ShoreRivers was proud to present its 2023 Award for Environmental Stewardship to the Robert F. Schumann Foundation as part of the organization’s annual Solstice Celebration on Saturday, June 24, at Wilmer Park in Chestertown.

This award recognizes an individual or entity in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for their transformational accomplishments as a steward of the environment, and the foundation was selected in recognition of its legacy of generosity to ShoreRivers.

ShoreRivers Director of Community Engagement Darran White Tilghman and Board Member Rosemary Ramsey Granillo are pictured with honoree Ford Schumann.

The Robert F. Schumann Foundation was established by Mr. Robert Schumann out of his belief that the environment is essential to sustain the future of the planet, that education is essential to solve many quality-of-life issues for society, and that arts and cultural programs offer society hope and the ability to dream. The Schumann Foundation has been a central funder of environmental imperatives at ShoreRivers since 2017.

At the event, remarks on the foundation’s incredible community contributions were provided by Darran White Tilghman, Director of Community Engagement at ShoreRivers; Rosemary Ramsey Granillo, a member of the ShoreRivers Board of Directors; and Terwana Brown, Program Manager for Kent Attainable Housing.

“(The Robert F. Schumann Foundation) has helped leverage over $1.6 million in funding for community restoration projects through ShoreRivers. The landscapes of our communities are transforming because of this work,” said Ramsey Granillo. “I’m especially honored to present this award on behalf of the Board of ShoreRivers because the Schumann family means so much to me and my family. Ford and my mom, Marcy, were founding members of the Chester River Association, so in a real way they are why we’re all here tonight.”

Accepting on behalf of the foundation created by his father, Ford Schumann was presented with a hand-crafted, locally sourced bird box. The box served to recognize the foundation’s support of native planting projects, which provide habitat and food for threatened species like birds and pollinators. Planting native species is the single most important thing individuals and communities can do for local water quality and habitat value. Native plants are defined as the species that naturally occur in a region, which have co-evolved with other plant and animal species to form the local ecosystem.

Miles-Wye Riverkeeper Ben Ford, Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards, and Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher are pictured at ShoreRivers’ annual Solstice Celebration.

In addition to the award presentation, the Solstice Celebration included gourmet fare provided by Hambleton House Catering & Events, live music from Philip Dutton and the Alligators, and a rousing live auction led by Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards. The crowd of more than 350 supporters helped raise more than $132,000in support of ShoreRivers’ work for clean rivers. To learn more, visit shorerivers.org.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

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Eighteen million oysters were planted on a sanctuary near Tilghman Point in Eastern Bay this Thursday as part of Operation Build-a-Reef: Eastern Bay. The planting was the culmination of a two-year fundraising effort by ShoreRivers, in partnership with Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), and other key supporters. Oysters provide valuable ecosystem services by filtering water and creating vital habitats for other marine species, including Maryland’s iconic blue crab and rockfish.

Operation Build-a-Reef: Eastern Bay’sgoal was to support oyster restoration efforts by planting millions of these beneficial bivalves in the local watershed. An initial planting of 70 million oysters was completed by ORP in 2022, with funding provided by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Thursday’s planting was also conducted by ORP and was fully funded by ShoreRivers’ network of supporters who raised the stakes—and the impact—by donating nearly $80,000 for the newest residents of Eastern Bay. Oyster larvae were supplied by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Lab in Cambridge.

“The waterways of Eastern Bay, including the Miles and Wye rivers, suffer from excess nitrogen and sediment pollution,” says Miles-Wye Riverkeeper Ben Ford. “Thanks to generous support from many individuals, businesses, and foundations, we’re proud that we’re able to support direct oyster restoration work here on the Shore.”

Millions of juvenile oysters were planted in Eastern Bay on June 15, 2023, as part of Operation Build-a-Reef: Eastern Bay, a campaign in support of oyster restoration work.

Oyster Recovery Partnership, the nonprofit expert in Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration, has planted more than 10 billion oysters and recycled 280,000+ bushels of oyster shell since its founding in 1994. ORP began the Build-a-Reef program to encourage community-supported reef building efforts Bay-wide. To date, the Build-a-Reef program has resulted in more than130 million oysters planted in three Bay tributaries.

“We’re pleased to be working again with our partners at ShoreRivers to rebuild oyster populations here in Eastern Bay.  A lot of our work is focused on large-scale restoration projects in remote areas of the Eastern Shore and we’re happy to be working closer to home and sharing our work with our neighbors.  We’re grateful for all the support we’ve received,” said Ward Slacum, executive director of the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

Operation Build-a-Reef: Eastern Bay benefitted from the support of corporate partners including Bosun’s Marine, who offered to match gifts made by its customers in support of the effort, and Smyth Jewelers who donated 1,000 oysters for every engagement ring sold. Many donors, and staff from Bosun’s, ShoreRivers, and the Oyster Recovery Partnership were on hand to watch the planting.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

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Previously held each September, this year’s Maryland Swim for Life on the Chester River has been scheduled for Saturday, June 3.

Hosted by the District of Columbia Aquatics Club and sanctioned by U.S. Masters Swimming, the Maryland Swim for Life is an open water event and community fundraiser held annually at Rolph’s Wharf on the Chester River in Chestertown. Check-in will begin at 7am, followed by safety briefings and swim starts at 8:15 and 9am. A picnic celebration and awards ceremony will be held at noon. Register at shorerivers.org/events for 2.5K, 5K, and 7.5K swims, plus 1.2-mile and 2.4-mile Triathlon challenge swims. DC Aquatics appreciates its sponsors TYR, DC Department of Parks and Recreation, and Columbia Property Management.

Proceeds from Maryland Swim for Life support four local nonprofits whose mission statements include environmental, medical, health, wellness, and fitness advocacy. ShoreRivers is honored to be a beneficiary again this year. The Chester Riverkeeper is pleased to provide on-the-water safety support as well as water quality and bacteria testing results.ShoreRivers’ swim caps are available for $10, which provide direct support to the Swimmable ShoreRivers’ bacteria monitoring program.

Visit ShoreRivers.org/events for information and to register. Volunteer kayakers to serve as safety support are also needed for the event, please email [email protected] if you’re interested and available.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education

shorerivers.org

ShoreRivers is pleased to announce that not only will its Swimmable ShoreRivers bacteria testing program begin Thursday, May 25, but that weekly results from this annual program will be available this year in both English and Spanish.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and boating sites to provide important human health risk information to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples and makes public the results of that testing to let people know about current bacteria levels as they make their plans for recreating in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards shows off one of ShoreRivers’ new informational signs at Morgnec Landing on Morgan Creek.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, has been set up to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community, and 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and show users where to find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs were made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working throughout the season with local county officials to install more. Want to see one at your favorite local landing? Reach out to your Riverkeeper about adding a site, and talk to your county officials about installing one of these free and informative signs.

Weekly results are also shared on theswimguide.org, where descriptions of testing sites have also been added in both languages.

“At ShoreRivers, we believe that access to clean water is an essential right for all of our communities,” said Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards. “It was important to us to be able to offer informational access to more of our community, and we hope to continue expanding this access in the future.”

This public service provided by ShoreRivers truly is a community effort: this summer, 61 SwimTesters will monitor 46sites on the Choptank, Miles, Wye, Chester, and Sassafras rivers; Eastern Bay; and the Bayside Creeks. Special thanks go to our generous site sponsors, who include towns, marinas, homeowner’s associations, and families.

Bacteria levels in our rivers and tributaries vary based on location, land use, and weather—making systematic, scientific analysis of local water quality vital. Major rain events are almost always connected to spikes in bacteria levels, and outgoing tides have a higher probability of carrying bacteria pollution. Potential chronic sources of bacteria include failing septic systems, overflows or leaks from wastewater treatment plants, waste from animal farms, or manure fertilizer.

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta holds water quality samples.

Also returning for the 2023 season is ShoreRivers’ Pumpout Boat, which begins running during Memorial Day weekend. The Pumpout Boat is a free service offered on the Miles and Wye rivers, that docks at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and operates from May to mid-October. With your help, this boat will help prevent more than 20,000 gallons of concentrated marine waste from entering our waters annually. To schedule a pump-out, contact Captain Jim Freeman at 410-829-4352, on VHF Channel 9, email [email protected], or by using the form at shorerivers.org/programs/pumpout-boat.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

More than 150 guests joined ShoreRivers at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels on Wednesday, April 26, for the kickoff event in its annual State of the Rivers series—free presentations held each spring to inform the public about the current state of our Eastern Shore waterways and what we can all do to protect and restore them.

At the St. Michaels event, ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers shared the results of their 2022 water quality testing; updates on recent agricultural, urban, and oyster restoration efforts; goals and metrics for underwater grasses, bacteria pollution, and sediment levels; and much more, with an emphasis on the Choptank, Miles, and Wye rivers, and on Eastern Bay. Upcoming events will focus on the Chester and Sassafras rivers, and the Bayside Creeks. Director of Riverkeeper Programs Matt Pluta also recognized standout volunteers Maura Bollinger and Ron Rothman with the Andy Coombs Memorial Volunteer Award for their dedication to the organization and their generous service in support of healthy waterways on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Coombs was an incredible supporter and one of the first volunteers for the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, one of the three legacy organizations that merged in 2017 to create ShoreRivers. He was instrumental in its oyster restoration efforts. Additional volunteers will be recognized throughout the series.

Matt Pluta, Choptank Riverkeeper and Director of Riverkeeper Programs at ShoreRivers (center), presents the Andy Coombs Memorial Volunteer Award to Maura Bollinger and Ron Rothman.

There’s still time to attend an upcoming State of the Rivers presentation, as the series continues Wednesday, May 3, at Cult Classic Brewing in Stevensville, with Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards and new Miles-Wye Riverkeeper Ben Ford; Thursday, May 4, at the Kent County Community Center in Worton, with Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards and Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher; Tuesday, May 9, at the Galena Fire Hall, with Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher; and concludes on Wednesday, May 10, at 447 Venue in Cambridge, with Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta.

ShoreRivers is grateful for this year’s State of the Rivers sponsors: Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay, Choptank Oyster Co., Peter & Georgeanne Pinkard, Cult Classic Brewing, Orchard Point Oysters, Ten Eyck Brewing Company, the Kent County Community Center, the Galena Volunteer Fire Department, Jeff & Beth Horstman, Happy Chicken Bakery, and Ferry Bridge House.

To learn more, visit shorerivers.org/events.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

More than 50 students attended the second annual Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit, held Saturday, March 18, at Washington College in Chestertown. Attendees included students from Talbot, Caroline, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties, and from as far away as Annapolis and Pennsylvania.

The Summit is co-hosted by ShoreRivers as part of its work to protect and restore Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education, and Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society. It is a free event created to inspire and empower middle and high school students in taking local environmental action.

The Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit is supported by The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, IKEA, La Motte, and The Gunston School’s Chesapeake Watershed Semester.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

More than 50 students from across the Eastern Shore attended the second annual Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit on March 18.

High school student leaders were vital to ensuring that the Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit was presented by students, for students. From left are Van Tran, Easton High School; Addie Nicholson, Kent Island High School; Carissa Shue, ​Kent Island High School; Finnegan Merrick, ​Easton High School; Linda Gayle, Annapolis High School; and David Daniels, Jr., ​Kent County High School.

Registration is open for middle and high school students to attend the Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit on Saturday, March 18, 2023, from 9am–3:30pm. Hosted at Washington College in Chestertown, the Summit is a free event created to inspire and empower youth in taking local environmental action.

The day’s agenda includes a networking breakfast where students can mingle with their peers and local agencies offering volunteer and internship opportunities. Students will then follow their own self-created schedule to attend workshops led by fellow students and professionals in green careers. Sessions will dive into environmental photography, fisheries, sustainable food systems, how to engage in advocacy, engineering, and more. After lunch, students will get outside and into the community on curated excursions to experience the ways that they can make a positive impact in nature. Excursions include bird banding, a how-to workshop on hosting an invasive fishing tournament, and tours of wetlands and restoration sites among others.

Attendees celebrate youth empowerment and environmental action at the 2022 Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, March 18, 2023.

The Summit is hosted by ShoreRivers as part of its work to protect and restore Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education, and Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society. Seven incredible high school student leaders from across the Eastern Shore have been vital to ensuring that the Summit is by students, for students, with art, food, action, fun, and the environment in mind.

The Summit is free and open to the public, but youth must register to attend the event with a mentor. Mentors are adults who are responsible for up to 10 students at the Summit and can be parents, teachers, or community leaders. Groups larger than 10require a co-mentor. Mentors will receive a packet with information and a permission packet that their students’ guardians must complete. Registration is on a first come, first serve basis and closes at 4pm on March 3.  To register for the Summit, or to learn more, visit uppershoresummit.weebly.com.

The Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit is supported by The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, IKEA, and La Motte.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

On January 24, I had the opportunity to attend the Queen Anne’s County Commissioners meeting and provide comments on a petition to change current zoning ordinances to allow for the construction of a 156,000-square foot, four-story high storage facility within the Critical Area on Kent Island. My testimony was among 64 comments provided by community members and environmental organizations opposing this project, and we anxiously await the County Commissioners’ verdict at their upcoming meeting on February 14. Granting this variance request will compromise the County’s vision to “Remain a rural, agricultural, and maritime County that restores, enhances, protects, conserves, and stewards its valuable land, air, and water resources” as stated in its Comprehensive Plan.

This is, without question, the wrong location for a project of this scale and impact. The parcel in question is on the banks of the Chester River—in the sensitive Critical Area—and currently zoned for limited development. The developer purchased this land with full knowledge of the building limitations on this parcel, and now is requesting a variance in order to get around the current restrictions. Purchasing land with the intention of applying for a variance is an unfortunate trend in our Eastern Shore counties that puts unnecessary and irreparable strain on our natural resources—in this case, forest land, wetlands, and our Chester River.

Legal representation for the developers asserted at the hearing that this zoning change is allowed under Critical Area law, which is true. The developer has effectively worked within the system to pursue this business venture. However, the County Commissioners are also under no obligation to grant this variance. I wonder what the Critical Area of Kent Island would look like if every acre of growth allocation was approved? How much wetland habitat and woodland buffer would remain to beautify our shores, attract birds and fish, and protect our shorelines from sea level rise and erosion? A storage facility— four stories high on the banks of the river— is not the best use of our land or our Critical Area.

By the end of 2022 it became clear that nutrient reductions required under the Chesapeake Bay’sTotal Maximum Daily Load requirements would not be met by 2025—a huge disappointment for clean water advocates after a 30-year effort. To reverse this trend in Eastern Shore watersheds, it is not enough for counties to rely on the state’s minimum requirements; they must lean on their own comprehensive plans for guidance.

Last May, Queen Anne’s County adopted PlanQAC2022, an update to its Comprehensive Plan that, in its own words, “strengthens the County’s long-standing guiding principles, growth management, and supports creating sustainable communities consistent with the County’s vision.” Part of that support for sustainable communities included setting goals for infrastructure that will “protect our waterways (and) conserve our natural resources.” Now, less than a year later, the commissioners are facing a test of those very goals.

Statewide, ShoreRivers recommends new development in Critical Areas, such as this, be restricted to construction for government and emergency services only—not for private business like a storage facility. In fact, we recently made this exact recommendation as part of a letter to newly elected Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

ShoreRivers supports planned, thoughtful growth that fits with our rural landscape, small communities, and abundant water resources in our Eastern Shore counties. In this case we ask that the developer be held accountable to the limits of the current zoning of this land, and urge the commissioners to deny this request at their upcoming vote on February 14. I urge you to make your voice heard too: comments can be submitted ahead of the meeting to [email protected]. We hope you’ll join us in standing up for responsible development and healthy waterways in Queen Anne’s County.

Annie Richards
Chester Riverkeeper, ShoreRivers

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org