Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Chesapeake Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chesapeake Bay. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Reprint from nine years ago: Ag, Bay groups remain wary of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation


Reprint from nine years ago: Ag, Bay groups remain wary of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/03/reprint-from-nine-years-ago-ag-bay.html

Ag, Bay groups remain wary of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Update March 21, 2015 - Sadly this is a dead link: http://www.americanfarm.com/TopStory3.21.06a.html


For years, the agricultural community has been distrustful of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

But in recent months, various officials from the farm community and the foundation have been able to sit at the same table and push for a common goal — to have a viable, profitable agriculture that protects the environment.

Both sides are critical of the “dating” relationship the two groups are experiencing, and both say that marriage is far into the future.

Down for the count?

Before 1997, CBF and the farm community had what some have called a mutual existence.

“I guess we had a non-relationship prior to 1997,” said Bill Satterfield, executive director of the Delmarva Poultry Industry.

In 1998, however, that changed, when Pfiesteria was discovered to have caused fish deaths in the Chesapeake Bay.

“We did what we believed was right at the time,” said Kim Coble, Maryland executive director for CBF. “That’s when the relationship severed. I think (the farmers) resented our call.”

That call was to crack down on nutrient management. A scientist from North Carolina State University had come out with research that said the Pfiesteria was caused by poultry manure. The foundation wanted poultry companies to share responsibility for their growers’ manure handling, and the Parris Glendening administration agreed.

“We may be part of the problem, but we’re not the biggest part of the problem,” said Buddy Hance, president of the Maryland Farm Bureau.

Though the research was disproved, the relationship between the two communities was severed.

“The two communities have been fairly separate historically, which is unfortunate,” said Michael Heller, farm manager of CBF’s Clagett Farm. “By approaching the problem in a one-dimensional way, they put the agricultural community on the defensive.”

Read more here: Update March 21, 2015 - Sadly this is a dead link: http://www.americanfarm.com/TopStory3.21.06a.html

Taking a risk

In the past, CBF would tell farmers one thing, but turn around and release a report that would say another, said Delegate Paul Stull, R-4A Dist.

“It seemed like every article that came out, (they) were ridiculing the farmers,” he said. “We all want to see clean water and a clean bay. Farmers aren’t the only ones polluting the bay.”

Hance received a call last summer regarding the the CBF’s report, “Vital Signs: Assessing the State of Chesapeake Agriculture in 2005.” The foundation called to ask him if he would be willing to go to the press conference in September announcing the report.

He checked with Farm Bureau leadership, and asked to see the report, which details the importance of agriculture to the Chesapeake Bay, ahead of time to help make the decision.

“Everyone always says be careful who you get in bed with,” Hance said. “We haven’t gotten in bed with anybody. People just have to move on. You can’t dwell on the past. You can’t hold a grudge.”

And meeting in the middle and working together, officials say, is the best way to accomplish goals for the both groups.

“I think we all need to know when we’ve got a goal to meet,” said Lew Riley, Maryland’s secretary of agriculture. “I think the farm community realizes the importance of the Chesapeake Bay. I think the environmental community realizes the importance of the agricultural community.”

Relationship counseling

Both groups can now sit at the same table in the Lowe House or Miller Senate buildings in Annapolis without going after the other.

“I’ve got to hand it to the farm community,” Coble said. “There wasn’t one person who wasn’t willing to turn the page from here. I have a lot of respect for the farming community for turning the page that quickly.”

But some are still critical of the cooperative spirit that has surfaced in recent months.

“It wasn’t that many years ago, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was accusing agriculture of causing Pfiesteria in the Chesapeake Bay,” said Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37th Dist. “You just have to be careful in any new friendship. Hopefully it will be a lasting alliance. It’s a wait-and-see attitude that you have to take.”

And while farmers are happy to have CBF on their side, they say they are still wary.

“Everyone I’ve talked to is viewing it with guarded optimism,” said Steve Moore, a Sudlersville farmer. “In the past, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has been an adversary to the farmers, rather than an asset. We’re happy to see them working with the legislature … and we hope that continues.”

The foundation acknowledges the communication barriers of the past, and says it is working to show farmers that it really is on their side.

There were “mistakes of poor communication and we apologize for those,” said Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Saving the bay and saving the farm are just two sides of the same coin. If we lose our agricultural heritage, we’re going to lose the bay.”

Moving on

Changing its perspective has helped elevate the foundation in the agricultural community. The foundation now sees farming as the most cost-effective way to save the bay, and as the best way to help the environment.

“They had a change of direction,” said Jim Saathoff, a farmer from Denton whose land in Dorchester County would be impacted by the Blackwater Development. “We’re treading lightly. They’ve been honest so far, at least with me. They’ve come to realize that blaming the farmer isn’t going to save the bay.”
Saathoff said the organization deserves a chance to prove itself.

“Let’s work with them and see if they’re serious about this,” he said. “We don’t have many more chances to save the bay. The watermen will tell you there are dead zones out there, and farmers didn’t make them.”

Trust takes time, as it does with any relationship, and officials from both groups admit that change hasn’t taken place overnight. The farm community is still suspicious of the bay foundation, and the environmental community has accused CBF of being too lenient on farmers now.

But the groups say they are willing to give each other a chance.

“We’re not going to agree on everything,” Hance said. “We’ve agreed to disagree. So far, it’s working out. It takes time. We didn’t expect everyone to agree on everything. But you can still have differences and get the work done.”
Looking at the change of heart from both groups is almost a sigh of relief for some, and the sigh brings with it a hope for the future.

“There’s a very genuine sense that we really want to help farmers keep farming,” Heller said. “If we lose farms, we’re losing a valuable ally for solving water quality issues. It’s more than just a change in saying what we think of agriculture. We have to link farm viability and bay health, and not just focus on the bay health piece.”

Back to the future

Forgiveness is divine and the groups are moving forward, putting the past behind them, said Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, R-38th Dist., and Senate minority leader.

“Inside, I still have a lot of frustration about what happened under the Glendening Administration. At the same time, we must extend the olive branch and we must go beyond that anger. We must work out a genuine, long-lasting partnership.”

As far as “first dates” go, Riley said he married his first date, and hopes that the groups will continue to work together to have a true partnership.

“It comes together very well when you’ve got a cooperative effort,” he said. “It’s encouraging to see the two sides coming together. Life’s a lot more pleasant for me and a lot more pleasant for farmers.”

Both sides recognize the advantages in working together, and look to cement a relationship that can go beyond dating.


“The farming community has met us more than halfway,” Baker said. “I think we’ve gotten over the past and we’re moving forward. We’re working for the future and trying to put the past behind us. We realize we have to earn the trust of agriculture, and we’re prepared for the long term investment. I believe it. I’m committed to it. We’re committed to it.”
*****

Monday, January 26, 2015

This Week's News from the Chesapeake Bay

This Week's News from the Chesapeake Bay
26 January 2015

NEWS

Newly minted Maryland governor pulls stronger phosphorus regs at last moment


With only hours left before they go to press, Gov. Hogan acts

Hours after being sworn in as Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan reportedly made good on one of his most contentious campaign promises: to repeal the phosphorus management tool, a new regulation that would limit the amount of chicken manure that farmers could spread on their fields.
- Rona Kobell

Lack of clear goal, information hampers effort to control blue catfish


Scientists concerned that some efforts could actually cause the population to expand.

Efforts to rein in the region’s escalating blue catfish population through an expanded fishery and other measures could face numerous obstacles, the greatest of which is a lack of basic information about the voracious predators, a new report says.
- Karl Blankenship

Chesapeake Bay projects to get $19 million federal funding boost


Though less than requested, the funding should help states meet their water quality goals

Bay-focused organizations made a flurry of announcements last week as they learned how much federal funding is headed to the region — $19 million in total — from a new Farm Bill program for conservation projects that are key to meeting their states’ cleanup goals.
- Whitney Pipkin

BLOGS

Tom Horton receives ‘Admiral of the Chesapeake’ award

Bay Journal columnist Tom Horton was among more than a dozen Marylanders recognized as an “Admiral of the Chesapeake” by Gov. Marin O’Malley during his final days in office.
- Karl Blankenship

From black liquor to phosphorus to transparency, issues confront Assembly


Maryland Lawmakers returned to Annapolis last week to meet as the General Assembly, with a full agenda and some different faces. Perhaps the most noticeable one will be Larry Hogan, the state’s new governor, and only the third Republican in the last 50 years to hold the office. His former boss, Robert Ehrlich, was the second, and before him, you had to go back to Spiro Agnew.

- Rona Kobell

OPINIONS

Parasitic pipelines worm way through Earth

Burrowing beneath the skin of the Earth all across the United States, new oil and gas pipelines are erupting in a rash of environmental destruction. More than 20,000 miles of new pipelines were built between 1998 and 2008, and tens of thousands more are under construction or proposed. Extreme energy extraction through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for shale gas and oil demands extreme infrastructure support. Leaving soil-bleeding scars as they excavate ever forward, these pipelines are subsidized by taxpayer dollars but designed for corporate profits.
- Chris Bolgiano

FEATURES

Winter Reading: May an unforgettable book like this never have to be written again

“Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation” 
By Dan Fagin
Bantam Books, New York. 2013.
Every few years, a science or environmental book comes along that’s so well-written that it not only reaches a broad audience, but nabs nearly every major award on its way to becoming a classic.

- Rona Kobell
*****

Friday, November 07, 2014

A New Bounty of Oysters in Maryland, but There Is a Snag - NYTimes.com

A New Bounty of Oysters in Maryland, but There Is a Snag - NYTimes.com:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/us/a-new-bounty-of-oysters-in-maryland-but-there-is-a-snag.html?emc=edit_th_20141107&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=45685287&_r=0
RIDGE, Md. — A diver pulled a large, porous bag of oysters from Calvert Bay and heaved it onto the motorboat, and the sucker fish and baby crabs began to scurry and skid in a vain search for escape along the slippery floor. Another bounty of bivalves, almost ready for market. But not everyone is excited.
Oyster farming, also known as aquaculture, is one of the few growing businesses here on the western shore of Maryland, a sleepy outpost best known for the sunburned watermen who have pulled crabs and fish from bays like Chesapeake and Calvert for generations. Recent changes to state policy and a growing national affection for oysters (sprinkled with lemon juice only, please) have brought back the shellfish, once as much a staple to Maryland as corn is to Iowa. In the past few years, the state has issued 111 oyster farming leases across 2,240 acres of waters; scores more are pending.
The booming oyster business has come into conflict with the watermen of this region, who argue that the cages used to cultivate oysters are a menace to fishing lines and crab pots, and in some cases an eyesore for residents with waterfront homes.
Unlike commercial oyster farmers, watermen can fish, crab and seek wild oysters with a mere license on public waterways. Farmers must get state-issued leases, which some watermen are pressing the state to limit.
“You don’t put one person out of business to start another,” said Robert Brown, the president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association...  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/us/a-new-bounty-of-oysters-in-maryland-but-there-is-a-snag.html?emc=edit_th_20141107&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=45685287&_r=0
'via Blog this'
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
+++++++++++++++

Monday, July 29, 2013

Chesapeake Bay Program: The Bay in the News

The Bay in the News

Read the past week's news stories about the Chesapeake Bay from newspapers and journals in the Bay region and beyond. To keep up-to-date on Chesapeake Bay news, subscribe to Bay News and get a daily e-newsletter with today's news and headlines.

Headlines

Opinion/Commentary

Editorials

Blogs

*****

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Chesapeake Bay News for Tuesday, July 09, 2013

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/bay_news/baynews_header.jpg
Bay News for Tuesday, July 09, 2013
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/bay_news/baynews_headlines.jpg
Hampton, Newport News fined for not inspecting storm water runoff
The (Hampton Roads, Va.) Daily Press
http://ow.ly/mMYk5
Virginia involved in record $2 million oyster-replenishment project
The (Richmond, Va.) Times-Dispatch
http://ow.ly/mMYmX
Watershed states have plenty at stake in farm bill
The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times
http://ow.ly/mMYoL
Rising Water Doesn't Deter Plans for Shoreline Development
Southern Maryland Online
http://ow.ly/mMYrL
Supervisors briefed on looming water protection mandates
The (Charlottesville, N.C.) Tomorrow
http://ow.ly/mMYtC
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/bay_news/baynews_editorials.jpg
Editorial: Restoration
The (Richmond, Va.) Times-Dispatch
http://ow.ly/mMYvL
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/bay_news/baynews_blogs.jpg
Blog: University of Maryland report card measures improvement in Chesapeake Bay health
Chesapeake Bay Program
http://ow.ly/mMYxG
Blog: 'Dead zone' impacts Chesapeake Bay fishes
Science Daily
http://ow.ly/mMYz4
To subscribe or unsubscribe from Bay News, visit http://www.chesapeakebay.net/headlines
Follow us on Twitter 
@chesbayprogram

The Bay in the News

Read the past week's news stories about the Chesapeake Bay from newspapers and journals in the Bay region and beyond. To keep up-to-date on Chesapeake Bay news, subscribe to Bay News and get a daily e-newsletter with today's news and headlines.

Headlines

Opinion/Commentary

Editorials

Blogs

*****