Press Release
Hilary Harp Falk, CBF president and long-time Smith Island visitor, interviewed alongside local residents
The plight of Smith Island, Maryland attracted national attention this week on CBS’s 60 Minutes. Smith Island, nestled off the coast of Crisfield in Tangier Sound, is one of Maryland’s most unique cultural and ecological places. It is also at the front lines of the climate crisis, facing immense threats from sea level rise, flooding, and erosion.
Sea level rise is occurring in the Chesapeake Bay region at one of the fastest rates in the nation. Smith Island was once one of dozens of inhabited islands in the Bay, most of which have been reclaimed by natural forces. Sea level rise on these islands is harming communities, erasing histories, and even displacing people from their homes. For centuries, the people of Smith Island have made their living off the bounty of the Bay—from fishing, crabbing, boating, and more. Those centuries-old traditions are now at risk from a combination of climate change and the pressures of pollution.
During a recent visit, 60 Minutes Correspondent Jon Wertheim interviewed residents about the island’s unique culture. He also met with Hilary Harp Falk, president and CEO of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), who spent many childhood summers on the island. In her early career, Harp Falk worked as one of CBF’s island educators. Prior to rejoining CBF as president and CEO in 2022, she was an executive at the National Wildlife Federation. Today, she is a partial owner of Smith Island property and frequently visits with her own family.
Harp Falk has seen Smith Island change before her eyes from both a personal and scientific perspective. She knows firsthand the importance of this place and its people, as well as what’s at stake if the climate crisis is not urgently addressed.
“When you spend time here, there’s a saying that you get mud between your toes,” Harp Falk told Wertheim in their interview. “It means that Smith Island never leaves you, that you will always be connected to this place. For those of us that have mud between our toes, we can understand what it [would mean] to not have Smith Island anymore.”
Maryland will likely see one to two feet of sea level rise by 2050 and more than four feet by 2100, according to projections from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For a low-lying area like Smith Island, where the average elevation is nearly at sea level, this would be devastating for families and infrastructure. Additionally, rising water temperatures place increasing pressure on many iconic Bay species like blue crabs, oysters, striped bass, and migratory birds, which are critical to Smith Island’s way of life and economy.
During the visit, Wertheim and Harp Falk visited Smith Island’s pelican rookery—the northernmost place where pelicans are known to nest on the East Coast. Nesting brown pelicans started appearing in Maryland around 25 years ago.
“These nesting pelicans have been moving north, summering in more northern places [as a result of the warming climate],” Harp Falk added.
Wertheim also interviewed Mary Ada Marshall, who made the renowned Smith Island Cake a state-honored delicacy, and other residents who call Smith Island home.
“We’re survivors,” said Marshall, who’s lived on Smith Island her whole life. “We learn how to adapt with the weather. It’s like a big family.”
While the challenges Smith Island faces are daunting, Harp Falk emphasizes hope. Many of the solutions being implemented to restore the Chesapeake Bay watershed-wide will also make coastal communities more resilient to climate change—work such as planting trees, restoring oyster reefs, building living shorelines, and practicing regenerative agriculture.
Smith Island serves as an important reminder that collaboration and national investment is urgently needed to create more resilient communities and healthier waterways around the country.
It is also a place where CBF educates the next generation of climate champions. CBF’s Smith Island Environmental Education Center has hosted over 95,000 students, teachers, and other learners since it opened roughly 46 years ago. Here, students collect scientific data, explore wetlands, observe underwater grass beds and oyster reefs, and gain a hands-on appreciation for the Chesapeake Bay.
The plight Smith Island faces from climate change is being experienced by communities around the world. While these challenges are immense, there are solutions. States leadership on climate change and environmental issues will be critical during the current federal transition. CBF urges leaders to make strong investments in Smith Island’s natural resources and infrastructure to better protect those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
This video is being shared from the “60 Minutes” YouTube channel. © CBS News/60 Minutes
Piedmont Reliability Project Must Properly Mitigate Threats to Habitat and Water Quality
Over 500 acres of protected land, including vulnerable forests and high-quality watersheds, would be threatened by the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, according to a new analysis by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). In the fight for cleaner water across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, CBF today issued new geospatial data regarding how the controversial proposed transmission lines in Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Counties would harm wetlands, forests, and habitat.
“If done thoughtlessly, this project would be a huge backslide on Maryland’s robust environmental investments,” said Gussie Maguire, CBF Maryland Staff Scientist. “But we are not powerless. Maryland can and must enforce strict regulations to minimize and mitigate the environmental losses from this project, and ensure support for affected communities.”
Data summary
According to CBF’s Geographic Information System (GIS) findings, the transmission line’s right-of-way will cut through:
- 514 acres of protected area, including Maryland agricultural preservation foundation easements (a vast majority at 374 acres), Forest Conservation Act acres, and a portion of Gunpowder Falls State Park;
- 483 acres of Tier II watershed—a classification of high-quality watershed acres that represent the cleanest water and most valuable habitat in Maryland;
- 377 acres of forest cover, which filter carbon from the atmosphere and keep streams cool in the face of climate change;
- 47 acres of wetlands, which prevent pollution by soaking up excess nutrients and provide quality habitat; and,
- 125 acres of riparian buffer, or vegetation surrounding streams and water bodies that improves water quality and environmental benefits.
CBF’s GIS survey data was derived from information released by the project developer, utility company Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc (PSEG), and assumes a 150-foot-wide easement around the length of the transmission line.
Background
In October, PSEG announced a proposed route for the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, which the company said would deprioritize environmental concerns. All three counties where the line will intercede—Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick—have fiercely opposed the project.
Maryland’s electric grid operator, PJM, asserts that a high-powered transmission line is necessary due to the growing demand for power from data centers in Northern Virginia. The proposed 500,000-volt transmission line’s area of impact would be roughly 70 miles long and 550 feet wide.
PSEG still needs to submit a permit application to the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) before the project can proceed. That application is expected before the end of 2024.
Why It Matters
If classified as necessary utility infrastructure, this project would be exempt from Maryland’s Forest Conservation Act, including conservation and reforestation requirements. However, PSC’s permit could include additional conditions that effectively minimize the line’s environmental harm wherever possible and enforce mitigation requirements where avoidance is not possible.
This is the first of 10 transmission lines that PSEG intends to construct through Maryland. It is paramount that PSC sets a strong precedent with this initial permit, enforcing the highest environmental standards and ensuring maximum remediation for affected communities.
As the state moves towards a greener grid and electrification of appliances and cars, more power will be needed. However, the deforestation and environmental devastation required would contradict many of Maryland’s climate change goals. It is much more cost-effective to preserve high-quality waterways upfront than to try and restore streams and landscapes after devastation occurs.
Preserved forests and wetlands in the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay watershed are some of the most effective water filtration systems and fighters of climate change. They provide habitat for many of Maryland’s most beloved wildlife species who are already experiencing forest fragmentation and habitat loss from intense development pressure.
Residents voiced their concerns last week during a series of public hearings in Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Counties. CBF encourages concerned advocates to email questions and comments directly to the Maryland PSC inbox at piedmontcomments.psc@maryland.gov.
Cuffs Run proposal would destroy a ‘phenomenal natural area’
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is considering its next move in the fight against plans to create a hydroelectric facility in York County and build a 1.8-mile-long dam and flood 580 acres of farms, fields, and forests at Cuffs Run.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today granted a preliminary permit to York Energy Storage LLC, for a 1,000-acre pumped-storage hydroelectric facility proposed for Cuffs Run, near the Susquehanna River.
“This is a phenomenal natural area, and this facility is the wrong project, in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” said Paul Smail, Vice President for Litigation and General Counsel at CBF. “We will review FERC’s order at length and determine how best to proceed. Make no mistake about it, we remain committed in the long term to opposing this project.”
Smail said CBF questions how FERC could grant the fourth consecutive preliminary permit application for the same project, when others were denied in the past, and again place substantial burdens on the region. He also noted that FERC’s ruling could lead to severe threats to people and the landscape, a concern expressed by so many.
As a next step, CBF could petition FERC within 30 days for a rehearing. If FERC’s decision to grant the permit is left standing, CBF could then consider appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
In March, CBF filed a motion to intervene in the administrative proceedings and also filed a protest and comments on the project. CBF previously joined other groups in signing a letter to FERC, urging it to deny the preliminary permit application.
Smail said CBF stands with the Lancaster Conservancy, Susquehanna River Heritage Area, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, and other partners in opposing the project, as well as local, state and federal officials, and residents and businesses who filed hundreds and hundreds of comments opposing the permit application.
CBF collected signatures from 462 of its members in Pennsylvania on a petition urging FERC to deny the preliminary permit.
Opposing the Cuffs Run project is a unique opportunity to work in partnership with groups to defend water quality, wildlife habitat, natural resources and public access to those resources, and private property rights in a predominantly agricultural community in York County.
The $2.5 billion project at Cuffs Run would do irrevocable harm to Cuffs Run and the Susquehanna River and includes projected displacement of 40 families. Water would be pumped from the Susquehanna to fill a reservoir and flood roughly 580 acres and homes. Flooding and clear cutting of habitats will result in increased risk of erosion and destroy vital wildlife habitat along Cuffs Run and the river. The proposal is in direct contradiction to Pennsylvania’s commitments under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement.
Lost would be carbon sequestering forests, prime farmland, and conservation lands. Naturally reproducing brook trout would be devastated. Vital habitats for plants and animals classified as of special concern would be obliterated. Gone too would be part of the Mason Dixon Trail, recognized by the National Park Service as a heritage trail.
“I had the fortunate experience to hike part of the Mason Dixon trail to Cuffs Run,” said Trisha Salvia, CBF Staff Attorney in Pennsylvania. “The cascading waterfalls and unique rock formations takes you to another world. This beautiful part of York County needs to be protected to let others experience it, nature to thrive, and Cuffs Run to continue to flow into the Susquehanna River. CBF will continue working to ensure Cuffs Run is protected for future generations.”
Other Milestones Include Mobile Oyster Barges Anniversary & “Shellabration”
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) celebrates a near record-breaking year for its oyster gardening program in Virginia as November marks Virginia Oyster Month.
This comes as CBF joined partners to participate in the “Shellabration” in Hampton, as well as commemorated the five-year anniversary of the beloved barges that make up CBF’s cutting-edge mobile oyster restoration center. All three developments marked milestones for CBF during Virginia’s month dedicated to this iconic Chesapeake Bay bivalve.
This year’s oyster gardening program saw the second-highest ever participation with 627 volunteers across Virginia’s tidal waterways raising and returning over 110,000 oysters in 2024. Significantly, the number of oyster gardeners who raise their oysters at public docks and marinas rather than private waterfront property doubled to 64 families and organizations.
“It changed the trajectory of my life. At first, you start raising oysters to give back to the planet,” said Claire Neubert, a public oyster gardener for CBF at the Hampton docks. “I live in an urban environment, and it’s amazing to find these babies flourish given all the challenges they face. At the end of the day, it really becomes a question of who’s growing who.”
Oyster gardeners raise baby oysters to adults over the course of a year. The oysters grow in wire cages off docks to eventually be planted on sanctuary reefs. Because adult oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, the oysters returned to CBF this year as adults will end up filtering more than 5 million gallons of water a day.
“There’s nothing quite like the connection between these baby oysters and their foster parents. The dedication and love it takes to raise these oysters, from cleaning cages to sending them off to live out on sanctuary reefs, is nothing short of special,” said Jessica Lutzow, CBF’s Virginia Oyster Restoration Specialist.
Floating Oyster Restoration Center Marks Five Years
At the same time, CBF’s mobile barges marked five years since their 2019 christening as the Prudence H. and Louis F. Ryan Mobile Oyster Restoration Center. These two linked barges hold six 850-gallon tanks and can travel from one Virginia river to the next, allowing CBF to restore local oyster populations more efficiently. By giving oysters a place to attach to recycled shells and other alternative substrate such as reef balls before their planting on nearby sanctuary reefs, these barges have been instrumental as the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance marks 6 billion oysters added to the Bay.
After cleaning, CBF expects the barges to be briefly reunited in the coming weeks prior to one of the barges moving to the Hampton River for oyster restoration work.
A ‘Shellabration’ in Hampton
Most recently, the CBF oyster team hosted educational demonstrations November 16 on the oyster’s life cycle for the third annual “Shellabration,” a free festival in Hampton honoring the Chesapeake Bay and organized by the Downtown Hampton Development Partnership.
“Shellabration is great way to educate and engage the community in the exciting plans that are creating synergy around oyster restoration in the Hampton River,” CBF’s Virginia Oyster Restoration Manager Jackie Shannon said.
Learn more about CBF’s oyster restoration work in Virginia.
Bloombox, Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) will celebrate and support efforts for cleaner waters in Lancaster County as part of ExtraGive on Friday, Nov. 22.
“Our important end-of-year giving season gets underway with Lancaster ExtraGive,” said Julia Krall, CBF Executive Director for Pennsylvania. “We appreciate how generous donors through Lancaster ExtraGive have been for our critical work for more resilient local rivers and streams and look forward to their support again on Nov. 22.”
That day, CBF staff and a rainfall simulator will be on location at Bloombox’s Second Chance Plants at 1201 Harrisburg Pike in Lancaster (corner of Dillersville Road) from noon to 3 p.m. The rainfall simulator demonstrates how water runs off different land uses.
“We can raise an additional $3,000 between noon and 3 p.m., thanks to a match by David Bender,” said Brenda Sieglitz, CBF Director of Major Giving. “Feel free to join us in person at Bloombox for in-person conservation demonstrations and activities.”
“We are thrilled to host an in-person event with CBF at our retail location to allow customers to experience our partnership in real time,” said Bloombox Co-Founder David Zablocki. “Attendees will be able to learn about ways they can positively impact the health of the Chesapeake Bay, all while getting into the Christmas spirit surrounded by locally and sustainably sourced wintergreens.”
Later in the day Nov. 22, CBF staff will be at Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse on 112 N. Water St., in Lancaster for ExtraGive from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. They will meet and greet the public with clean water-inspired goodies and plenty of information. According to Zoetropolis, the groups Gentilo and Carlos Elliot Jr./Phase Materia are playing that night. Doors open for that at 7 p.m.
“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a natural choice for us to support the ExtraGive,” said Nate Boring, founder of Lancaster Distilleries. “Their work to preserve and improve the conditions of our streams and ultimately the Bay are second to none. Please consider choosing the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for your donations now during the ExtraGive as well as throughout the year.”
CBF is in the early stages of coordinating its third watershed management plan within Lancaster County; this one on the 17.6 square-mile Conejohela Flats area, including the Boroughs of Columbia and Mountville, and Manor and West Hempfield townships. CBF’s previous plans were for the Pequea Creek and the Upper Conestoga River.
CBF also collaborates with local partners to plant a multitude of trees in Lancaster County through CBF’s Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership.
Donate and learn more about Lancaster ExtraGive.
The Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership (K10) is at it again, doing the dirty work of adding 130,000 new trees for Pennsylvania during the fall planting season.
“We were able to distribute the trees across 30 different locations throughout Pennsylvania, to over 100 of our partners,” said Marley McKind, Manager of the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). The Partnership is coordinated by CBF and has grown to over 300 partners.
Roughly 28,000 miles of Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams are damaged by polluted runoff and the legacy of coal mining. Trees, especially when planted as riparian buffers, are the most cost-effective tools for cleaning and protecting waterways.
Trees filter and absorb polluted runoff, stabilize streambanks, and improve soil quality. They also help address climate change by cooling the air and sequestering carbon.
“Seeing the level of enthusiasm and passion for planting trees from our partners, communities and individual landowners throughout the Keystone State is what makes this work worth doing,” McKind added.
Katie Ruth, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, said PA-IPL received requests from its volunteers for about 35,000 K10 trees for the fall season and has 33 volunteer-led distribution sites across the Commonwealth.
“The majority of our distribution locations are within the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” Ruth said. “We have committed network partnerships in 20 Pennsylvania counties and have reached program participants in an additional 35 counties. This represents 85 percent coverage of the state’s 67 counties.”
Grants for a tree planting coordinated by award-winning volunteers and another grant for tree survival are also supporting the Partnership.
A $4,000 grant from The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful® will provide new trees that will be planted at McCaskey High School in the City of Lancaster on Nov. 9. The effort will be led by Mira Lloyd Dock Partnership Diversity Award recipients Marlisa Yoder-Bontrager, and twin sisters Keisha and Tarsha Scovens. The Dock Award is presented by the K10 for conservation and environmental justice work in under-represented communities.
A $75,000 tree survival grant to the K10 by the Foxwynd Foundation of Chester County, will help newly planted trees along Pennsylvania streams live longer, grow stronger, and have a better chance to clean and protect local waters.
Maintenance in riparian buffers, supported by the Foxwynd grant may include straightening, removing or replacing tree shelters after storms, and checking for competing vegetation inside shelters. Other work could include removing bird nets from shelters with trees growing out the top, applying herbicides, and mowing around trees.
As new trees go into the ground this fall, the Partnership is looking ahead to 2025. “As we look forward to next year, we’re excited to continue fostering connections, streamlining tree distributions, and getting more trees in the ground,” Marley McKind added. “As we like to say, it all adds up to clean water!”
Learn more about the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership.
On Friday, October 18, Maryland policymakers, environmental partners, and farmers visited two Frederick County farms that are improving soil health, water quality, climate resilience, and biodiversity through regenerative agriculture.
The event, coordinated by Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and Mobilize Frederick, demonstrated regenerative agriculture in action and highlighted its benefits for both local farmers and the environment. Regenerative agriculture practices such as crop diversification and rotation, and rotational livestock grazing, can improve soil health and mitigate a farm’s carbon footprint.
“Maryland farmers are on the forefront of regenerative farming innovation. And its benefits are clear,” said Rob Schnabel, CBF Restoration Scientist. “Agriculture can continue to be a problem for the Chesapeake Bay, or can be the solution. The farms spotlighted at this event are a prime example of regenerative agriculture being a solution for water quality and quantity, as well as climate resilience and biodiversity.”
Event attendees toured two Frederick County farms that are implementing regenerative agriculture practices, including Holterholm Farm, a grazing dairy farm, and Open Book Farm, a diversified grazing and vegetable farm.
“The key to regenerative agriculture is that it’s a systems approach,” said Ron Holter, fifth-generation farmer of Holterholm Farm. “It’s healthier for our farm, it’s healthier for the environment, and it’s healthier for our community.”
During the event, presenters showed the immediate water quality benefits of these practices through rain simulators, slake soil tests, and greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration calculators. Presenters included representatives of CBF, University of Maryland Extension, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and other partners.
“Climate change is affecting the weather patterns in Frederick County, with more frequent droughts alternating with flooding rains,” said Karen Cannon, Mobilize Frederick Executive Director. “Regenerative agriculture is the key to mitigating the impacts of climate change and helping the county’s farmers build a sustainable local food system.”
The top principles of regenerative agriculture include:
- Minimizing negative disturbances like tillage and pesticides that can impact soil biology;
- Always keeping soil covered with crops to prevent erosion;
- Diverse plant cover;
- Prolonging root life to maintain photosynthesis and sequester carbon, and;
- Adding livestock for grass grazing and manure probiotics that encourage deeper root growth.
Implementing these practices across the Chesapeake Bay watershed would be one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to meet the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint‘s clean water goals. States including Maryland must invest in the financial and technical assistance that farmers need to implement regenerative practices to meet these pollution reduction goals.
Learn more about regenerative agriculture and how it benefits the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
This project is made possible through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Kati Grigsby, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Hampton Roads Restoration Coordinator, was named as a Top 40 Under 40 professional by Inside Business this week.
This prestigious award by Inside Business recognizes exceptional young professionals in the Hampton Roads region for their leadership, innovation, and dedication to their communities.
As the Hampton Roads restoration coordinator, Grigsby plays a crucial role in CBF’s efforts to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay. Her work involves identifying, designing, permitting, and implementing projects such as living shorelines, vegetated buffers, and rain gardens. These efforts protect homes and communities from erosion, storms, flooding and sea level rise.
“I am incredibly grateful to be recognized by Top 40 Under 40,” said Grigsby. “It is an honor to be among such a talented group of individuals who are making a positive impact on our community. I am passionate about my work at CBF and am committed to continuing to restore the Chesapeake Bay for future generations.”
In 2022, Grigsby managed the installation of a 718-foot living shoreline of oyster reefs and marsh vegetation at a waterfront home in Portsmouth, Virginia. Just this past year, she’s overseen the installation of more living shorelines from the Eastern Shore to Hampton.
Rather than hard barriers like bulkheads or riprap, living shorelines use natural systems to make waterfront property more resilient to erosion and sea level rise. Living shorelines also reduce pollution, beautify the waterway, and create habitat for wildlife.
“Kati is a valuable member of CBF and our community,” said Ann Jurczyk, CBF’s Virginia Manager of Urban Restoration. “Her passion for environmental restoration and her commitment to making a difference are inspiring. We are proud to have her as part of our team and excited she received this well-deserved honor.”
Grigsby’s dedication to her work is evident in her professional goals. In the next five years, she aims to restore 3,000 linear feet of the Hampton River shoreline, including the installation of acres of intertidal oyster reefs and thousands of wetland plants. She also hopes to continue to support the restoration of Mattanock, the Nansemond Indian Nation’s land on the Nansemond River.
Learn more about Kati Grigsby and her work at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Kati GrigsbyChesapeake Bay Foundation Partners With ODU in “Healing Through the Land” Event
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is proud to partner with Old Dominion University (ODU) for a “Healing Through the Land” panel discussion with Tribal leaders on Oct. 21.
The discussion will explore the connections between land stewardship, health equity, and the lived experiences of Virginia’s Indigenous citizens. This event, part of the year-long Big Read initiative at ODU funded by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant, will take place on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Big Blue Room, Chartway Arena.
The free discussion is open to the public and will highlight how the generations-old relationship Indigenous people have with the land shapes their health and well-being today. CBF’s Virginia Policy Manager Jay Ford will moderate a panel discussion with Tribal leaders throughout Virginia.
“The Chesapeake Bay watershed is vital to the health and well-being of countless communities, and Indigenous people have a deep-rooted connection to the land that has shaped their lives for generations,” said Lisa Renee Jennings, CBF’s Hampton Roads Grassroots Coordinator. “By exploring this relationship and its impact on health equity, we hope to inspire meaningful conversations and action.”
“Healing Through the Land” is part of ODU’s 2024-25 NEA Big Read theme, “Health Equity: Where We Live.” The initiative promotes a shared reading experience of “Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body” by Rebekah Taussig, which highlights themes of health equity, diversity and inclusion.
According to ODU’s Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, ODU will host several programs throughout the year touching on these topics and diving into important conversations about accessible healthcare and the well-being of all communities. Learn more details about the event and register.
A grant of $500,000 to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) was one of a dozen new grants totaling more than $3.4 million announced this week that will improve water quality and fish and wildlife habitat in parts of Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay watershed and other watersheds.
The grants, announced on Wednesday, are funded by the Section 319 Grant program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and selected by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The Section 319 Grant program provides funding to projects that address nonpoint source runoff, such as from certain agricultural activities.
The grant to CBF is for designing and implementing 100 new forested riparian buffer acres and maintaining existing buffers on agricultural lands, prioritizing projects in Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Franklin, Adams, Bedford, Centre, Clinton, Lebanon, Lycoming, Mifflin, and Juniata counties.
Trees and shrubs planted streamside as forested riparian buffers absorb and filter runoff before it reaches the water.
Julia Krall, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Executive Director for Pennsylvania, said:
“The 12 grants awarded from the EPA and selected by the DEP amplify Governor Josh Shapiro’s commitment that the Commonwealth ‘is all in,’ and plans to continue its clean water work to benefit local waters and the Chesapeake Bay for the long haul.”
Kristen Heberlig, CBF Resiliency Program Manager in Pennsylvania said:
“The $500,000 grant to CBF strengthens our forested riparian buffer work already underway in critical Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Franklin, Adams, Bedford, and Centre counties. Just as important, it allows us to expand the vital conservation practice of buffers in Clinton, Lebanon, Lycoming, Mifflin and Juniata counties.
“The investments help continue our decades-long partnerships with farmers in Lancaster County and elsewhere. The supported projects help landowners create a legacy of healthy soils and resilient farms.”
