I tried to reach longtime environmentalist and Patuxent River activist Bernie Fowler to get his reaction on the Chesapeake Bay 2007 Report Card. He wasn't home, and it's just as well. I don't like to be the bearer of bad news.

And for Bernie, the news would be depressing indeed: the Patuxent River recieved the worst grades on the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's scorecard. The river, which meanders through suburban Howard, Anne Arundel and Carroll Counties before widening out into the bay at Solomons, got a D-minus. That would be a 20.

Unfortunately, the Pax isn't alone. Sharing the bottom spot with it are some of the prettiest and most frequently visited rivers in all of the state: the Severn, the South, the Magothy, the Rhode and the West.

What do they all have in common? Growth, urban and suburban runoff, erosion and development. They're all fairly close to or in rapidly developing areas.

There was a bit of good news; the Choptank, which scored so poorly last year, climbed the charts to a score of D-plus. And northern Baltimore residents will be glad to know that the Gunpowder, the Bush and the Middle rivers got the best grade, a B.

The report is online here and my story is here. There will be a lot more on this in tomorrow's Sun.