Today is Blackwater Appreciation Day on the Eastern Shore. If you are in the Cambridge area, or just passing through, you might want to head to Stump Farm - 2279 Church Creek Rd. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is throwing a party to celebrate a rare victory -- the vote by the Maryland Critical Areas Commission to allow a developer to build a big, dumb development near the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and along the Little Blackwater River. The Bay Foundation says: "This is truly monumental and, in fact, the first time a "growth allocation" has been denied by the CAC."

If you were among the 27,000 who signed the CBF's petition against Blackwater Resort, the CBF suggests sending a thank-you note to the CAC for its decision. It never hurts to say thanks, but in my book the CAC did what it should have done all along -- protect an area designated as critical in the Chesapeake watershed. This proposal, which would have doubled the size of Cambridge within a decade or so, countered not only critical areas principles but the goals of Smart Growth. The governor took a walk on the whole thing, saying it was a local issue. But the CAC, appointed by the governor, decided otherwise. The critical areas of the bay are everyone's business and should be protected by the state.