil.

Michael Webber and Amanda Cuellar of UT's Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy figure it takes up to 1.4 billion barrels of oil to produce, package, prepare preserve and distribute a year's worth of food consumed in the United States.  Somewhere between 8 and 16 percent of the energy consumed in this country went into food production, it's estimated. 

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that about 27 percent of that food gets wasted, or thrown away.  Webber and Cuellar note that their estimates of food waste are conservative because the information they relied upon is incomplete and outdated.  Besides saving energy, cutting down on food waste might save us a little money, too.

According to their study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, these are the most wasted food categories, by percent:

(Volunteers glean leftover spinach from farmer's field in Sudlersville, 2001 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Sunday morning features Tour du Port, one of Baltimore's main bicycling events, as hundreds if not thousands of folks cycle or walk around the city.  The course runs 12 to 63 miles, wending through some 12 different neighborhoods.  It's the annual fund-raiser for One Less Car, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving transit and walkability.  Online advance registration closes at 10 p.m. Friday (10/1).  But there's still walkup registration ($60) that morning, with ride starts staggered beginning at 7:30 a.m.  For more info, go here. 

Then there's the (first annual?) Western Maryland solar & green home tour Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 pm.  It's a self-guided ramble through Frederick and Washington counties to see more than two dozen places fitted with photovoltaic panels, solar thermal systems and the like. There's even a converted barn gone sun-powered, and there'll be details on hand about tax incentives and the like. The perfect antidote for those who aren't football crazy, or can't bear to watch. For details, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Yesterday's downpour did more than flood Fells Point and spill sewage into the Jones Falls. It trashed the Inner Harbor.

The top two pics, taken by the folks at the National Aquarium, show the flotsam and jetsam blown by the storm into the narrow channel between Pier 4 and Pier 5. The water's surface was carpeted with plastic drink bottles and foam cups, a ball or two and lots of leaves, branches and other debris.  The bottom pic shows the "trash wheel" set up in Canton to collect debris washing out of a large storm drain there.

It's an object reminder of how littered the harbor is. And it's no longer merely unsightly. Baltimore harbor's water quality has been officially declared by the Environmental Protection Agency to be impaired by trash that's dropped and washed into it from the streams and storm drains that empty into the northwest branch of the Patapsco River.

So in the next few years, the city and Baltimore County will have to work with the Maryland Department of the Environment and EPA to catalogue the amounts and sources of all that trash and come up with a plan for keeeping it out of the water.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Harbor Watershed Association has come up with its own plan for reducing the pollution and trash washing out of East Baltimore into the harbor at Canton - where the trash wheel below catches some but not all of it.  You can read the plan here.

It's an ambitious undertaking. The federal government just ordered the District of Columbia, plus Prince George's and Montgomery counties in Maryland to make the Anacostia River in Washington "trash free."  That tributary of the Potomac River, like this stretch of the Patapsco, is suffering from a variety of environmental insults - trash being just the most visible.

According to a story this week in The Washington Post,  the EPA's trash-free order means getting some 600 tons of litter and debris out of the river annually, on top of the 400 tons a year already being removed. The District and suburban counties now spend millions skimming and collecting trash from the water, and will likely have to spend millions more.

Why are the feds ordering local governments to pick up water-borne litter? Because the Clean Water Act passed in 1972 calls for every water way in the nation to be swimmable and fishable. While that normally means dealing with traditional pollutants like oil, sewage, fertilzer and even dirt, regulators consider trash a visual pollutant that renders water uninviting, if not unsafe, for fishing, wading and swimming.

Though a lot of progress has been made in cleaning up some rivers and lakes, urban waters like Baltimore's and Washington's are more contaminated than most - and, frankly, lagging behind. Ergo, the crackdown.

(Top two photos courtesy the National Aquarium)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

It may be soggy now, but by Saturday it's supposed to be sunny and suitably fall-like for Farm Fest, a celebration of Maryland's agrarian heritage, with a farmer's market featuring local foods and beverages, games for kids and live music.

The afternoon event is a fund-raiser for 1000 Friends of Maryland, to underwrite the anti-sprawl group's "Keep Farmers Farming" campaign.  Tickets are $25 per person in advance, $35 at the door.  It's from noon to 5 p.m. at Prigel Family Creamery in Glen Arm.

For info, directions or tickets, go here. 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Today's the beginning of oyster season in Maryland, but not just yet for the handfull of pioneers who've been first to jump on the state's new bandwagon promoting private oyster farming over the traditional wild fishery.

So far, 16 individuals or companies have applied to lease about 3,311 acres of bottom in the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers so they can raise oysters there, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.  They're the first to try their hand since Maryland expanded the area available for leasing, while setting aside other large areas as sanctuaries where no harvest would be permitted - including some areas that until this year had been actively harvested by watermen.

Dorchester County seafood dealer Jay Robinson is one of those.  He's teamed up with Berlin accountant Ryan Bergey to start an oyster aquaculture operation in which they hope to employ watermen working private oyster beds.  They've already begun to build the "setting" facility where they'll have baby oysters, or spat, settle on oyster shells before putting them in open water.

Robinson said they're anxious to start preparing the bottom where they hope to begin planting oysters next spring.  But they're in a holding pattern for now, because the state has yet to act on their application to lease 1,000 acres.  Robnson said he was told it may be up to 60 days before he gets word.

"We have a group of guys that are more than willing, ready to work," Robinson said Thursday. "But untiil we can get this lease ... then our hands are sort of tied at this point."

DNR spokesman Josh Davidsburg said the leases take time to process because state officials have to put the lease applications out for public review, get approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (which must issue permits to put anything on the bottom) and notify nearby landowners of the impending lease.

"It's not just 'Poof!', we approve it, and it happens," Davidsburg said.

Oyster farmers like Robinson and Bergey are the poster children for the state's bid to shift its oyster industry to aquaculture.  With wild harvests for nearly two decades now just 1 percent of what they were in the industry's heyday, state officals hope to have Maryland catch up with Virginia, which has encouraged private oyster growing for more than a century and now has a $30 million aquaculture industry. 

About 4,500 acres of bay bottom in Maryland have been leased over the years, but only about 10 percent have been actively worked since the 1980s, according to DNR, when oyster diseases ravaged the bay's shellfish.  Now,  with new techniques to raise more disesae-resistant oysters, a University of Maryland report predicts that the state could build a new aquaculture industry that could generate $25 million a year in revenue and employ 225 people.

First, though, they newcomers have to get the green light to get in the water.

Meanwhile, there are still 550 watermen who roam the bay and its rivers looking to harvest wild oysters.  They're none too happy that the state has expanded its network of sanctuaries off limits to them, from 9 percent of quality oyster habitat to about 26 percent.  State officials point out that they've only set aside a quarter of the oyster bars watermen have traditionally worked, leaving three-fourths still open to them.  But the watermen say some of those taken away have been among their most productive.

Acknowledging that the shift to aquaculture "may result in short-term economic impacts" for the wild fishery, state officials say they're planning to hire watermen to do reef restoration and other work to improve oyster habitat in the bay.  The state offered similar work to watermen the past couple winters to make up for lost crab catch after the record-low crab harvest of 2007 led to a federal disaster declaration, and $15 million in relief funds.

In the meantime, DNR is making clear Natural Resources Police will be watching closely to make sure watermen don't try to poach oysters from the newly expanded sanctuaries, or the new leased areas.  The agency put out a press release to that effect Thursday, noting that violators risk losing their licenses to fish or oyster for up to a year.

(Oyster shells in tongs wielded by Ron Jetmore of Solomons, as he checked November 2008 on oyster spat planted in Patuxent River by watermen. Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)