2012

PATUXENT RIVERKEEPER, BOARD OF ADVISORS

Clyde Bernard Fowler is a former Maryland State Senator (1983–1994) and County Commissioner (1970–1982) from Calvert County, Maryland. Prior to being elected to public office, Fowler was an avid fisherman who would wade into the Patuxent River and make note of the clarity of the water. After noticing the clarity of the water slowly diminishing, Fowler chose to run for Calvert County Commissioner in 1970 and make the health of the Patuxent River a key issue. As an early-1970s Calvert County Commissioner, he led the way in a lawsuit filed by downriver Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties against upriver counties. The lawsuit forced the state, the upriver counties, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enact pollution control measures. After serving over a decade as county commissioner, Fowler was elected to the Maryland Senate, where he remained in until his retirement from public office in the mid 1990s.

David C. Harrington is a former member of the Maryland State Senate. He has a B.A. in Political Science from Howard University, and a M.A. from Miami University where he served as: Senior fellow and faculty member, James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland. Board of Directors, Maryland Association of Counties. Eastern Regional Representative, National Association of Black County Officials. Former director of education, Close Up Foundation. Former president, Maryland Municipal League; Port Towns Community Development Corporation.

Tom Horton covered Chesapeake Bay for the Baltimore Sun for more than 30 years, and wrote environmental stories for numerous magazines, including the New York Times, Rolling Stone, National Geographic and Audubon. He is author of eight books on the Chesapeake. His book, Bay Country, won the John Burroughs Award, given annually for the best book of nature writing in the U.S. Currently he lives in Salisbury Maryland where he teaches at Salisbury University, and works on books and magazine stories.

Joseph D. Tydings is a former member of the United States Senate, representing the state of Maryland from 1965 to 1971. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1955 to 1961, and as United States Attorney from 1961 until his resignation in 1963 to run for Senate. He won election to the Senate in 1964 until 1970. He later served as a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland, College Park and the University System of Maryland, and continues to practice law.

2012

PATUXENT RIVERKEEPER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Walter Boynton is a Professor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, running two labs focused on estuarine ecology, the Estuarine Ecology Field Lab and the Nutrient Analytical Services Laboratory. Dr. Boynton has research awards from the National Science Foundation, the Maryland Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, the Estuarine Research Federation and the University of Maryland, and serves on several EPA National Committees.

Richard Dolesh has worked with parks, resource conservation and natural resources for nearly all of his professional life. Most of his experience in these areas has been on the Patuxent River. He is currently a Senior Policy Associate with the National Recreation and Park Association, previously was Director of Forest, Wildlife, and Heritage Service for Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and before that, was Chief of Natural and Historical Resources for Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (MNCPPC). He is the author of a number of articles in the Parks and Recreation Magazine and other publications relating to parks and conservation.

Dr. Ralph Eshelman is the owner and CEO of Eshelman & Associates, a cultural resource management and museum consultation company. He was the founding director of the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland, a local government sponsored museum. Ralph was responsible for numerous aspects of the museum’s operations including administration and exhibit development. Dr. Eshelman is considered a leading authority in the history and paleontology of the Patuxent River.

Vernice Miller-Travis is an Urban Planner and a graduate of Columbia University in the City of New York. She is also a published author of numerous articles and book chapters on race and land-use, environmental justice, Brownfields redevelopment and hazardous waste policy, sustainable community development, historic preservation, and neighborhood revitalization. She is the recipient of the American Public Health Association’s Section on the Environment Damu Smith Health Achievement Award in 2009, and also a Charles H. Revson graduate fellowship from Columbia University (1992), and a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship (1997).Currently, she is also the principal of an environmental consulting group called Miller-Travis & Associates, and a Senior Associate at Skeo Solutions

Tracy Lloyd McCurty is a public interest attorney who serves communities and works to alleviate disparities. She is presently employed as Policy Advisor, at the Rural Coalition where she devises advocacy strategies in collaboration with community-based farm organizations to promote the equitable inclusion of historically underserved and limited resource farmers and farmworkers in federal agriculture programs. Ms. McCurty’s diverse work includes monitoring and analyzing legal developments regarding equity in federal agriculture programs including government agency regulations, court decisions and legislative actions as well as providing legal and technical assistance to community based organizations including nonprofit,program development and grant writing; assisted farm cooperatives with identifying farm-to school markets for their produce in the DC metro area.

James Gee is a certified public accountant with over 21 years of experience with such diverse organizations as the Democratic National Committee, various multi-national corporations and numerous nonprofit organizations both large and small. He has considerable experience with fiscal operations, finance and audits. Born and raised in the Chesapeake Bay watershed on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, James has a double B.S. in Business Management and Accounting from Bowie State University.

Scientists announce assessment of 2011 Bay health

BALTIMORE, MD (April 16, 2012)—Report card results for the Chesapeake Bay’s health are in. EcoCheck scientist from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will share the results at the Inner Harbor on Tuesday, April 17 at 10:30 a.m. at Pierce’s Park, next to the Institute for Marine and Environmental Science on Pier V at 701 E. Pratt Street.

WHAT: Announcement of Chesapeake Bay Report Card results for 2011

WHO: Bill Dennison, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Nicholas DiPasquale, Director, Chesapeake Bay Program

Caroline Wicks, Program Manager, Ecocheck

Russell Callender, Acting Director, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean                                     Science (NCCOS)

WHEN: Tuesday, April 17, 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Pier V at the Inner Harbor, Pierce’s Park next to the Institute for Marine and

Environmental Science, 701 E. Pratt Street. Rain Location: Inside IMET

Map: http://www.umces.edu/imet/directions

The aim of this report card is to provide a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2011 Chesapeake Bay health. EcoCheck is a partnership program between University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Each year, EcoCheck produces several report cards to assess the health of Chesapeake Bay waterways to enhance and support the science, management and restoration of Chesapeake Bay.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today’s most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centers—the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. www.umces.edu

MEDIA ADVISORY CONTACT:

Amy Pelsinsky

410-330-1389 /apelsinsky@umces.edu

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Landmark Decision Sets Statewide Precedent for Maryland Citizen Groups

OCTOBER 2, 2011 (UPPER MARLBORO, MD) — In a recent 5-2 decision, Maryland’s highest court upheld judicial standing for a member of a local environmental group contesting a wetlands permit awarded to developers of a shopping mall. The case— “Patuxent Riverkeeper v. Maryland Department of the Environment” — is the first test of a rule passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2010 concerning standing (i.e., the  right to initiate a lawsuit) for citizen and organizations in state courts.

The non-profit group claimed victory in the case of a controversial and contested state-issued wetland permit located at Woodmore Town Centre shopping mall in Prince George’s County. Patuxent Riverkeeper initiated the lawsuit on behalf of David Linthicum, a Riverkeeper member since 2004. The plaintiff was concerned about adverse environmental effects of a road crossing that disrupted the river flow upstream of his commercial and recreational interests.

“Although this historic decision does not guarantee that everybody who wants to challenge a state permit can get standing, it will at least eliminate many of the frustrating  loopholes our adversaries have exploited to deny us a day in court, “ states Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman. “Most important, our victory creates a climate where the state and the pemittees will labor to write much better permits in order avoid legitimate challenges.”

As a case of first impression in Maryland, this decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals sets forth refreshed tests to be used in all state courts to determine standing for would-be plaintiffs. Although courts have the authority to weigh a variety of factors top determine who has standing, this case provides landmark guidance in several areas  by clarifying that

• the court is to look at adverse effects to the plaintiff’s interest in the affected water body instead of actual injury to that water body,
• the court’s authority is to consider aesthetic and recreational interests asserted by the plaintiff as  bona fide for the purposes of determining standing.

Woodmore Town Center, located in Prince George’s next to the Capitol Beltway, is a 247-acre mixed use development. The developers sought a non-tidal wetlands permit to permanently disturb less than an acre of marshland to build a bridge or box culvert access road from State Route #202 in Glenarden . The access road of this development crosses a headwaters stream on Western Branch of the Patuxent River.

Patuxent Riverkeeper offered comments and the later challenged the permit in circuit court,  where it was denied standing to pursue the case based on its member, Linthicum. Unable to get standing to put the concerns raised by its member before a trial judge, Riverkeeper petitioned the Maryland Court of Appeals, which granted certiorari and heard oral arguments in the case in June of 2011.

Linthicum, who lives on the banks of the Patuxent River, frequently paddles downstream of the affected site, draws and sells tourism maps of the Patuxent and its tributaries and is closely involved with stewardship for the river.

“Citizens and community groups frequently encounter barriers to standing as one of the greatest impediments for obtaining justice for their environmental concerns,“  according to Tutman.  “Opponents often raise concerns about the reasonableness of environmentalist claims, whether they are directly affected or injured by the construction projects, too far downstream, within sight and sound or adjacent to the offending projects and a host of other roadblocks usually designed to dispose of environmental cases before they can be tried on their merits.”

Prior to 2010 rules change, state permit challenges were tried in agency-run administrative proceedings.   Citizen interests and organizations on their own typically could not get standing. The 2010 changes in standing  aimed to make it easier for citizens to appeal permit challenges directly to the circuit courts.

About Patuxent Riverkeeper: The sole purpose of the Patuxent Riverkeeper is to protect, restore, and advocate for clean water in the Patuxent River and its connected ecosystem. The Riverkeeper patrols the river, investigates and resolves water quality and pollution complaints, launches and manages restoration projects, raises awareness about the river and its problems and work toward better enforcement of current laws and better laws to protect the river. The group is a nonprofit watershed advocacy organization affiliated with the Waterkeeper Alliance in New York, an umbrella group that licenses and links Waterkeepers internationally.

About the Patuxent River: The Patuxent River drainage area covers 930 square miles overall and runs north to south for 110 linear miles through seven Maryland counties, terminating at the Chesapeake Bay. The Patuxent is the longest and deepest intrastate river in Maryland, ranging from ankle wading depths, down to more than 180 feet.

For more information contact:

Frederick L. Tutman

Patuxent Riverkeeper

301-249-8200, ext. 7

Fred@paxriverkeeper.org

www.paxriverkeeper.org

Annapolis, MD May 19, 2011 – A flotilla of small craft landed at the City Dock in Annapolis on Thursday, bringing with them citizen groups demanding that Maryland state legislators deliver leadership, action and results on the cleanup of the state’s major rivers and coasts, and Chesapeake Bay.

Eighteen affiliated Chesapeake Waterkeeper groups, made up of concerned citizens, including farmers, watermen, business owners and families from throughout the Chesapeake Bay region, charged that the state legislature had deferred critical environmental work and failed to address the state’s mounting water pollution problems.

“At a time when the need for environmental leadership has never been greater, Marylanders were forced to suffer through a ‘do-nothing’ state legislature,” said Fred Tutman, the Patuxent Riverkeeper. “All of us have a responsibility not to let history repeat itself.”

“Today, we are calling on the Statehouse and on the public to re-focus and re-energize and address the environmental problems that threaten the long term sustainability of our environment and our way of life,” said Kathy Phillips, Assateague Coastkeeper. “With the clock ticking and water quality rapidly declining, the lost economic value, jobs and quality of life present real suffering for people and communities.”

Unsatisfied with the inaction of the most recent General Assembly, the flotilla arrived at City Dock at 1:00 p.m to insist that lawmakers make good on campaign promises to clean up our waterways. Concerned Marylanders joined the Waterkeepers at the event, demanding that elected leaders act during the next session. The flotilla was comprised of Waterkeepers and their boats, a symbol of the ever-vigilant presence that Waterkeepers provide throughout their individual watersheds.

“Waterkeepers and the people of Maryland whom we represent decry our State Legislature’s failure to live up to promises made by its constituent lawmakers,” said Drew Koslow, The Choptank Riverkeeper. “Maryland sets the tone for Chesapeake Bay cleanup, and so Maryland’s inaction calls into serious question the credibility and sincerity of our elected officials, particularly because it will now be much more difficult for Maryland to meet the Bay Pollution Diet set by EPA for the Bay States.”

Thursday’s protesters are concerned in particular with the Chesapeake Bay, which is in precipitous decline, with increasing dead zones. Few if any of the rivers and creeks draining into the bay have managed to achieve a scorecard grade that rises above a “D” from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies. The Maryland Coastal Bays Program, an EPA National Estuary Program, has not been able to issue a grade above “C+” for the Coastal Bays on the Eastern Shore. The Legislature is tasked with passing laws that curb pollution from sources such as pesticides, agricultural runoff including arsenic in chicken manure, natural gas fracking, plastic bags, problems associated with smart growth, and the increasing problem of stormwater runoff.

“The District of Columbia is doing its part to control plastic bags in the river by passing a Bag Bill,” said Dottie Yunger, the Anacostia Riverkeeper. “With eighty percent of the Anacostia Watershed in Maryland, what will it take to get Maryland to do its part? We will never get a healthy Bay until all local jurisdictions take action.”

Waterkeepers are local grassroots clean water advocacy organizations made up of concerned citizens and local residents. One of the most important bodies of water in the US from the standpoint of economics and diversity of life, Chesapeake Bay has a concentration of Waterkeepers, most of whom patrol a tributary that drains into the bay. The local Waterkeeper movement features people working in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, and has emerged as the eyes, ears and voices of waterways and communities that are struggling to turn the tide of the continuing decline of the waters they patrol.

“In the end, this is not about whether our elected officials have a good environmental score card or whether they have great intentions for the environment, but instead whether or not they have the political will to bring about a new and better day for the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays,” said Carolyn Lott, a member of the Assateague Coastal Trust. “Our waterways are screaming out loud that they are dying. Our local Waterkeepers will continue to be the voice for our waterways and our communities.”

You can hear audio clips from the press conference by clicking on the following programs:

The Waterkeepers Chesapeake include: Anacostia Riverkeeper (104), Assateague Coastkeeper (99), Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, Chester Riverkeeper (101), Choptank Riverkeeper (97), Gunpowder Riverkeeper, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper (105), Lower James Riverkeeper, Miles-Wye Riverkeeper (97), Patuxent Riverkeeper (105), Potomac Riverkeeper, Sassafras Riverkeeper, Severn Riverkeeper (99), Shenandoah Riverkeeper, South Riverkeeper (96), Upper James Riverkeeper, VA Eastern Shorekeeper, West RhodeRiverkeeper.

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Media Contact:

Fred Tutman; Patuxent Riverkeeper; 301-249-8200 ext. 7

Kathy Phillips; Assateague Coastkeeper; 443-235-2014

We’re working every day to protect, restore and preserve as water quality and a healthy Patuxent River. Also, we are planning river trips, reforestation, buffer preservation, wetlands restoration, and invasive species removal and enhancing the Patuxent Water Trail in preparation for the War of 1812 Commemorative!

You can download the latest edition of our organizational newsletter here:Spring 2011 Patuxent Riverkeeper Newsletter (164)

By Tom Terry

It was in the late 1950’s.  My brother Michael and I were fishing for eel and white and yellow perch on the bank of the Patuxent River with my Grandfather, Anthony (Tony) Poula, at our favorite fishing spot on Mr. Vernon Arnold’s property (Fig.1).   It was a typical spring day.  The ground was moist, the trees were almost in full leaf and the river was flowing by at its normal pace as there had been no recent heavy rains.

Our fishing spot on the river bank was under tree canopy, but we faced the river in a small opening where there were no shrubs or small trees nearby, so we could easily cast without getting our lines tangled up.   The opening was large enough that we could see up and down the river for about 75 feet to either side.  Beyond that distance the trees growing on the bank totally blocked the view.  The river at this location is narrow enough that a nice easy cast could propel the sinker and bait half way across the river and then the current would quickly carry the sinker and bait downstream so it ended up being about 15 feet from the river bank.    The river is wide enough, however, that there is about 50 feet of opening that tree canopies on either side cannot encroach on creating a narrow corridor that wood ducks, kingfishers, blue herons and other birds can use to travel up and down the river.   If we were quite and still we often saw kingfishers dive and catch minnows and wood ducks come squealing by looking for a protected place to land and feed or rest and preen.

Bald eagles in the 1950-60’s were so rare that I had never seen one despite the fact that I was a teenager and had fished, hunted, and explored all the surrounding woodlands and farms for years.  Red-tail, Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks were fairly common as were American kestrels, but bald eagles were something that I had only read about or seen in pictures.

Once we had baited our hooks with worms, cast our lines out, and put our rods in the crotch of a forked stick stuck into the ground, we sat down on the ground to watch the rod tips as they slowly moved up and down with the current.  We sat still and quite so that we would not spook the fish that might be tempted to grab our bait.  While waiting for the big strike, we enjoyed the sound of the river, the breeze moving through the new spring foliage, and the time away from farm chores, school work, and other duties.

And then, without warning, a very large bird appeared, flying about 20 feet above the river to our right and it flew right in front of us, no more than 40 feet away, then it continued up river and out of sight.    It was a mature bald eagle with all of its distinctive features—large wingspan, powerful hooked beak, brown body, white head and tail and majestic flight.

I don’t remember if we caught any eels or perch during that trip or not.  All that that I remember is being awestruck by seeing such a magnificent bird at so close a range in one of my favorite natural places.  We went home as content as successful explorers just returning home after visiting a new land.

We never mentioned the sighting to anyone but our family as many folks still considered birds of prey chicken thieves and game predators and they were often shot.  At this time pesticides such as DDT were also contributing to their decline.

I now marvel at being able to see bald eagles on a regular basis at Ample Grange Farm.  Many factors have contributed to their recovery, but we have to be ever diligent about educating the public about the role they play in the natural system and maintaining habitat for foraging and nesting, so that future generations can enjoy regularly seeing them along the Patuxent river corridor.