The Holiday season is here and the Environmental Committee has good reason to celebrate. We had a very productive 2023 thanks to our wonderful volunteers. Do check out our many activities in the 2023 Annual Report.
We will close out the year with a special Holiday Presentation on December 6 and then welcome in 2024 with a series of interesting special lectures.
On December 6, we will host our annual “Holiday Celebration of the Chesapeake” with a special slide presentation at 7 p.m. titled “For the Birds: A Celebration and Call to Action for our Feathered Friends,” by our own Jack “Wildlife” Turner, naturalist and photographer. A dessert reception with cash bar will follow in the aft deck, with opportunity to view and purchase some of Jack’s wonderful photographs and bird-themed Christmas cards, kitchen magnets, and other goodies.
Plan to come early to enjoy a special Chesapeake-themed entrée of “wild-caught blue-catfish tacos” being offered by the kitchen. This is a great opportunity to “do good” while eating well. Blue catfish are voracious eaters that outcompete native species for food & habitat and also eat the native fish! Fortunately, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team is on task to help combat the problem, and NOAA is happy to report that “fishing is part of the solution.” To paraphrase a song lyric by Green-Team friend and Chesapeake Troubadour Jefferson Holland, “If you wanna beat ‘em, eat ‘em!”
And speaking of the good work of the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), which celebrates its 40th Anniversary on December 7, we are excited about our first two 2024 speakers in our winter lecture series, both of whom are deeply engaged in, and knowledgeable about, the challenges and opportunities faced by the CBP. They both will be sharing important updates and summaries of recent major activities.
• On Wednesday, January 24, Maryland State Senator Sarah Elfreth will give us a talk about Maryland’s role in the CBP partnership, with a special focus on past, present, and future legislative work in response to meeting CBP goals. Sarah currently represents Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay Commission, an important organization that serves as the “catalyst for the coordination and leadership of State legislative and policy action to restore the Chesapeake Bay.” Sarah has served previously as Chair of the CBC.
• On Wednesday, February 21, Bay Journal Editor-At-Large Karl Blankenship will give us his perspective on how the challenges, successes, failures, and approaches of the CBP partnership have changed and evolved over the span of his 30 years of coverage. Karl will highlight where progress has been made, where it has not, and some lessons that he has learned from his front-row seat. Notably, Karl will focus on his recent coverage of “A Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response” (or CESR), which is a major document about the Chesapeake Bay system’s response to CBP efforts, published by the CRC on behalf of CBP’s independent Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC).
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year!