Feeling like playing Johnny Appleseed?  Blue Water Baltimore needs volunteers to help plant heirloom apple trees Friday (Dec. 2) in Carroll Park, at 1500 Washington Blvd.

The area watershed group will be working with elementary school students from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to put the trees in the ground.

Assistance welcomed. Gloves, tools and training will be provided.

For more info, contact Suzie at slmerryman1@yahoo.com

(Photo:  Students from Baltimore Talent Development High School plant fruit trees in Carroll Park, 2006.  Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

With Halloween just around the corner, the Washington-based green group Environment America is sponsoring a spooky-themed cleanup of the Anacostia River on Saturday (Oct. 29), as well as a teach-in of sorts on the woes afflicting the Chesapeake Bay.

Volunteers will be picking up trash in Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road in Bladensburg, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Folks are encouraged to dress up in costumes, though also to wear clothes and boots they don't mind getting grungy.

Not one to miss a chance to talk policy, Environment America plans to use the event to tout "10 scary problems" plaguing the bay.  Among them:

- Chickens outnumber people 1,000 to 1 on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the group says, and poultry growers on the Delmarva Peninsula generate upwards of 1 billion pounds of manure annually;

- The "dead zone" that forms each summer in the bay, where fish and shellfish can't get enough oxygen in the water, stretched from Baltimore Harbor to the Potomac River, covering a third of the bay;

- The state has lost more than 75 percent of its wetlands

And so on.  Not sure whether they're scary, or just depressing.  The event's co-sponsored by the American Public Health Association, which is holding its annual meeting in DC over the weekend.

(Flotsam on the water at Bladensburg Waterfront Park, summer 2011)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Volunteer
        

An autumn potpourri of things happening this weekend:

Trees: It's autumn, ideal time to plant a sapling. Baltimore County is having a big tree sale from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.  The costs range from $20 - $30. The event will be held at the Baltimore County Center for Maryland Agriculture, 1114 Shawan Road.  For details, go here. 

Stream cleanup: The Friends of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park plan to clean up the stream that flows through the park's Winans Meadow, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. There's plenty of debris to clear from the tropical storm flooding last month. Gloves will be provided. Meet at the parking lot of Winans Meadow at 4500 Franklintown Road, 21229. For additional information, call 410-566-2230.

Park reopening:  When you're done planting trees or clearing stream debris, why not head over to Robert E. Lee Park and check out the $6.1 million facelift it got while closed the past two years?  There's a new bridge, a new half-mile boardwalk across wetlands and a new dog park (though you'd better keep your pooch on leash, and clean up after him or her!)  It officially reopened today (Friday, Oct. 14), but there'll be activities Saturday as well.  On Lakeside Drive, near Falls Road.  For directions, go here.

(Walking dogs on at rehabilitated Robert E. Lee Park. Photo by Noah Scialom)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Another patch of weedy, vacant land in Baltimore city has been reclaimed by and for its residents, and a graffiti-scrawled building turned into a huge, colorful mural proclaiming neighborhood pride.

Residents of Morrell Park in southwest Baltimore toiled alongside other volunteers through summer into early fall to clear an overgrown, trash-strewn lot in the 2600 block of Washington Boulevard and turn it into a memorial garden and park.

Now there's a stepping stone path with inlaid mosaics memorializing community members and their relatives who have died. Benches also have been placed along the path to sit and enjoy the flower and vegetable beds in the garden.

A few blocks away, at 2300 Washington Boulevard, Access Art, a community art program, transformed a frequently graffiti-defaced wall into a dramatic welcome sign for the neighborhood. Artist Chris Peters worked with youth and community members to identify bits of neighborhood history and other visual imagery to incorporate into the mural, which was painted in August and September.

The projects were funded with grants from PNC Bank (via the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts), the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Parks and People Foundation. Besides Access Art, other partners were the Morrell Park & St. Pauls Improvement Association and the Morrell Park Recreation Council.

For more views of the garden, memorial walk and mural, go here.

(Photos by Marshall Clarke, executive director Access Art) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

This weekend brings more attention to the Baltimore area's water ways, with some stream cleanups scheduled Saturday followed by a fun fund-raiser for the region's watershed watchdog.

Last Saturday marked the 26th annual International Coastal Cleaunup, with volunteers clearing beaches and stream banks of debris and trash. This Saturday (9/24), there are a few more pickups planned, including of Bread and Cheese Creek in eastern Baltimore County, and of Stony Run in Baltimore city as it flows past Wyman Park near the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus.

The Bread and Cheese cleanup is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting around 1401 North Point Road. Gloves and trash bags provided, as is lunch. E-mail clean_bread_and_cheese_creek@yahoo.com or call 410-285-1202 to sign up!

The city event organized by Friends of Stony Run goes from noon to 4 p.m., and includes tree planting as well as trash pickup. Trash bags provided, but bring gloves and wear long sleeves, pants and rugged shoes. Look for signs at Tudor Arms & Craycombe to take the path down to the site for tree planting. For the trash cleanup, enter by the Remington Avenue Bridge and work north.

That same afternoon (9/24), Blue Water Baltimore is having its 4th annual Trash Bash fund-raiser from noon to 5 p.m. at Nick's Fish House, 2600 Insulator Drive 21230. Cost is $55 and includes seafood, drinks, live music, silent auction and electric boat tours of the Middle Branch. For more, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Saturday (Sept. 17) brings the 26th annual International Coastal Cleanup, a worldwide event organized by the Ocean Conservancy, when volunteers haul trash and debris from streams and beaches.

Maryland has its share of pickups planned, and there'll be no shortage of debris this time, what with the winds and flooding we've had the past few weeks. The state's shoreline could use a good housecleaning. 

Fort Smallwood Park in Pasadena and Stony Run in Baltimore are among the local cleanups on tap. To find a site near you and sign up, go here.

(Volunteer picks up trash on shore at Middle Branch Park. 2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Buoyed by the success of its inaugural class, the Chesapeake Conservation Corps is growing.

The environmental career and leadership training program created last year by the General Assembly has selected 21 young adults for its second class - up from 16 last year, the Chesapeake Bay Trust announced today.

The trust oversees the program, under which volunteers work on a variety of environnmental initiaitives, including energy-efficiency campaigns, tree planting, stream cleanup and job training. Volunteers are assigned to nonprofit groups and government agencies.

"In today's challenging economic times, it is important that we invest in our young people and provide them with the skills and training necessary for jobs that create a smarter, greener future for Maryland," Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, the corps' chief legislative sponsor, said in a statement. The program is underwritten by the state and the Bay Trust, with additional support from Constellation Energy.

Four of last year's initial class of 16 corps members, pictured above, wound up being hired by the groups they worked with over the past year - which organizers see as a sign of the program's strength. Of this year's group, four will work in Baltimore city, five in Anne Arundel County and one in Howard County.

Applications were solicited from young people ages 18 to 25. Corps members receive a stipend and have the opportunity to gain environmental careeer certificates from Maryland's community colleges. For more info, go here.

(2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)

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Who says stream cleanups can only be done in spring and fall? The Jones Falls is due for a little tidying Saturday (July 16), organized by Baltimore Youth Environmental Response and the city's Office of Sustainability.

Volunteers are to meet at 1 p.m. at 1813 Falls Road, just outside Baltimore Bicycle Works. Bags, gloves and refreshments will be provided. And around 2:30 p.m., they'll wrap the cleanup to discuss future goals and activities for the youth-led environmental group. You can RSVP and learn more about RSVP on Facebook.

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

Want to beat the heat and still do something worthwhile? Why not join several dozen expected volunteers and pluck trash from Armistead Creek and Herring Run on Saturday (6/11)?

Blue Water Baltimore, the local watershed group, is teaming up to clean the stream banks with volunteers and employees of United by Blue, a Philadelphia organic cotton T-shirt and maker.

If you've never heard of United by Blue, the startup has an unusual creed - it pledges to remove one pound of trash from the world's oceans and waterways for every product it sells.  Apparently it's more than just a sales gimmick to get the green-oriented consumer.

"We’ve done over 35 cleanups in the past year, and removed about 18,000 pounds of trash all up and down the East Coast and some on the West Coast," said Mike Cangi, who's listed on the company website as "director of cleanups."  The firm's founder is identified as "chief trash collector." 

Cangi's looking to make room for sales growth by picking up 100,000 pounds of refuse in the coming year, and expecting to get several pounds picked up in the Baltimore swing.  As this was the same creek watershed where miscreants recently stuffed a bolt of some kind of fabric down a manhole and triggered a nearly million-gallon sewage overflow, they should have no trouble. The photo above is from a 2008 spring cleanup (why the volunteer is wearing a jacket).

The cleanup is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and for those who really get into this kind of thing, there'll even be waders provided. Meet at 1200 Armistead Way. For more, or to register, go here.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

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Green Week has begun in Baltimore, and it's already sprouting some interesting activities.

On Wednesday, students, parents, staff and volunteers started a "vertical garden" at Kennedy Krieger High School, planting seeds in soil-filled pouches hanging on a chain-link fence. It's a great way to grow in a small urban space.

Woolly Pocket provided a grant and the pouches, while local gardening outfit Baltimore Contained provided technical assistance. If you'd like to see vertical gardening demonstrated, there'll be another chance on Sunday, April 17, from 2-4 p.m. at the school, 3825 Greenspring Ave.

Today (Thursday, April 14), there's a multidisciplinary art exhibition, entitled " Regeneration," focused on the theme of balancing the needs of people, the economy and the environment. Fifteen local artists will present works on various media, some using reclaimed building materials. Appropriately, the exhibit is at Second Chances, which sells salvaged materials, at 1400 Warner St., south of M&T Bank Stadium. It's from 5 to 10:30 pm. and free. Curated by Jason Meyer.

For more Green Week events, go here.

(Photo courtesy Baltimore Green Works)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

It's that time of year again.  The 8th annual Baltimore Green Week begins April 16 and runs through the 23rd.

The weeklong series of events, lectures and volunteer opportunities leading up to Earth Day is focused on sustainable living. It kicks off with Ecofest, an outdoor festival from noon to 5 p.m. April 16 in Druid Hill Park.

Yoga classes, bike rides around the reservoir and flower arranging lessons are among the activities offered by local producers and organizations. There'll also be food and activities for kids.

Ecofest and Green Week are put on by Baltimore Green Works.  For more, go here.

(Photo courtesy Baltimore Green Works)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Cold snap notwithstanding, it really is spring.  And every spring, regular as the flowers, there's a rash of stream cleanups to clear neighborhood waterways of trash and debris. 

Volunteers are being sought for Project Clean Stream this Saturday (April 2) from 9 a.m. to noon to help give facelifts to more than 165 streams that ultimately feed into the Chesapeake Bay. 

Last year, more than 3,600 volunteers ermoved more than 118,000 pounds of trash and debris.  This year, organizers are aiming to recruit 4,000 folks to haul out 150,000 pounds of rubbish.  And they're expanding the effort to include tree plantings and removal of invasive plants.

One stream cleanup that's going to need more than three hours is Bread and Cheese Creek (seen above) in eastern Baltimore County, where previous sweeps have pulled 32.5 tons of junk from its banks. Volunteers are needed there from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Picking up trash won't cure a stream's ills if it's been degraded by development and pollution.  But it will produce some visible visual improvement - and if enough people join in, maybe it'll help build public awareness of the need to address those more systemic problems throughout the watershed. 

The annual Project Clean Stream is organized by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, with sponsorship from Perdue Inc. and help from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. 

The Alliance's map that's supposed to show all the stream cleanups in the works doesn't appear to be working, but look at the group's Facebook page for a cleanup near you, or contact project organizer Dan Ellis directly at 443-949-0575 or dellis@allianceforthebay.org

(Volunteers pull a tire from Bread and Cheese Creek in Dundalk.  2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

For those who like a bracing swim - or who were too chicken to take the Polar Bear Plunge right after New Year's - here's another, slightly less frigid, chance to wade in for a good cause.  Supporters of the Marshy Point Nature Center in Baltimore County are holding their 5th annual "Popsicle Plunge" on Saturday (March 5).

The waterfront park on Dundee and Saltpeter creeks encompasses nearly 500 acres of wetlands and woodlands, and it's a great place for hiking and bird-watching. The center at 7130 Marshy Point Road holds festivals, summer camps, weekend canoe trips, discover hikes and demonstrations, and every 5th grader in Baltimore County schools visits Marshy Point as part of the EcoTrekkers environmental education program.

Because the shoreline at Marshy Point is mostly marsh and protected wetlands, the plunge will actually be held on the beach in the Hammerman area of Gunpowder Falls State Park - across Dundee Creek. It costs $20 to register for the plunge, but you get a free T-shirt with just $40 in pledges, and there will be other prizes for costumes and the most pledges raised, as well as food, games, activities and exhibits.

The whole shebang kicks off at noon, with the plunge at 2 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Marshy Point Nature Center Council. For more information, contact Marshy Point Nature Center at 410-887-2817 or visit http://www.marshypoint.org for forms  And for directions to the plunge site at Gunpowder, go here.

(Photo courtesy Marshy Point Nature Center Council)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Remember when thousands of blackbirds mysteriously dropped from the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve? Here's a chance to help scientists understand what's happening with those and all the other birds across North America: join the annual Great Backyard Bird Count this week.

For four days starting Friday, Feb. 18, thousands of volunteers across the United States and Canada tally and report the birds they see and hear in the wild, in neighborhood parks or in their own backyards. The collective observations give ornithologists a "snapshot" of what's happening with bird populations.

Now in its 14th year, the count has detected ups and downs in some species.  For instance, American crows, once regularly among the top four or five most frequently reported species, have become less common since 2003, when West Nile virus spread across the US.  Scientists noted 50-75 percent drops in crow populations in states after the mosquito-borne disease hit.

Last year, nearly 100,000 reports were submitted toting up more than 11 million birds of 603 species.  American robins topped the list, at 1.8 million sighted.  The Canada goose was second, at around 750,000, with Snow goose, American crow and European starling rounding out the most commonly seen birds.  Joining the list for the first time last year was the Red-billed tropicbird, spied by some adventurous birders off the Pacific coast near San Diego.

Here in Maryland, citizen scientists spotted 220,539 birds of 138 different species.  Canada goose and Snow goose beat the robin hands down, with the Common grackle and Dark-eyed junco coming in third and fourth. In my backyard, I often spy a Northern cardinal or two, like the one pictured here.

It's easy to participate in the count, requiring as little as 15 minutes in a day.  And as the name suggests, you don't even have to leave the warmth of your house, just look out in your backyard.  The count is coordinated by the  Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada.

To join in, or to learn more about previous bird counts, go here.

(Top, Canada geese take flight near Rappahannock River, 2009.  Baltimore Sun photo by Jerry Jackson. Middle, students watching for birds in Patterson Park, 2006, Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam.  Bottom, Northern cardinal, taken by Heather Taylor of Maryland, courtesy Great Backyard Bird Count)

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

You read that right. Usually, fisherfolk hold fishing tournaments and such when they want to raise dough for a good cause. Running for them is like, well, fish out of water.

But in a bid to broaden its reach, the Maryland chapter of Trout Unlimited is having a "Restoration Run" on Sunday, Nov. 14 to raise funds for repairing the Jones Falls and other degraded watersheds in the state.

Jay Boynton, the TU chapter's treasurer and a runner himself, said members thought a run would be a great way to bring some different people out and "expose them to something other than just fishing." In other words, anglers aren't the only ones who care about the health of our waters -- and here's a chance to show it.

The 5K race starts out at 8 a.m. at Meadowood Regional Park on Falls Road near its intersection with Greenspring Valley Road.  The course goes down Falls a bit before cutting over to Hillside Road and back north on Greenspring Avenue.   The Jones Falls, the initial object of the fund-raiser, will be just steps away.

Boynton said funds raised by the run are to go to stream restoration projects.  First on the chapter's list is a stretch of the Jones Falls with a channelized stream bank.  The group hopes to reestablish trout habitat there, partly because they like to catch (and release) trout, but also because trout, especially sensitive to pollution and habitat degradation, are a bellwether of stream health.

The run is open to the public.  Registration is $30 until Saturday (Nov. 6), then $35 next week and $40 on the day of the run.  To sign up, or to donate, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you restore a stretch of degraded suburban stream, will the fish come back?

That's what students at Park School of Baltimore may find out in coming years. Right now, they're getting a hands-on lesson in what long and laborious work it is - not to mention costly - to remedy the harm done to their neighborhood stream by development along its banks, including the school's own impervious footprint.

The stream in question is Moore's Branch, which flows along the back of the Brooklandville private school's campus on its way to Lake Roland.  The lake drains into the Jones Falls, which ultimately finds its way to Baltimore Harbor, the Patapsco River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The banks of Moore's Branch are badly eroded, explains Daniel Jacoby, who teaches environmental science and advises the Climate Change Committee at Park (known archly by its initials, CCCP, with lots of Soviet Union jokes).  Students who visit the stream repeatedly over the years say they've seen signs it's not in very good shape, with few of the aquatic bugs on which trout and other fish like to feed.

"The kids used to remember seeing substantial fish, crayfish and a lot more life that's not there now," Jacoby says.

The decline of Moore's Branch no doubt started well upstream of Park School, but Jacoby says the campus bears some responsibility, too.   Years ago, to provide parking for faculty and staff, a lot was paved within 20 feet or so of the stream bank.  When it rains, the water runs off the lot into the stream, adding to storm-fed surges that eat away at the creek banks.  Pavement that close to water wouldn't - or certainly shouldn't - be allowed today, at least not without some runoff protections built in.

That's what Park School and its students are providing now, after the fact.  Inspired to act by a staffer with the Center for Watershed Protection in Ellicott City, the students and Jacoby applied for and got a $20,000 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to landscape the thin strip of ground between the parking lot and the stream.  The school has chipped in even more funds of its own to cover the restoration project, and handled the logistics of hiring contractors to do the heavy earth-moving work involved. 

Continue reading "A school's hands-on lesson in stream restoration" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

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)
        

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)
        

The first weekend of fall brings yet another celebration/fundraiser for a local green group. 

This one's for the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, which for nearly 21 years has been working to preserve land and safeguard streams in the 450-square-mile watershed that furnishes 61 percent of the Baltimore region's drinking water.  The Gunpowder River drains portions of Carroll, Baltimore and Harford counties, and even a bit of York County, PA.

The conservancy's putting on "An Evening in the Woods" Saturday (9/25) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Camp Puh'Tok in Monkton.  There'll be food, local wines, a silent auction and live music.  Tickets are $65 each.  For details, go here.

(Jericho Road covered bridge crossing Little Gunpowder Falls; 1995 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Parks, Volunteer
        

Here's your chance to get back to the beach -- or at least to help keep it clean and safe, wherever you live. 

Saturday (9/25) is the 25th annual International Coastal Cleanup, when hundreds of thousands of volunteers pick up millions of tons of trash and debris that's either on the shore - or destined to wash up there, after it gets dropped in a parking lot, street or vacant lot.

Last year, nearly 500,000 volunteers worldwide collected more than 7 million pounds of trash, according to the Ocean Conservancy, which coordinates the cleanup efforts of local environmental groups.  Here in Maryland, about 45,000 individual pieces of debris got rounded up.

There are about two dozen cleanups planned across Maryland, from Ocean City and Assateague Island to Antietam Creek near Hagerstown.  Ten of them are in the Baltimore area - three in the city, two in Baltimore County, three in the Annapolis area and one each in Harford and Howard counties.  The city cleanups are at Fort McHenry, Fells Point and the Jones Falls trailhead.

Not all are on the waterfront, you say?  That's because the bulk of the trash that winds up on our beaches starts out being dropped or dumped inland, then gets washed into a nearby storm drain or stream and on into the ocean or Chesapeake Bay.

The cleanup by the manmade wetland at Fort McHenry - already has all the volunteers it can handle.  But the rest, I'm told still could use some volunteers.  The weather promises to be fair.  To find and sign up for a cleanup near you, go here.

(Cleanup by Fort McHenry, 2009. Photo by Geri Schlenoff, state coordinator, Int'l Coastal Cleanup)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Parks, Volunteer
        

Saturday (Sept. 18) is the third annual "Trash Bash," an afternoon of music, food and drink on the Middle Branch of the Patpapsco River.

It's to benefit the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper , the nonprofit environmental group, in its efforts to improve water quality in Baltimore's harbor.

The party's from noon to 5 p.m. at Nick's Fish House, 2600 Insulator Drive. Tickets are $75 per person, which includes seafood buffet, oyster bar, drinks, music, boat tours and waterfront views galore. There'll also be a silent auction.

For tickets, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You won't get them here, but you will if you hustle over to a "growshop" in Baltimore this evening (Sept. 13).

Halle Van der Gaag, director of the Jones Falls Watershed Association and Celeste Amato, director of Baltimore city's Cleaner Greener initiative, will talk about storm-water management and provide the aforementioned top 10 tips on making our streams, harbor and Bay cleaner.

The session, from 6 - 8 p.m., is at Puffs & Pastries, 830 W. 36th St. 21211. It's put on by Baltimore Green Works, Parks & People Foundation and the city's Department of Recreation and Parks.   (And thanks to Urbanite for the reminder to this forgetful blogger!)

For more information or to RSVP, contact Abby Cocke at 410.448.5663 x122 or abby.cocke@parksandpeople.org

(Rain barrel installation at St. John's College, Annapolis, 2009 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, DIY, Events, News, Tips, Urban Issues, Volunteer
        

If we all put our heads together, can we save the Bay? What about if we put all our computers together?

Computing giant IBM is committing its "World Community Grid," a network of 1.5 million PCs run by 600,000 volunteers, to help tackle water problems around the world, including the challenge of restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

IBM will lend its grid power to the Bay simulation game that the University of Virginia is developing, which attempts to model the impact on the Chesapeake of decisions by farmers, developers, fishers and others. UVa has tested its Bay Game with groups of students, policy makers and other stakeholders.

IBM spokesman Ari Fishkind said the combined computing power of its grid - driven by PCs tapped when not in use by their owners -  will speed up the number-crunching behind the many scenarios needed to make the Bay game realistic and responsive to the cumulative impact of many different decisions being made at once.

"It's giving them power that's equivalent to a supercomputer, and will help them create the necessary, underlying computer models in months, not decades," Fishkind writes in an email.

The company's also pledging its grid to help Chinese scientists develop techniques for filtering pollutants from water, and to aid Brazilian researchers in finding new treatments for schistosomiasis, a debilitating water-borne disease that kills thousands annually and infects an estimated 200 million worldwide.

Anyone with a PC can join IBM's World Community Grid and contribute to these projects or to others devoted to developing cleaner energy or even curing cancer. For more, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Some Harford County high school students are learning firsthand about green homes - by building them.

The Sun's Dennis Hockman reported over the weekend that students at Harford Technical High School have been teaming up with Harford Habitat for Humanity and local volunteers to build modular homes that meet standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Last year, the fourth in which the students have been working with Habitat to build homes for needy families, they put up one that met the USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for homes.  For the home they're building this year, they started out aiming for gold certification.  But with help from local businesses and the donation of solar panels, they now hope to achieve the highest possible rating, platinum.

(Photo by Matt Button, The Aegis)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

It's mid-July - time to count dolphins!  What better excuse to head "downy oshun"?  If you're in Ocean City already or headed there for the weekend, join the National Aquarium's marine animal rescue staff on the beach Friday (7/16) morning for their annual tally of dolphins swimming by just beyond the breakers.

Teams of staff and volunteers will be stationed on the beach in Ocean City and at Assateague State Park.  Another team will be aboard a Coast Guard boat offshore.  Anyone who wants to help should be at the beach by 9 a.m., either at 40th or 130th streets.  Bring binoculars if you've got 'em.

The count is just a snapshot and far from scientific, but the aquarium says the data collected do help marine biologists learn about and keep track of the dolphin population that migrates along the mid-Atlantic coast.  It's also an opportunity for participants to learn more about these amazing animals.

Those of you stuck at home or work, don't despair.  You can still participate in the aquarium's dolphin count contest!  Just guess how many will be spotted tomorrow and text "count" and your figure to 30644 by 1 p.m. (message and data rates apply).   The three closest guesses each win a pair of free tickets to the aquarium. 

Last year, the total spotted was 344 dolphins, the most in over a decade, according to aquarium spokesperson Molly Sheehan. Official count and winners to be announced on the aquarium's blog.

(2007 photos courtesy National Aquarium)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

What could be better than bands, BBQ, beer and - oh, yeah - fresh berries? Those will be among the featured attractions at the 5th annual Native Berry Festival Sunday (July 11) at Herring Run Park, Belair Road at Shannon Drive.

Local will be the order of the day, with live music from area bands, Big Bad Wolfe barbecue, Brewer's Art beer, local wine, arts and crafts - and of course berries and plants for sale.

The event, from noon to 5 p.m. is free, though tasting the desserts prepared for the festival requires a "nominal donation." Participants also are encouraged to make their own dessert concoctions and bring them to enter in a contest.  Those who donate desserts get to join in the judging.

The shindig had been scheduled for Saturday, but got bumped to avoid possible thunderstorms that day.  So that should bring cooler, less humid weather, right?  Perfect for eating berries, and the rest!

(Blueberries from Moody Blues Farm in New Windsor, Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Talk about a nasty job that somebody's got to do! Four area college students who may have dreamed earlier of spending their summers in other ways are pulling tires and debris out of Back River instead - and finding it satisfying, if a bit mucky.

"I wanted to feel like I was making a difference," said Molly Williams, 21, of Cockeysville.

The difference is a huge pile of tires and garbage bags full of other debris that they've collected, with the help of some old-timers (aka age 30 and above) and Baltimore County, waiting on the bank for removal and proper disposal.  Read my story about their efforts in The Baltimore Sun.  And check out the video, shot by The Sun's Algerina Perna to see what a difference they've made in how one stretch of the Chesapeake Bay tributary has been cleaned up. 

As much debris as the kids have pulled from Back River in the past 2 1/2 weeks, there's plenty more to do.  The banks are still littered with trash.  The Back River Restoration Committee, an energetic newcomer on the community action scene, has a big cleanup planned Saturday, 9 am to 2 pm.   The kids will be there, but they could use plenty of help.  Volunteers should meet at the Essex Park & Ridge on Eastern Boulevard by the Back River bridge.   p>

It'll take a lot more to restore this river, of course.  But the collegiate cleanup crew has shown what the river can look like if only Baltimore city and county residents in the 55-square-mile Back River watershed can be persuaded to stop littering and clean up their streets and neighborhoods.  Otherwise, the labors of these hard-working, idealistic kids will be buried under another torrent of trash washed down the storm drains and creeks the next time it rains.

Impaired as it still is, Back River boasts some beautiful natural vistas, and some signs of life.  Not all of them are welcome, as I reported last week on the midges swarming there, bedeviling boat owners and waterfront residents.  Those, ironically enough, may also be a sign of life returning to the river.  A Towson University biologists suggests that the nonbiting flies can be pretty hardy, so may be among the first things to flourish in an ecosystem still lacking the fish and other bug predators that could keep their numbers in check.  So they're possibly a hopeful sign, one that can lead to others with still more work on the river and on the land throughout the watershed.

;(Baltimore Sun photo and video by Algerina Perna)

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

Most gardeners are just starting to see the results of what they planted in the soil earlier this spring. But for waterfront-based oyster gardeners, it's time to harvest the young bivalves they've been raising from their docks and "plant" them in rivers of the Chesapeake Bay

Volunteers who've been tending to cages or bags of bivalves in the water by their docks or piers are now pulling them up for relocation to sanctuaries in the wild.  There, it is hoped they'll play at least a bit part in helping to repopulate the bay with oysters, for which it was once famous.  Overharvested in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the bay's remaining oysters were ravaged by diseases in the 1980s, and the population today is estimated to be just 2 percent of historic levels.

On Saturday (June 5), members of the Severn River Association plan to plant nearly three-quarters of a million oysters on a new reef across from the Naval Academy in Annapolis.  The shellfish have been reared from spat since last August in 1,100 cages cared for by more than 250 volunteers.  Oysters once thrived on Traces Hollow reef - and may do so again, if this venture succeeds.

Starting on Sunday, members of the Patuxent River chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland will deposit 300 bushels of oyster shells in Hellen Creek to prepare the bottom for new bivalves.  In subsequent weeks, volunteers plan to deposit 500,000 oysters in protected areas of the river that have been raised from spat by some 250 waterfront property owners.  Aiding the recreational anglers in this enterprise has been Calvin Davies, a Patuxent High School sophomore who tended a batch of oysters as his Eagle Scout service project.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which has been promoting oyster gardening for years, held oyster "drop-offs" in Annapolis, St. Michaels and Solomons this week where bivalves could be collected for relocation to watery sanctuaries.

These oysters are being raised for the ecological benefits, mind you, not to eat.  Mature oysters can filter up to 60 gallons of water a day, the Severn River group points out, and the reefs they build with their shells also provide habitat for other fish and aquatic creatures.

For those who'd like to try their hand at oyster gardening, the bay foundation will hold workshops in early fall. Check for a schedule sometime in August.

The state, meanwhile, has a "Marylanders Grow Oysters" program modeled on the bay foundation concept, which recruits volunteers to raise the bivalves.  Thousands of cages of oysters have been reared in a dozen rivers and creeks under the two-year-old effort, and Gov. Martin O'Malley announced this week the effort would be expanded into seven new tributaries.  For more on that, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

When a developer sought approval not long ago to build an assisted living facility near the mouth of the Magothy River in Anne Arundel County, residents showed up to oppose it, as one might expect.  They had a lawyer, of course, which also was not that unusual - except that this legal eagle was representing them for free.   After a lengthy proceeding, a hearing examiner found that the project would violate the state's Critical Area law, prompting the developer to scale back his plans for building on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.

Russell B. Stevenson Jr., the lawyer in that case, counts that as the first significant victory for the fledgling Chesapeake Legal Alliance  that he helped form.   Established a little over a year ago, the nonprofit network of lawyers and firms offers pro bono legal help to citizen and environmental groups seeking to enforce the laws designed to safeguard the bay. 

"A lot of the decisions that get made by state and local governments on issues that affect the bay are made where the commercial interests are well-represented by sophisticated, highly paid counsel, and where citizen groups and environmental organizations can't afford lawyers," said Stevenson.  "The civil servants who are supposed to enforce the law get pushed all in one direction - there's no one pushing back.  We're there to push back."

The group was to hold a fund-raiser near Annapolis last weekend, which Stevenson described as "a coming-out" celebration of sorts.

Continue reading "A new flock of legal eagles on the Bay" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

What better way to spend a May weekend than outdoors, exploring one of the largest urban woodland parks on the East Coast?

On Saturday, CampFire USA Baltimore is offering guided hikes in Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park, followed by music and refreshments.  If you haven't been there before, it's a sylvan, streamside retreat on the city's West Side, with stone dwellings and other remnants of Baltimore's history tucked away amid the trees.

It's for a good cause - or causes, actually.  Proceeds from the Urban Hike benefit CampFire USA Baltimore, which provides after-school programs for city kids that are meant to help kids learn about the environment, work together and manage conflicts.  It'll also help your kids connect with nature - something studies show they're not getting enough of, and are poorer for it.  

Admission is $15 for adults, free for kids under 12. The hiking begins at 9 a.m., at the Winans Meadow trailhead, with celebration lasting until noon at the Cardin Pavilion.  Go here for tickets, directions or other details.  For more info, email info@discovercfusa.org or call 443-524-2591.

(2002 Baltimore Sun photo Gwynns Falls Trail by Jerry Jackson)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

No, this has nothing to do with Baltimore's professional football team. Loch Raven is one of the city's three drinking-water reservoirs, and it's going to be abuzz with activity this Saturday (May 8).

To cap off National Drinking Water Week, the city is inviting the public to come out and see where their water comes from. You can even walk out on the 82-foot high dam holding back some 23 billion gallons of water from the Gunpowder Falls and a batch of smaller creeks and streams.   

Engineers from Gannett-Fleming, the firm that managed a reconstruction of the dam completed five years ago, will be on hand to explain the mammoth $28.8 million overhaul. And there'll be opportunities to learn about the history of the Gunpowder valley and how the water system serving the city and surrounding counties operates. 

For you history buffs, this is the 100th anniversary of what we know as the region's modern water system - when the city began to disinfect the water and laid plans to build the dam at Loch Raven and a water treatment plant at Montebello.

Not far from the dam, in the Pines area on Loch Raven Drive, there'll be other activities, including exhibits of live local wildlife from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There'll also be demonstrations on fly fishing, and guided hikes through the forest surrounding the lake. 

And, if you're feeling really energetic, the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy could use some more volunteers to help plant trees around the reservoir on Saturday.  The group aims to get nearly 800 in the ground this season, adding to the more than 18,500 it's planted in the valley since the 1990s to help protect the water supply from pollution.  To take part, contact Peggy Perry at pperry@gunpowderfalls.org

Water rates may be going up again - that's another story - but at least some things about the water system are free.  This is one of them.  Plan on bringing a lunch, and wear hiking shoes.  Call 410-396-3500 for more information.

And if you can't get out to Loch Raven just north of the Beltway, take a stroll around scenic Lake Montebello at 3901 Hillen Road in northeast Baltimore.  To commemorate the system's centennial, the city has mounted a series of historical photographs depicting the construction of all these facilities.

To get to the dam, take Cromwell Bridge Road from the Beltway, then left on Loch Raven Drive just past Sanders Corner restaurant.  For the wildlife, fly-fishing and hikes keep driving up Loch Raven Drive past the dam about two miles.  For a map to Loch Raven, go here.  For Montebello, here.

(2005 Baltimore Sun photos by Christopher Assaf and David Hobby)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

With the stroke of a pen, Maryland's youth are about to be recruited to help restore the Chesapeake Bay and learn some job skills - thanks to the perhaps-unwitting generosity of the state's electric utility customers.

Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a batch of natural resources bills into law at the State House on Tuesday, including one to create the Chesapeake Conservation Corps.  Championed by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, the corps would be formed to get young adults involved in helping the bay -- doing things like planting trees, helping schools become greener or performing energy conservation projects for local government. In the process, corps members are to learn skills that should help them land "green" jobs.

The state already has two similar outdoorsy youth armies - the Civic Justice Corps and the Maryland Conservation Corps.  As an example of the kind of work they've been doing, in 1995, conservation corps members (pictured above) helped build a bridge across Deep Creek as part of the Lower Susquehanna Greenway Trail. The new bay-oriented corps "builds upon" those older environmental service programs, according to a press release.  The corps would be overseen by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, yet another state entity that funds environmental stewardship projects in communities across Maryland. 

What the release doesn't spell out is where the money would come from to set up the new corps.  The law diverts $250,000 a year from a fund the state has to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with building new power plants in Maryland.  That fund is maintained via a 10- to 20-cents monthly surcharge on every residential electricity customer's bill.

The bay can use all the help it can get, of course, and young people could use a helping hand acquiring job skills and experience in today's rough economy.  But at a time when new nuclear, solar and wind energy projects are being pushed in the state - not to mention offshore - one wonders if Peter is not paying Paul.   Will the Department of Natural Resources power-plant research program  be left with enough funds to give all these new energy ventures the careful vetting they need to avoid unanticipated environmental problems they might cause in years to come? 

(1995 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Want to help a local park and acquire a new taste at the same time? Try the 11th annual Garlic Mustard Challenge Sunday (May 2) at Patapsco Valley State Park in Baltimore County. 

The event features individual and team contests, plus non-competitive pulling of garlic mustard, the herb imported from Europe long ago that has proven incredibly invasive. Volunteers get together every spring to curb the weed's spread and have some fun in the process. Over the past decade, they've yanked more than four tons, but there'll be plenty more to find on Sunday.

Besides weed-pulling, there'll be a "chef challenge," where cooks compete to produce tasty dishes including garlic mustard. And there'll be a poster contest for kids, educational exhibits about the Patapsco Valley ecosystem and its history, live music, scavenger hunt, bubble-gum blowing (?) and more.

You must register by Friday to enter the mustard-pulling or cooking contests. To do so, go here.

It's from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Avalon/Glen Artney Area of the Patapsco Valley State Park. Entrance is off US Route 1 at 5120 South Street in Halethorpe. Go to Pavilion 104.  For more about this or other park-related activities, go here.

(2008 Baltimore Sun photos: Patapsco Challenge, by Algerina Perna; garlic mustard, by Chiaki Kawajiri)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This just in from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. ... Can you help plant trees?

Help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on Sunday, April 25, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. by helping plant over 1,000 native trees and shrubs at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Holly Beach Farm located near the Bay Bridge in Annapolis. The vegetation will filter pollution and sediment coming from adjacent farm fields. Suitable for adults, families, youth and community groups. Bring shovels, work gloves, insect repellent, and a water bottle/lunch. Registration is required. To sign up send your complete contact information to Marcy Damon at 443-482-2156 or email MDRestoration@cbf.org

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Volunteer
        

Don't look now, but dragons have returned to the harbor.  Dragon boats, that is - long, sleek canoes powered through the water by 20 people paddling in unison, with a "drummer" on the bow and a steersman standing aft.   

Begun in China over 5,000 years ago, dragon-boat racing has spread worldwide as a sport.  Baltimore is the setting for charity races every other year, but a group of enthusiasts got together in 2008 to make it an annual activity.  The Baltimore Dragon Boat Club is beginning its second full year this spring. 

Bright and early Sunday morning, club members gathered at the Living Classrooms Foundation at South Caroline and Lancaster streets to put a pair of the 41-foot boats in the water and take them for their first paddle of the year.  The water was frigid but calm as glass, and the harbor virtually empty as the two boats set out.  They graciously let me ride along, sitting up front in the drummer's usual spot - where I shot the photos you see here.  It was quite a ride!

"It's a great sport," club president John Pezzulla says.  Members range in age from 12 to 60 and are almost as diverse in their physical abilities.  It's a great upper body and cardio workout in one of the most scenic settings imaginable - the harbor.  The Pride of Baltimore II passed near us as we paddled out past Domino Sugar.   

While the paddling is good exercise, Pezzulla explains, the sport is all about "working together as a team."  To get those synchronized strokes down, they practice two or three times a week in preparation for races here and in cities across North America.  They have fun while working up a sweat, singing and chanting to the rhythm of their movement - all the while heeding the shouted instructions of the steersman.

The Baltimore club is hosting its own dragon-boat competition here on June 19.  They welcome new members, and are assembling a crew of breast-cancer survivors this year to race as a team - as have clubs in other cities. For details on the club, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Spring means flowers, showers - and cleaning.

But with the weather so nice lately, who wants to be stuck indoors cleaning their house? Get outside this weekend and join your neighbors in tidying up a nearby waterway.  Thousands will be doing just that on Saturday morning as part of Project Clean Stream.

What began 30 years ago as a local cleanup of the Jones Falls has spread to cover more than 150 sites across central Maryland and the Eastern Shore.  Last year, more than 2,600 volunteers pulled more than 320,000 pounds of trash and debris from area streams - a new record, according to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, which coordinates the annual event.   

Something tells me, though, that there won't be any shortage of stuff to get removed this year, since every rain washes new stuff into storm drains and the nearest body of water.

So if you love the water (and who doesn't?), get out there and show it.  Gloves and trash bags are provided, but you'll want to wear boots or old shoes and long pants. 

And if it's convenient, bring a rake or some other tool to help fish things out of the water or streamside brush. You'll get plenty of fresh air, exercise, cameraderie and good feelings from uncluttering your neighborhood stream. 

To join a stream cleanup near you, go here or contact Vickie Stinson at 410-377-6270 or vstinson@acb-online.org  One of my favorites is the colorfully named Bread and Cheese Creek in Dundalk, but there's sure to be a waterway near you that could use some freshening up.  In the city, there's the Gwynns Falls, Herring Run and Jones Falls.  

And if you can't make it to a Saturday morning cleanup, there are one or two Sunday as well, along the Patapsco River in the Catonsville-Ellicott City area.  Go here for details.

(2008 Baltimore Sun photos by Kim Hairston and Monica Lopossay; )

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Going Green, News, Volunteer
        

Earth Hour is upon us again. At 8:30 p.m. local time on Saturday (March 27), people around the world will be turning off their lights for an hour as a show of support for taking action on climate change.  Will you be one of them?

Begun in 2007 in Australia, the global demonstration is organized by the World Wildlife Fund, which says nearly a billion people joined in last year.  Iconic structures like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney’s Opera House, the Great Pyramids of Gaza and New York’s Empire State Building go dark for an hour.  As the time-lapse footage above of Shanghai shows, lights even get turned out in China, which now emits more climate-altering carbon dioxide than the United States.

Here in Baltimore, the lights will go out at City Hall and six nearby municipal buildings for an hour.  Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a press release encouraging residents and businesses to join the effort, noting that energy conservation is a money saver as well as a help for the climate. The average Baltimore home could save $250 a year by trimming its energy consumption 15 percent, she points out.

Is anyone else turning out their lights for Earth Hour?  Videos of the event are being uploaded here on YouTube.   And for the Twitterati, the hashtag is '#earthhour'

Continue reading "Switching it off for the Earth" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

If you're among those who worried about dumping dirty snow in the harbor, here's a chance to get involved in long-term cleanup of Baltimore's troubled waters. There's a workshop tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 20) aimed at crafting a plan for reducing the torrents of trash and filthy water washing into the harbor from the streets and yards of southeast Baltimore.

The half-day session, originally planned for last Saturday, was rescheduled because of our blizzards. Sponsored by the Baltimore Harbor Watershed Association, the session will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Casimir's Hall in Canton. St. Casimir's is at 2716 O'Donnell St., on the corner of O'Donnell and Kenwood Avenuve.

Residents and neighborhood leaders from Canton all the way inland to Clifton Park are invited to come talk about the problem and how to make the harbor and their neighborhoods cleaner and more livable - starting by keeping trash out of storm drains, as shown in the above photo.  Helping with the workshop are the Center for Watershed Protection, Morgan State University and Parks & People Foundation.  For more on the effort, go here.

For those who want to get a taste of how the harbor has changed over time, Dr. Ray Bahr, a retired cardiologist, amateur historian and watershed activist, is giving a lecture Saturday afternoon at the Canton Library about the history of the area, once known as Harris Creek.  See you there!

(Photo by Steve Ruark/Special to The Baltimore Sun)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Going Green, News, Urban Issues, Volunteer
        

In a year when green initiatives are few in Annapolis, Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. is pushing for creation of a "Chesapeake Conservation Corps" in the state.

The idea is to enlist students and young adults in community service projects promoting energy conservation and environmental protection while also training them for "green-collar" jobs in those fields. The bill was inspired by a proposal floated last fall in the Obama administration's draft Chesapeake Bay restoration strategy to create a multi-state conservation corps along similar lines.

Participants could get paid small stipends or college credit while being trained and performing various service projects, such as planting bay grasses or oysters, working on reducing runoff from farms, performing energy-saving audits for elderly and low-income households and working with schools and students. (Picture at left is of Marley Middle School students being instructed on planting grasses to help capture runoff from Marley Station Mall.)

The bill drew support from environmental groups at a hearing earlier this week in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. But there were also questions about how it would be financed and run, which have prompted Miller's staff to tweak the original idea by proposing some amendments.

Continue reading "Senate president pushes conservation corps" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Clean water comes at a price, but why can't you have fun while doing your part? The Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper is holding its second annual Trash Bash on Saturday, Sept. 19 to raise awareness and funds to support the nonprofit effort to clean up the harbor.

There'll be open-air music by Can't Hang, S.T.O.R.M., and Derek Sholl, a selection of eco-vendors to browse and booths selling beer and food. The bash is to run from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m., so paddle, pedal, walk or drive over to Nick's Fish House, 2600 Insulator Drive, on the Middle Branch off Hanover Street.  For directions, go here.

Tickets are $25 general admission or $100 for a VIP party featuring a seafood dinner, drinks and a silent auction. But you can get discounts of $5 or $25, respectively, if you buy tickets online by 3 p.m. Friday. Just click here to do that. 

That way you can help Eliza Smith Steinmeier, the waterkeeper, seen at left in her boat, get trash, sewage and other gunk out of the harbor without getting your hands dirty - provided you don't fall in the water!

(Baltimore Sun file photos by Elizabeth Malby & Glenn Fawcett)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

It's not too late to head to the beach. Why not plan on hitting Assateague Island National Seashore on Saturday (Sept. 19) and spend a few hours picking up butts and other trash littering the sand?

The ponies, birds and fish will thank you, and you'll be in great company. Last year, 2,600 volunteers collected something like 20,000 pounds of trash - everything from cigarette butts and drink cups to bicycles, porch blinds and a lawnmower.

The Assateague trash roundup, sponsored by Delmarva Power, is part of the 2009 Coastal Clean Up Day, in which volunteers police beaches all around the country. Trash bags will be provided, so  just bring work gloves, sunscreen and bug spray. For more info, go here or contact Assateague Coastal Trust by phone 410-629-1538 or email mail@actforbays.org

(July 2009 photo by Kim Hairston of The Baltimore Sun)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Who knew there was a creek in the Baltimore area with the savory-sounding name Bread and Cheese?

Well, there is, sure enough, in Dundalk. Unfortunately, as the photo above shows, this tributary of Back River and the Chesapeake Bay could use some help looking more appetizing.

There's a stream cleanup planned between Merritt Boulevard and Plainfield Road on Saturday, rain or shine, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Baltimore County is providing dumpsters and some gloves and hand tools, and area businesses have pledged water and snacks. All that's needed are volunteers like you, willing to wade in and reclaim a stream from bottles, bags, shopping carts, concrete blocks and assorted other human flotsam.

If you want to pitch in, wear boots or tennis shoes you don't mind getting a little wet. Long pants, gloves, hat, sunscreen and insect repellant also are recommended. A few more rakes, shovels, saws and axes wouldn't hurt, either. Nor would wheelbarrows or wagons.

To get there, go to Merritt Boulevard, turn on to German Hill Road headed east, then turn left (North) onto Plainfield Road. At the bottom of the hill you will see the three large dumpsters. Parking is available on the street or in a parking lot at the top of German Hill Road.

For more information, contact the cleanup's organizer, creekside resident John Long at (410) 285-1202 or Clean_Bread_And_Cheese_Creek@yahoo.com  And for more on the stream, go here.

(Photo by Kharstin, used here with permission of John Long)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

It's gardening time on the Chesapeake Bay - oyster gardening, that is.

With the bay's oysters depleted by disease and habitat loss, the state Department of Natural Resources and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation separately are trying to enlist waterfront residents in bringing the pollution-filtering bivalves back.  Oysters are one of the keys to the bay's restoration, since each large one can filter up to two gallons of water an hour.

After an initial tryout getting residents along the Tred Avon River to raise oysters, the state is expanding its "Marylanders Grow Oysters" campaign to 11 new rivers around the bay. Up to 5,000 cages with baby oyster "spat" bred in a state hatchery are to be distributed to pier owners willing to tend the shellfish over the next 10 to 12 months, so that they can be "planted" on the bay bottom next summer. For details on which rivers are being targeted and how to participate, go here.

The Annapolis-based bay foundation, meanwhile, is offering oyster gardening workshops in September and October for residents with water access.  Volunteers will be given several thousand "seed" oysters for cultivation, and taught how to build four wire-mesh cages in which to grow them. Once the oysters grow to one or two inches across, they're returned to the foundation, so its staff can plant them with volunteers' help in sanctuary waters off limits to commercial harvest. CBF has a brief video about its program that you can see here.  For details on the workshops and to sign up - there's a $75 fee - go here.

Growing oysters doesn't require special talent, just some dedication - mostly rinsing the cages every couple weeks to make sure they don't get fouled with marine organisms that keep water from flowing freely past the oysters inside.  You can get an idea what's involved in the photo above, of a cage hung off a pier a couple years back at the Captain Sam Avery House Museum in Annapolis.

Sadly, there probably aren't enough piers out there to put a big dent in the bay's oyster problems. But it's a great way to enlist waterfront residents in the effort to restore the Chesapeake, which needs all the help it can get.

(2007 Baltimore Sun Staff Photo by Amy Davis)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Going Green, News, Volunteer
        

Want to feel cleaner and greener? Volunteer this Sunday from 9 a.m.-noon for the Western Run Stream Clean Up. 

For the last 10 years, Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc. and the Jones Falls Watershed Association have partnered to sponsor the event. There are five more community associations involved, but they could still use some more volunteers. Organizers say in years past, people have come from all over the city to help.

In addition to stream clean up, this year the groups are sending out teams of volunteers to label storms drains to warn people about dumping pollutants -- there's no filter. All the stuff dumped goes right into area waterways and the harbor.

The goal is to label 50 to 100 drains and clean the Western Run Stream from Gulley Road (in Cross Country) to Mt. Washington Village. Both goals depend on the number of volunteers that show up.

If you're ready and able, e-mail or call Barry Kaminetz, CHAI Community Development Coordinator at bkaminetz@chaibaltimore.org or 410-318-8311 x15 or 410-382-2800. He needs to plan and have sufficient supplies.

Volunteers will meet in front of Cross Country Elementary/Middle School. Keep reading for directions. 

Continue reading "Free on Sunday? Go to a stream clean-up" »

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Volunteer