From the Chesapeake Bay Journal:

Winter blue crab survey shows dramatic population increase: The number of blue crabs in the Bay, especially adult females, increased dramatically last year, which officials say is an early indication that strict new catch limits are showing results.

Plan to cut Bay monitoring programs raises concerns: The Chesapeake Bay management and scientific communities are struggling over a fundamental question: Is it more important to know more about the effects of management actions to control pollution in the watershed, or the effects of that pollution once it reaches the Bay?

In rite of spring, volunteers clean up tons of garbage: In 1896, Congress took action to clean up its local rivers. It approved legislation making it illegal to throw "dead fish...dead animals of any kind, condemned oysters in the shell, watermelons, cantaloupes, vegetables, fruits, shavings, hay, straw, ice snow, filth, or trash of any kind whatsoever" into the Potomac and its tributaries within the District of Columbia.

Report card gives Bay health a C- despite slight improvement: The Chesapeake Bay scored a C- in the latest report card assembled by a team of Bay scientists. That's the same grade as last year, although the total score edged up a bit from last year's 39 to 43, on a 100-point scale.

CBF wants to link development to pollution offsets: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is asking the EPA to clamp down on pollution from new development in the watershed to reduce nutrient pollution to the Bay.


From the Prince William Conservation Alliance:

The Cherry Hill Peninsula
The Cherry Hill Peninsula was nearly 2,000 acres of high quality hardwood forest overlooking the Potomac River, with a network of wetlands and streams that meandered through a rugged landscape. ... The recent announcement that the Cherry Hill/Harbor Station development project has gone bankrupt and is being foreclosed comes as no surprise to many – but don’t blame it on the recession. Keep reading...