http://www.bayjournal.com Primary channel for articles en news@bayjournal.com Copyright 2013 2013-04-01T15:51:49+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/letters_to_the_editor http://www.bayjournal.com/article/letters_to_the_editor#When:18:26:29Z DNR perch policies show lack of knowledge as to how market works The yellow perch tag issue in the article "Priming the market for perch on the plate" (March 2013) is far more complicated than Tony Friedrich of the Coastal Conservation Association acknowledged. Tags are the direct result of… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-05T18:26:29+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/choose_plants_to_honor_those_youve_picked_as_friends http://www.bayjournal.com/article/choose_plants_to_honor_those_youve_picked_as_friends#When:18:03:14Z Planted a little shadbush in my front yard the other day for Larry Simns, a Chesapeake waterman friend, recently deceased. It's one of the ways I pay my respects, foster life in death's face, green the shadows, mark the passage—a long habit begun when my first wife was terminally… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-05T18:03:14+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/its_time_for_us_to_go_to_war_again_over_american_shad http://www.bayjournal.com/article/its_time_for_us_to_go_to_war_again_over_american_shad#When:17:49:48Z Alosa sapidissima — the American Shad. In Latin, its name translates to "most savory herring," yet the shad's exquisite flavor so craved by Chesapeake people for thousands of years is unknown to most folks in today's watershed. For millennia, as March howled away leaving April in its… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-05T17:49:48+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/sav_chesapeake_sav_plunges_to_lowest_levels_since_1986 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/sav_chesapeake_sav_plunges_to_lowest_levels_since_1986#When:22:21:17Z The amount of underwater grasses in the Chesapeake plunged 44 percent over the last three years, leaving the Bay with its lowest coverage of the crucial plants since 1986 — about the time cleanup efforts began. Aerial survey data from 2012 show that submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV,… Pollution, Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T22:21:17+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/journey_of_shorebirds_horseshoe_crabs_to_shore_linked_through_the_ages http://www.bayjournal.com/article/journey_of_shorebirds_horseshoe_crabs_to_shore_linked_through_the_ages#When:16:22:25Z What has an armored body; five pairs of legs; a long, pointed tail; is related to spiders; and has changed very little over the last 360 million years? The horseshoe crab! Named for its distinctive horseshoe-shaped body, the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is found along the Atlantic Coast… Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T16:22:25+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/canada_warbler_right_place_at_right_time_in_right_frame_of_mind http://www.bayjournal.com/article/canada_warbler_right_place_at_right_time_in_right_frame_of_mind#When:16:02:05Z The early morning air was cool and evening dew hung heavily on the grass. Before us, a lovely stream slipped down a narrow valley. Birdsong filled the still-brightening sky, and all around us were the darting images of birds in flight. Straight ahead, at the spot where the terrain leveled off,… Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T16:02:05+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/buddies_bay_buddies http://www.bayjournal.com/article/buddies_bay_buddies#When:03:58:37Z Are you at the top in your class or is your head in the clouds? Here are some words that are related to mountains. Can you match them with their definition? Answers are on page 26. ALTITUDE BALD ELEVATION HEADWATERS HILL MOUNTAIN PEAK RIDGE SADDLE SUMMIT TALUS TIMBERLINE 1. This… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:58:37+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/challenge_chesapeake_challenge http://www.bayjournal.com/article/challenge_chesapeake_challenge#When:03:53:01Z How high can you score in this quiz about some of the taller points in the states of the Chesapeake watershed? Here are selected sites to match with their descriptions. (Unless noted otherwise, these sites are in the watershed.) Answers are on page 26. Catoctin Mountain, MD Ebright Azimuth, DE… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:53:01+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/gate_chesapeake_bay_gateways_watertrails http://www.bayjournal.com/article/gate_chesapeake_bay_gateways_watertrails#When:03:40:53Z From the heights of Fort Washington Park, the shores of the Potomac River frame the skyline of the nation's capital with the Washington Monument jutting toward the sky. Today, the city is a seat of national and international power, backed by an enormous military force with missiles,… Conservation + Land Use, Heritage + History, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:40:53+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/acb_alliance_for_the_chesapeake_bay http://www.bayjournal.com/article/acb_alliance_for_the_chesapeake_bay#When:03:35:37Z In the late 1990s, I moved to Maryland to teach in a public middle school, a career that I thoroughly enjoyed before being drawn into in the environmental world. On a beautiful cold day in February, I once again found myself standing in front of a classroom of students, trying to convince them… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:35:37+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/karl_editors_note_bay_needs_more_than_a_bandage_for_death_by_a_thousand_cut http://www.bayjournal.com/article/karl_editors_note_bay_needs_more_than_a_bandage_for_death_by_a_thousand_cut#When:03:33:07Z Last issue, I reported about a recent study that linked watersheds with high levels of impervious surfaces to poor yellow perch reproduction. That study, and others like it increasingly suggest that land disturbance and development may pose the greatest threat to the Bay's aquatic resources,… Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:33:07+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/jobs_maryland_pennsylvania_name_new_leaders_for_environmental_department_po http://www.bayjournal.com/article/jobs_maryland_pennsylvania_name_new_leaders_for_environmental_department_po#When:03:31:04Z Two top environmental agencies in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are about to get new leadership. John Griffin, secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, will be moving on to the chief of staff position for Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration. Griffin has been secretary since… Politics + Policy, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:31:04+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/birdcount_flyway_winter_waterfowl_survey_counts_more_geese_but_fewer_ducks http://www.bayjournal.com/article/birdcount_flyway_winter_waterfowl_survey_counts_more_geese_but_fewer_ducks#When:03:20:24Z Biologists this year reported an overall increase in the number of waterfowl along Maryland's Chesapeake Bay shoreline and Atlantic Coast compared with what they observed during the 2012 midwinter waterfowl survey. Crews counted more Canada geese and snow geese but observed fewer ducks… Conservation + Land Use, Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:20:24+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/crabsex_male_to_female_blue_crab_ratio_in_bay_at_sustainable_level http://www.bayjournal.com/article/crabsex_male_to_female_blue_crab_ratio_in_bay_at_sustainable_level#When:03:10:00Z Female blue crabs probably don't have to worry about not having enough males to go around. After reviewing available data, scientists believe the ratio of males to females in the Bay is adequate to sustain a healthy blue crab stock, at least for now. The issue stems from efforts that… Fisheries, Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T03:10:00+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/crabsurvey_bays_blue_crab_numbers_drop_robust_female_population_offers_hope http://www.bayjournal.com/article/crabsurvey_bays_blue_crab_numbers_drop_robust_female_population_offers_hope#When:02:38:58Z The ubiquitous plastic bags and bottles that litter streets, rivers and beaches around the Bay and its watershed create an eyesore and a threat to wildlife that may ingest or become entangled in them. But increasingly, scientists around the region, and the globe, wonder whether tiny bits of… Fisheries, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T02:38:58+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/cleanup_potomac_cleanup_collects_286500_pounds_of_litter http://www.bayjournal.com/article/cleanup_potomac_cleanup_collects_286500_pounds_of_litter#When:02:30:16Z In 25 years of cleaning up the Potomac River, volunteers in the Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup have seen it all: refrigerators, cars, beer bottles — even toilets cast off into the nation's river. This year's cleanup was no exception. As of late April, 5,723 volunteers… People + Society, Pollution, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T02:30:16+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/wildfowl_initiative_hopes_to_prevent_development_near_wildfowl_hotspot http://www.bayjournal.com/article/wildfowl_initiative_hopes_to_prevent_development_near_wildfowl_hotspot#When:02:01:45Z Every year, thousands of snow geese and tundra swans descend on the farm fields surrounding a small Pennsylvania lake for one of the biggest meals of their lives. For more than two weeks, the birds graze on corn stubble, other leftovers and winter wheat in the farm fields around Middle Creek, a… Conservation + Land Use, People + Society, Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-05-01T02:01:45+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/plastics_invisible_microplastics_a_threat_to_bottom_of_marine_food_web http://www.bayjournal.com/article/plastics_invisible_microplastics_a_threat_to_bottom_of_marine_food_web#When:23:51:17Z The ubiquitous plastic bags and bottles that litter streets, rivers and beaches around the Bay and its watershed create an eyesore and a threat to wildlife that may ingest or become entangled in them. But increasingly, scientists around the region, and the globe, wonder whether tiny bits of… Pollution, Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T23:51:17+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/infrastructure_its_time_to_pay_the_piper_as_cities_aging_infrastructures_ne http://www.bayjournal.com/article/infrastructure_its_time_to_pay_the_piper_as_cities_aging_infrastructures_ne#When:23:08:16Z It's 10 a.m. in Southwest Baltimore, and a city crew has been here for five hours. Traffic cones direct cars through an obstacle course on Maiden Choice Lane, just across the city line from the suburb of Catonsville. Earlier, water was rushing through the street but now there is just waiting.… Politics + Policy, Pollution, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T23:08:16+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/runoff_new_techniques_sharply_reduce_cost_of_controlling_stormwater_runoff http://www.bayjournal.com/article/runoff_new_techniques_sharply_reduce_cost_of_controlling_stormwater_runoff#When:22:58:17Z Emerging stormwater control techniques have the potential to sharply reduce the cost of controlling stormwater runoff from the region's developed landscapes, a new report suggests. Few issues have caused more heartburn among local government officials than the billions-of-dollars projected… Politics + Policy, Pollution, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T22:58:17+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/legis_legislators_fund_windpower_in_md_water_quality_projects_in_va http://www.bayjournal.com/article/legis_legislators_fund_windpower_in_md_water_quality_projects_in_va#When:22:42:40Z Environmentalists won on wind farms and the uranium mining ban and lost on black liquor and fracking. Pesticides? Probably a draw. The legislative sessions of Maryland and Virginia were full of both predictable bills and surprises — with some long-sought victories, a few bitter defeats and a… Politics + Policy, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T22:42:40+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/chesapeake_bay_stewardship_grants_available http://www.bayjournal.com/article/chesapeake_bay_stewardship_grants_available#When:22:28:16Z The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will award between $8 million and $10 million late this summer in grants from its Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund for projects that restore habitat and improve water quality in the Bay and its tributary rivers and streams. Proposals are sought for grants… Politics + Policy, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T22:28:16+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/budget_many_bay_related_programs_fare_well_under_proposed_budget http://www.bayjournal.com/article/budget_many_bay_related_programs_fare_well_under_proposed_budget#When:21:58:44Z The Bay region lost a bid for a major federal initiative to conserve Chesapeake landscapes, but several agencies would see increased funding under President Obama's proposed 2014 budget. Exactly how much of those increases will become reality is unclear, though, as the actual job of… Conservation + Land Use, Politics + Policy, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T21:58:44+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/growing_concern_mattawoman_watershed_at_a_tipping_point http://www.bayjournal.com/article/growing_concern_mattawoman_watershed_at_a_tipping_point#When:21:34:46Z If there was a place in the Chesapeake watershed where people might have learned to grow greenly, it was Southern Maryland's Mattawoman Creek, a lesson in sustainability long begging to be learned. Forty years ago, the 19-mile-long tributary of the Potomac, 25 miles downstream and a world… Conservation + Land Use, Fisheries, Politics + Policy, Pollution, Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-28T21:34:46+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/1812_events_round_up http://www.bayjournal.com/article/1812_events_round_up#When:01:05:39Z It's a star-spangled season for the Chesapeake Bay region as parks, communities and historic sites present a large slate of festivals and other events to commemorate the War of 1812. Here are some suggestions to get visitors started. Some events are free, while others have fees or require… Bay Journal Article, Bay Journeys Article, 2013-04-02T01:05:39+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/wild_about_spring_ephemerals http://www.bayjournal.com/article/wild_about_spring_ephemerals#When:01:00:57Z As with almost everything else in the region, wildflowers have a short and distinct season. Don't pay attention, and you could miss them. The good news: They're easy to spot if one knows where to look. Highway departments in most states have planted medians with clovers and bluebells, and… Bay Journal Article, Bay Journeys Article, 2013-04-02T01:00:57+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/day_or_week_on_a_sojourn_creates_a_lifetime_of_memories http://www.bayjournal.com/article/day_or_week_on_a_sojourn_creates_a_lifetime_of_memories#When:00:34:44Z Paddling on the Susquehanna Sojourn is a family affair for the Davis family of Indiana County, PA. But it didn't start that way. Stephanie Davis was a nervous mother when she sent her 6-year-old daughter on her first sojourn 13 years ago. Her husband was on the trip, too, but Davis… Bay Journal Article, Bay Journeys Article, 2013-04-02T00:34:44+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/new_rules_for_stormwater_expected_to_increase_reductions http://www.bayjournal.com/article/new_rules_for_stormwater_expected_to_increase_reductions#When:19:50:32Z Most of us in the Bay community are celebrating this moment in time for the Chesapeake and its rivers and streams. In 2010, the EPA established pollution limits—known legally in the Clean Water Act as a Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL—for waters draining into the Chesapeake (after… Pollution, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-01T19:50:32+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/energy_to_manure_megawatts_mega_bucks_without_mega_pollution http://www.bayjournal.com/article/energy_to_manure_megawatts_mega_bucks_without_mega_pollution#When:19:39:22Z Optimism might seem out of place after the Waterkeeper Alliance's bitter loss in a recent lawsuit against Perdue Farms and its grower Alan Hudson responsible for alledgedly polluting waterways with poultry manure. But it's possible to at least be hopeful of solutions, perhaps within the… Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-01T19:39:22+00:00 http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades http://www.bayjournal.com/article/vernal_ponds_spring_to_life_with_peepers_serenades#When:19:36:19Z It was 5 p.m. Feb. 27 and unseasonably warm when I decided to stop at a local park on my way home, anticipating the signal that spring has arrived. The park is really a sports complex, several acres of sterile, barren ball fields. But around the edge is a patchwork of woodlands, streams and… Wildlife + Habitat, Bay Journal Article, 2013-04-01T19:36:19+00:00