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COMMON GROUND VOL. 12 NO , 3 APRIL—JUNE 2001 35 a' i y y' Y >+;5� tnG .. .�5 . : ".�c :� �°5' '� ,r' ar- tia Sa :L"i i�'v 7�ti ti:•= ,'t t ;+, � ,;: k :! ?. . 'F rib _ !P!' > iJ,: kl: ChesapeakeOne of the great conservation issues "re bay ' s health and recommends a number of face in America today is the restoration of actions critical to its future . Partnershipthe Chesapeake Bay . The bay is our largest The challenge facing all of us is simple estuary and was once one of the world ' s and compelling : How do we mobilize citi - most productive fisheries . zens , private landowners , businesses—large The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which and small—nonprofit organizations and scientifically tracks the estuary ' s health, public agencies and leaders to enhance and gives the bay a score of 28 out of 100 . Oys - restore the bay for all time ? ters and submerged aquatic vegetation have In the Everglades , the federal govern- been hit the hardest . Their sensitivity to ment and Florida have committed $ 8 billion overall water quality , which makes them so to a similar ecosystem recovery opportu - vulnerable, also makes them the best indica - nity . While public funding should be a part tors of the bay ' s environmental health . of a bay recovery program , it cannot do the The bay ' s famous oysters are at 2 % of job alone . We need to look for new solutions their historic level , and the blue crabs are at that include broader private -sector involve- an all - time low . The economic impact on the meet and greater applications of appropri- region ' s communities has been immense, the ate technology . bay ' s hardworking watermen are literally By creating corridors of green open 0 g being forced " off the water . " space along the Chesapeake ' s shore and the Bringing the bay back from the brink waterways that feed the estuary, we can tie is published quarterly as a will require a many- faceted approach that together the communities of the bay . We service to the conservation includes watershed -wide land conservation can enhance water quality and improve the community by and restoration . At The Conservation Fund , environmental and economic health of the The Conservation Fund we ' ve helped protect 150 , 000 acres within Chesapeake Bay . Patrick F. Noonan Chairman the watershed in the past decade . We can do this by supporting the bay John F. Turner Protecting the bay begins miles from its with a protected green infrastructure that President shoreline; it starts by safeguarding the water will improve the quality of life from Cape Mike McQueen quality of the streams and rivers that feed it . Charles at the bay ' s mouth to its headwaters Editor The bay watershed covers large areas of at Otsego Lake , N . Y . Jack Lynn Y Editorial Consultant Maryland , Virginia , Delaware and Pennsyl - We know how to solve the bay ' s prob - Meg West vania ; it includes the District of Columbia lems . It is up to all of us , who live in the bay Art Director and stretches to New York and West Vir- watershed and benefit from its resources, to For address corrections and ginia . A recent study showed that major roll up our sleeves and build a new Chesa - information, contact: sources of the bay ' s pollutants come from peake Bay Partnership—a public - private April Berry the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania , the collaboration . We need to act now . To get Circulation Manager James in Virginia and the Nanticoke in the job done, as the captain of one of the The Conservation Fund g 1800 N . Kent St. , suite 1120 Maryland and Delaware . Chesapeake ' s famed skipjacks might say , Arlington, VA 22209 The new report of the Chesapeake Bay urgently need all hands on deck . " 703 / 525-6300 p P Y we ur g Y Commission serves as the factual foundation —Patrick F . Noonan COMMON GROUND routinely grants permission for reprints. to build an active campaign to preserve and The autlior is cllainiiaii of the board of directors Address editorial correspondence restore the bay . It documents threats to the at The Conservation Fund , and reprint queries to : COMMON GROUND 940 Stillivater Lane Earlvsville, VA 22936 804 / 973-7324 coground@aol . com aol . com 1. o, COMMON GROUND is available on the World Wide Web at http : // www . conser�pationfLind . org Printed on recycled paper . L1 nN\ C :J 0 U U C