Posted by chris on May 11, 2010
A proposed oyster sanctuary in the upper St. Mary’s River is at the center of one of the hottest debates around the Chesapeake Bay.
The Oyster Recovery and Aquaculture Development Plan was announced last December by Governor Martin O’Malley, and since has been a subject of great debate. Now that the 2010 Maryland General Assembly has ended, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is expected to issue maps of the proposed sanctuaries and rules for the operation and maintenance of the sanctuaries, leaseholds, and aquaculture areas. Watermen are concerned that they will not be able to make a living on any less bottom than they are currently allowed to harvest, and environmentalists believe that the oyster population is at a historically low level and that a network of sanctuaries throughout the Bay is the only hope for their recovery.
“There is no question that the St. Mary’s River is in decline. Nutrient pollution continues to increase every year. Dead zones return every summer to the river’s deeper waters,” said Joe Anderson, president of the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association.
Oysters are filter feeders and can remove the pollutants from the water column and place them into the bottom sediments. Without these excess nutrients, oxygen levels will remain stable and life will return to the deep areas of the river.
“We all know that the oyster is key to the health of the St. Mary’s River. Long ago, oysters filtered all of the river’s water every day. If Captain John Smith visited the St. Mary’s, he would have written in his journal about the clarity of the water and the richness of the resource,” Anderson continued.
Is an oyster sanctuary in the upper St. Mary’s River a good idea? Why pick the St. Mary’s? These questions and others will be answered Saturday May 22 by John Griffin, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. His talk will headline the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association’s annual meeting at 4 PM at the Muldoon River Center on the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. This event is free and the public is invited to attend. For more information, go to http://www.SMRWA.org or email info@stmarysriver.org
“We all know that the oyster is key to the health of the St. Mary’s River. Long ago, oysters filtered all of the river’s water every day. If Captain John Smith visited the St. Mary’s, he would have written in his journal about the clarity of the water and the richness of the resource,” Anderson continued.Is an oyster sanctuary in the upper St. Mary’s River a good idea? Why pick the St. Mary’s? These questions and others will be answered Saturday May 22 by John Griffin, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. His talk will headline the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association’s annual meeting at 4 PM at the Muldoon River Center on the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. This event is free and the public is invited to attend. For more information, go to http://www.SMRWA.org or email info@stmarysriver.org
Posted by chris on April 20, 2010
The Earth Day CLIMATE RALLY – National Mall – Sunday, April 25, 2010
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is quickly approaching, but the United States has failed to enact a comprehensive climate bill.
It is time to stop protecting polluters and enact comprehensive climate legislation that will create American jobs, cap carbon emissions and secure our nation’s future. The first Earth Day was a success because 20 million Americans demonstrated their outrage for the state of the environment. Together, we can make Earth Day 2010 a pivotal moment in the environmental movement.
On Sunday, April 25, Earth Day Network will organize a massive climate rally on The National Mall to demand Congress pass strong legislation. The Climate Rally will include notable speakers Reverend Jesse Jackson, film director, James Cameron, AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, Olympic gold medalist, Billy Demong, producer, Trudie Styler, author, Margaret Atwood, NFL player and television personality, Dhani Jones, environmental photographer Sebastian Copeland and many more.
The Climate Rally will also feature live music from Sting, John Legend, The Roots, Jimmy Cliff, Passion Pit, Bob Weir, Willie Colón, Joss Stone, Robert Randolph, Patrick Stump, Mavis Staples, Booker T, Honor Society and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger.
Please RSVP on this page – we will send a friendly reminder and notify you when we stream the live event on EarthDay.org.
Free buses to the Climate Rally
Earth Day Network is sponsoring free buses from New York City, Philadephia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Charleston WV, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Baltimore. RSVP today.
Buses to DC will park at RFK Stadium. There will be easy access to the Climate Rally by Metro Rail.
Driving to DC?
Vans, buses, and cars are encouraged to park at the RFK Stadium parking lot. There will be a shuttle service to the rally along with vendors and access to water. Please sign up to register your bus, van, or car ahead of time to park at RFK!
Take Metro to the Climate Rally
The Smithsonian stop on the blue/orange line is the preferred station.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Climate Rally needs volunteers, please email volunteer@earthday.org to sign up.
http://www.earthday.org/climaterally
Posted by chris on April 10, 2010
The Maryland farming community has an innovative new resource created to bring farmers together, along with relevant professionals, to educate and inform each other on the business of farming, to link buyers and sellers of farm land in Maryland and to find business partners, apprentices and mentors: www.MarylandFarmLINK.com.
The Maryland FarmLINK Web site was first conceived by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC) to help current Maryland farms remain in agricultural usage by linking those selling or leasing farm land in Maryland with potential buyers across the country searching for farm land.
Throughout the site’s development, several other powerful functions were added. An open Farm Forum provides a venue for individuals to ask questions on farm-related topics. Members with expertise on specific topics are encouraged to give answers/advice and the content generated in the discussions becomes a permanent resource within the site.
The aim of FarmLINK is to build a strong foundation of members with a wide range of expertise in farming specialties. Categories within the forum include things like agritourism, growing grapes for wine, equine, dairy, hay, apiary, pest management, turf and produce. However, the site also encompasses the broader aspects of farming as a business, including advertising, financial planning and legal information and professionals in these types of fields are encouraged to participate.
A Person-to-Person function of FarmLINK allows members to identify and contact other members who are willing to partner, mentor or give advice on specific farm-related topics. Members may communicate directly with each other, using messaging tools within the site, to arrange partnerships or land transactions or simply to mentor one-on-one.
The Property Manager component of the site, where farm owners list land for sale or lease, contains photos, descriptions and contact information for each property. To be listed, land must be in Maryland and meet the state’s criteria for farm land. FarmLINK’s role in land sales is limited to providing a venue for buyers and sellers to find and contact each other. SMADC does not broker the transaction. Buyers and sellers assume full responsibility for screening and vetting, and the actual sale takes place outside of the FarmLINK venue.
A sophisticated database and a dynamic user interface have been custom built to form the platform of this site. Much of the site content is visible to anyone visiting the site, however, visitors must join FarmLINK if they want to ask or answer questions in the forum or contact another FarmLINK member, including those selling farm land, directly. There is no cost to become a member.
To join, users fill out a member profile, where they list their areas of expertise (if any) and indicate if they are searching for a specific type of connection (business partner, for example). They can also indicate that they are willing to mentor or answer specific questions via the site messaging function. Members who do not want to be contacted directly by other members can opt out of this and still participate in the open forum discussions.
The heart of the FarmLINK site will be the content generated by the farm community and related professionals and will build over time. However, the site also contains a selection of traditional tools such as sample farm leases, estate planning webinars and links to other agricultural resource sites. This part of the site is still in development.
The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC) was established to promote diverse, market-driven agricultural enterprises, which coupled with agricultural land preservation, will preserve Southern Maryland’s environmental resources and rural character while keeping the region’s farmland productive and the agricultural economy vibrant.
To learn more about additional programs and resources, contact SMADC, P. O. Box 745, Hughesville, MD 20637; phone: 301-274-1922; fax: 301-274-1924; email cbergmark@smadc.com; or visit www.smadc.com.
Posted by chris on
Join the American Chestnut Land Trust as we celebrate Earth Day! Work on roadsides in the local community and on selected ACLT projects. It’s a day to clean-up our corner of Calvert County working alongside our friends and neighbors! Meet at our south side trailhead on Scientists Cliffs Road in Port Republic (across from Gate A). Cookout lunch to follow at Noon at Double Oak Farm. RSVP to Joy Woppert at 410-414-3400 or volunteer@acltweb.org
Posted by chris on April 5, 2010
Free and open to the public
Austrian filmmaker Wolfgang Widerhofer will screen the 2005 documentary Our Daily Bread and discuss his role as editor and dramaturg on the film. As a collaborator since 1994 with director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Widerhofer has worked as producer, director, screenwriter, and editor and has edited each of Geyrhalter’s films since Washed Ashore (1994).
Our Daily Bread is described by its official Website as “a wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn’t always easy to digest – and in which we all take part.” The film explores the world of European industrial food production as seen through “surreal landscapes plasticized and optimized for tractors and agricultural machinery, sterile rooms in cool industrial buildings designed to ensure logistic efficiency, machines that require uniform materials for smooth processing. What might look like something from the world of science fiction is reality. Our food is produced in spectacular spaces which are seldom seen.”
TFMS’s Third Annual Film Series will focus on environmental film. Internationally acclaimed, award-winning filmmakers Scott Hamilton Kennedy (United States), Yung Chang (China/Canada), and Wolfgang Widerhofer (Austria) will screen and discuss a variety of work that explores a range of environmental issues. Topics include environmental displacement, environmental racism, built environments and social activism, and dependence and sustainability.
Get more details at the TFMS website.
Posted by chris on
Free and open to the public
Filmmaker Yung Chang will screen and discuss his first feature-length documentary, the critically acclaimed, award-winning Up the Yangtze (2007). The film documents the moving and richly detailed narrative of a peasant family forced to negotiate the historic changes brought on by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric mega-dam and China’s biggest engineering endeavor since the Great Wall.
TFMS’s Third Annual Film Series will focus on environmental film. Internationally acclaimed, award-winning filmmakers Scott Hamilton Kennedy (United States), Yung Chang (China/Canada), and Wolfgang Widerhofer (Austria) will screen and discuss a variety of work that explores a range of environmental issues. Topics include environmental displacement, environmental racism, built environments and social activism, and dependence and sustainability.
Get more details at the TFMS website.
Posted by chris on
Free and open to the public
Filmmaker Scott Kennedy’s 2008 film, The Garden, documents the struggles of Latino/a farmers in South Central Los Angeles to keep their 14-acre community garden, the largest urban garden in the U.S., from repossession and land development. In cinéma vérité fashion, it tells the story of backroom deals, green politics, money, poverty, power, and racial discord.
TFMS’s Third Annual Film Series will focus on environmental film. Internationally acclaimed, award-winning filmmakers Scott Hamilton Kennedy (United States), Yung Chang (China/Canada), and Wolfgang Widerhofer (Austria) will screen and discuss a variety of work that explores a range of environmental issues. Topics include environmental displacement, environmental racism, built environments and social activism, and dependence and sustainability.
Get more details at the TFMS website.
Posted by chris on March 21, 2010
Please come out and join the Friends of Myrtle Point Park in our annual cleanup effort. This winter has deposited a lot of trash at the park and a spring cleaning is in order. Come to the park picnic area where we will have a sign in sheet. Here you will get your assignment, trash bags, water bottle (while supplies last) and work gloves. It is advisable to wear sturdy work clothes and shoes.
If you have a group interested in helping please contact us in advance by calling Bob at 410-394-1300
Cosponsored by the Friends of Myrtle Point Park and the Sierra Club Southern Maryland Group
Posted by chris on
Enjoy a wonderful paddle while helping cleanup the St. Mary’s River, Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. during the St. Mary’s River Cleanup hosted by the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association. Volunteers will paddle the St. Mary’s River Water Trail from the Great Mills Canoe/Kayak Launch to St. Mary’s College of Maryland picking up trash. The public is invited to participate.
Last year volunteers collected 70 bags of trash, nine tires, and approximately a half ton of loose trash from the St. Mary’s River Water Trail and the St. Mary’s College of Maryland campus, including the site of a recent reforestation project.
“We urge residents to get involved with the cleanup this year. It’s a great way to meet neighbors, spend time with your family and feel good about yourself and your community,” said Ginny Harris, Cleanup Coordinator with the Alice Ferguson Foundation.
Meet at the Great Mills Canoe/Kayak Launch, off MD Route 5, at 9 a.m. Bring your own canoe or kayak, life vest, and paddling gear. Help cleanup the St. Mary’s River and improve your watershed!
Please call 301-862-3517 or email info@StMarysRiver.org to RSVP.
Trash and litter has negative effects in many areas of life in the region:
- It harms wildlife;
- costs taxpayers precious funds for cleanup and removal;
- is a public health threat by increasing breeding grounds for virus carrying insects and rodents;
- decreases property values;and hurts businesses, recreation and tourism.
The St. Mary’s River Cleanup is part of the Alice Ferguson Foundation 22nd Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, http://www.fergusonfoundation.org/trash_initiative/trash_cleanup.shtml.
There are more than 200 cleanup sites in Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Posted by chris on March 20, 2010
Leonardtown Goes Green! 10th Anniversary Earth Day Celebration
- Live Music & Entertainment
- Children’s Nature Crafts
- Energy & Water Conservation
- Animal Welfare & Rescue
- Recycling Information
- Yoga Demonstrations
- Seated Massages
- Puppet Show
- Kayak & Canoe Rides
- Food & More!
The 10th Anniversary Earth Day Celebration, in historic downtown Leonardtown, 12:30 – 4:30 pm Sunday April 18th, 2010 will include nearly 100 exhibitors, vendors and performances. FREE ADMISSION.
Two stages for entertainment – on the square and at the wharf along the new Leonardtown waterfront – featuring musical performances and dance demonstrations throughout the day.
Kayak and canoe rides will be offered by various local outfitters from the new floating dock on the waterfront as well as a native plant walk and a tiger bounce, face painting and a puppet show for the kids.
HillSide Electric cars and the Leonardtown Fire Department will provide shuttle service between the waterfront and the square.
Animal displays include the Cosca Regional Park’s live birds of prey, the Alpacas from Nobella Farms and the greyhounds from the Greyt Expectations Rescue.
Environmental organizations will provide recycling, conservation and organic gardening information. Area non-profits and service organizations will be featured and local businesses and restaurants will be open many offering Earth Day specials.
For the complete listing of activities and map go to www.thelba.org
Sponsored by the Leonardtown Business Association and the Commissioners of Leonardtown, with funding in part by a grant from the St. Mary’s County Arts Council
