| Bay Fact
The average household spends as much as $500 per year on its water and sewer bill. Make just a few simple changes and you could save about $170 per year. Learn more about how and why water conservation for your home makes sense. | |
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From the desk of...
Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland
 Restoring Maryland's native oyster population continues to be a vital priority of our Bay restoration strategy, and we are currently seeking partners to help expand the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program beyond the Tred Avon River.
Last September, we launched the program to encourage Maryland families to take personal responsibility for the health of the Bay by helping to create living oyster reefs in local sanctuaries to give a head start to our vital oyster population. Since then, more than 177 Marylanders have been growing oysters in 854 oyster cages along the Tred Avon.
As these oysters near maturity and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) prepares to move them to a local reef, we are looking for grass roots organizations to help us expand this program into other tributaries.
With the support of DNR and other program partners, participating organizations will act as local project coordinators, identifying local waterfront property owners willing to become oyster growers and providing logistical support for cage and oyster delivery to citizens in a concentrated area of a Chesapeake Bay tributary. The oysters and cages will again be provided at no charge to volunteers, and after 9 to 12 months the oysters will be planted in a local sanctuary that is closed to harvest to create a living reef site.
This program is an important part of our efforts to create a smarter, greener, more sustainable future for Maryland families. Working together as One Maryland, we can increase the number of healthy oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and rejuvenate oyster reefs that will become a natural underwater ecosystem for diverse aquatic life.
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BayStat Team Meeting Update
At Tuesday's BayStat meeting, Maryland agreed on an ambitious program of best management practices to accelerate Bay restoration. This plan allows us to meet our first two-year milestone, and will reduce nitrogen pollution to the Chesapeake Bay by almost 4 million pounds per year by 2011. |
Marylanders Plant Trees
 On Arbor Day Governor O'Malley launched the new citizen component of Marylanders Plant Trees, with a first year citizen planting goal of 50,000 new trees. To encourage participation, the State is offering $25 discount coupons for the purchase of native trees costing $50 or more. Whether taking advantage of the coupon program or not, citizens who plant new trees are asked to use the State's new website, www.trees.maryland.gov - which offers valuable planting advice - to register the trees they've planted and calculate their benefits.
"What to some may be the seemingly small action of planting a tree actually has a substantial impact on our ecosystem," said Governor O'Malley. "Our new citizen program will enable citizens, who may not otherwise have been able to participate, to support local businesses, and do their part to "think globally and act locally" to create a smarter, greener, more sustainable future for our State." |
Maryland Government at Work for the Bay
Governors O'Malley and Kaine Announce Increase in Bay Blue Crab Population
 Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced the Chesapeake Bay's adult population of blue crabs has increased substantially over last year, indicating management measures put into place in 2008 to address population declines are working. The results of the most recent bay-wide winter dredge survey, which is conducted annually by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), estimate the total number of crabs overwintering in the Chesapeake Bay during 2008-2009 has increased from 280 million in 2007-2008 to just over 400 million. Read more.. |
Maryland's Bay Grasses Increase in 2008 Bay grasses, a favorite home to the blue crab, increased 20 percent in 2008 in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The majority of the 7,221-acre increase resulted from a continued expansion on the Susquehanna Flats, home of the largest bay grass beds in the Chesapeake Bay. While the new number - 42,237 acres (up from 35,016 acres in 2007) - marks a significant increase, Maryland bay grass acreage remains far short of the 2010 restoration goal of 110,000 acres. Because bay grasses are sensitive to even minor changes in water quality, they serve as a key indicator of the health of our waterways." Learn what is being done. |
 Roger Richardson Retires After Decades of Service to Maryland Agriculture
Governor Martin O'Malley has announced the appointment of Deputy Secretary Earl "Buddy" Hance as Secretary to the Department of Agriculture, and thanked Roger Richardson for his dedicated service to the State of Maryland, and his work in the agricultural community. Roger Richardson, 75, announced that he would retire to travel and to spend more time with his family. His last day is May 5. Read more... |
Smart, Green & Growing: MDP and the 2009 General Assembly Session
 This year, the Maryland Department of Planning played the lead role in the passage of the Governor's Smart, Green, and Growing legislative package by working closely with our stakeholders - local governments, municipalities, and the environmental community - to strengthen and reinvigorate the fundamental tools of smart growth. To find our more click here. |
Governor O'Malley Announces Maryland Children's Outdoor Bill Of Rights
Governor Martin O'Malley began Earth Day celebrations a day early this year, joining more than 40 third-grade students from Annapolis' Georgetown East Elementary School for an afternoon of hands-on outdoor learning activities, including a canoe along the Severn River at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center in Millersville. The Governor took the opportunity to unveil the Maryland Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights, as he was presented with a recently completed report from the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature. Learn more... |
DNR Secretary Announces State's New Coast-Smart Communities Initiative Providing Assistance to Maryland Coastal Communities Maryland Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin recently announced the State's new Coast-Smart Communities Initiative, a program to provide technical and financial assistance to Maryland's coastal communities to help address their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Secretary Griffin made the announcement on behalf of Governor Martin O'Malley at an interactive summit, Building Coast-Smart Communities: How Will Maryland Adapt to Climate Change?, which was attended by more than 200 local leaders from the State's most vulnerable communities. Read more... |
 Governor O'Malley Commends Maryland Environmental Trust for Surpassing 120,000 Acre Milestone
Bear Creek Ranch Conservation Easement Tips the Scales
With the recent completion of the Bear Creek Ranch conservation easement in Garrett County, the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) has now protected more than 120,000 acres of open space and natural resource lands in the state. Since 1972, MET has been working with its local land trust partners and the citizens of Maryland to protect the State's most treasured landscapes and natural resources as a legacy for future generations. Find out more by clicking here. |
 MDE Commits to Updating State Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Standards
MDE will initiate a comprehensive review of the State's erosion and sediment control standards in early 2009 and will develop proposed modifications to the "Maryland Standards and Specifications for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control" by May 30, 2010. Read the press release. |
On December 18, 2008 the US EPA published a final rule that made some changes to the reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA)
(Federal Register, 73 (244) 76948 - 76960, Dec., 18, 2008). The Maryland Department of the Environment had no role in creating these requirements, but the federal rule requires that covered facilities report to the State. The changes pertain to the release of hazardous substances, generally ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, from animal waste at farms. Get more information. | |
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