In Our Communities

Volunteers of all ages plant native grasses along Annapolis' Parkwood neighborhood shoreline.

Tom Zolper/CBF Staff

Engaging Communities for Cleaner Water

From public meetings and adult education classes to numerous hands-on volunteer activities, CBF engages residents and teaches them ways to protect the Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries.

But it doesn't stop there. CBF is also an active partner in local restoration efforts spearheaded by community organizations throughout the watershed.

CBF is also active in agricultural communities, helping scores of farmers find funding and implement conservation practices that have dramatically reduced pollution running off their land.

See the section navigation for projects we're working on and ways to get involved. Our latest community stories are listed below. You can also check our Programs & Initiatives and our calendar for more information about activities in your area.

Stories from Our Communities

Save the Bay Newsletter: Living Shorelines, Urban Farms, and People-Centered Conservation

November 16, 2023

This month, we discuss what it means to center people in conservation. When we do it successfully, it not only moves watershed restoration forward, but also builds community.
Little Pieces of Life, Green, and Community

November 9, 2023

In building local food systems that support community and environmental wellbeing, small and urban farms have an outsized impact.
Living Shoreline Builds Resilience—and Community

November 8, 2023

This summer, roughly 90 volunteers from all walks of life came together for 10 weeks to restore waterfront in Portsmouth, Virginia. Community and comradery ensued.
A Place for People

November 6, 2023

There are more than 18 million people who live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, who don’t all look the same, have the same background, or speak the same language. But we are connected by the right—not the privilege—to clean water.
What Would a Dream Food System Look Like?

October 23, 2023

CBF's Clagett Farm Vegetable Production Manager Jared Planz discusses the value of eating local.
Tackling Pollution Hotspots

October 18, 2023

CBF’s Brian Gish discusses the pollution challenges in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County and the best way to approach them.
Gas Compressor Expansion Threatens Public Health and Water Quality in Petersburg, Virginia

September 11, 2023

TC Energy, the company that operates a gas compressor in Petersburg—a small city outside of Richmond, Virginia—is planning to expand its operations. The proposal would increase pollution and possibly endanger the health of a mostly Black community already besieged with pollution from other industries.