https://chestertownspy.org Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown Mon, 28 Apr 2025 14:03:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/bay-journal-usda-shuts-down-climate-smart-program/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/bay-journal-usda-shuts-down-climate-smart-program/#respond Mon, 28 Apr 2025 11:00:20 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/bay-journal-usda-shuts-down-climate-smart-program/ The U.S. Department of Agriculture in April announced the termination of its $3 billion “climate smart” program, a grantmaking initiative that was supporting hundreds of millions of dollars in conservation work in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. An April 14 USDA press release called the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, which promoted farm conservation measures with climate […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/bay-journal-usda-shuts-down-climate-smart-program/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/18/the-solar-land-rush-a-farmers-perspective-with-judy-gifford/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/18/the-solar-land-rush-a-farmers-perspective-with-judy-gifford/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2025 13:08:57 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183056   http:// Over the past 50 years, the pursuit of renewable energy has been driven by advocates who see large solar arrays as a crucial step toward reducing dependence on fossil fuels.. Critics, however, argue that the land available for solar arrays is limited, and the large-scale expansion of solar farms could compete with agricultural […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/18/the-solar-land-rush-a-farmers-perspective-with-judy-gifford/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2023/11/20/eastern-shore-land-conservancy-forever-protects-106-acres-in-quaker-neck/ https://chestertownspy.org/2023/11/20/eastern-shore-land-conservancy-forever-protects-106-acres-in-quaker-neck/#comments Mon, 20 Nov 2023 14:06:29 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=172295 When Doug West’s father bought a 106-acre grain farm almost thirty years ago, his hope was that the farm would be preserved. Today, Doug and his wife Sue, the Maryland Environmental Trust, and Eastern Shore Land Conservancy are thrilled to announce that the entire West Farm is under a conservation easement thanks to the West […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2023/11/20/eastern-shore-land-conservancy-forever-protects-106-acres-in-quaker-neck/feed/ 5 https://chestertownspy.org/2023/04/24/a-fresh-wave-of-research-a-chat-with-horn-point-labs-new-director-mike-sieracki/ Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:38:33 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2023/04/24/a-fresh-wave-of-research-a-chat-with-horn-point-labs-new-director-mike-zremski/ . There might be no better way to celebrate Earth Day than to introduce our readers to Mike Sieracki, the new director of Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, one of the country’s leading research institutions for interdisciplinary programs in oceanography, water quality, restoration of seagrasses, marshes and shellfish and for expertise in ecosystem modeling As […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/12/13/hogan-pausing-md-participation-in-multi-state-alliance-for-strict-vehicle-emissions-standards/ Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:31:04 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/12/13/hogan-pausing-md-participation-in-multi-state-alliance-for-strict-vehicle-emissions-standards/ The Hogan administration is pausing the state’s participation in a multi-state alliance that requires new vehicles sold in Maryland to meet the same emissions standards as those sold in California, a state official said Monday. The administration’s decision was revealed Monday morning at a meeting of the Air Quality Control Advisory Council, which advises the […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/12/05/it-actually-might-happen-jim-lighthizer-on-a-chesapeake-bay-national-recreation-area/ Mon, 05 Dec 2022 17:24:28 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/12/05/it-actually-might-happen-jim-lighthizer-on-a-chesapeake-bay-national-recreation-area/ Almost five decades ago, Jim Lighthizer, who ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in 1978, began pitching the idea that the Chesapeake Bay region needed to be considered a national recreational area. As the land and water conservation movement took off in the 1970s and 80s, smart politicians, agency heads, and NGO leaders began […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/12/03/our-debt-to-naturalist-jan-reese-by-matt-lamotte/ https://chestertownspy.org/2022/12/03/our-debt-to-naturalist-jan-reese-by-matt-lamotte/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2022 15:59:02 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/12/03/our-debt-to-naturalist-jan-reese-by-matt-lamotte/ “Man must be forever be on the alert and looking always at what is to be seen,” wrote one of America’s most famous naturalists, Henry David Thoreau, more than a century ago. But these words still hold true for today’s naturalists, conservationists and environmental scientists. And, certainly they apply to Jan Reese, a lifetime student of […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/12/03/our-debt-to-naturalist-jan-reese-by-matt-lamotte/feed/ 3 https://chestertownspy.org/2022/11/11/mid-shore-stewardship-shorerivers-and-galena-middle-school/ Fri, 11 Nov 2022 16:28:02 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/11/11/mid-shore-stewardship-shorerivers-and-galena-middle-school/ The preservation and revitalization of the Eastern Shore’s vast system of waterways requires a commitment to environmental stewardship and an effort to teach future generations to care for the world that sustains us. Since 2017 and the merging of the Chester River Association, (CRA), Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (MRC), and Sassafras River Association (SRA) into ShoreRivers, […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/11/08/climate-funding-could-suffer-in-the-farm-bill-under-gop-control-of-congress/ Tue, 08 Nov 2022 13:01:11 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/11/08/climate-funding-could-suffer-in-the-farm-bill-under-gop-control-of-congress/ Republicans who may take control of Congress in this election have not been very specific about many policy goals — but the farm bill is an exception. Members of the GOP in the U.S. House and Senate are sending strong signals they want to strip climate funding from the massive legislation in 2023 if they […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/10/29/mde-gives-lakeside-in-trappe-a-limited-permit-to-move-forward/ Sat, 29 Oct 2022 16:37:57 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/10/29/mde-gives-lakeside-in-trappe-a-limited-permit-to-move-forward/ The Maryland Department of the Environment released its decision regarding the Lakeside housing development discharge permit on Friday afternoon. The MDE ruling considerably limits the project to 100,000 gallons of wastewater per day. The developer had asked for 540,000 gallons per day. The dramatic reduction by the MDE was a result of the agency’s review […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/10/25/oceanographer-mike-sieracki-joins-umces-as-horn-point-laboratory-director/ Tue, 25 Oct 2022 10:00:40 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/?p=162000 Dr. Michael (Mike) Sieracki has been selected as the new director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s (UMCES) Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, Maryland. A leading oceanographer, Sieracki takes the helm from longtime director Mike Roman, who is stepping down after 20 years to continue his ocean research as a faculty member. […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/10/11/chesapeake-bay-region-loses-ground-to-increase-tree-canopy/ Tue, 11 Oct 2022 16:35:29 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/?p=161622 Looking at the skinny elm sapling reaching for the sky in his backyard, James Bryant said that he hopes he lives long enough to be able to sit under its canopy and read a book in summer. Bryant’s neighborhood in Charlottesville, VA, has the dubious distinction of being the hottest in town. Walking the blocks […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/10/07/westward-ho-eastons-rails-to-trails-expansion-with-project-manager-kody-cario/ Fri, 07 Oct 2022 11:19:19 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/10/07/westward-ho-eastons-rails-to-trails-expansion-with-project-manager-kody-cario/ One of the few bits of good news that the town of Easton experienced during the rough days of COVID was the explosion of the use of the current Rails-to-Trails pathway. While popular well before the national pandemic hit, the increase in use during the last few years can only be seen as reassuring to […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/10/05/federalsburg-asks-state-to-deny-aquacon-discharge-permit/ Wed, 05 Oct 2022 13:06:53 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/10/05/federalsburg-asks-state-to-deny-aquacon-discharge-permit/ On Monday night, Federalsburg’s Mayor and Town Council approved and signed a letter to the Maryland Department of the Environment asking the agency to deny a discharge permit for AquaCon’s proposed fish factory in the Eastern Shore town.  The town officials noted in their letter that numerous questions and concerns related to the permit have been unanswered […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/10/04/election-2022-environmental-forum-for-talbot-county-council-election/ Tue, 04 Oct 2022 11:49:07 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/10/04/election-2022-environmental-forum-for-talbot-county-council-election/ On September 28 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and League of Women Voters of the MidShore, in partnership with Mid-Shore Community Television and The Talbot Spy, hosted an environmental forum for candidates running in the 2022 Talbot County Council election. Spy columnist Howard Freedlander moderated the forum in which candidates shared their views on the environmental […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/09/28/report-details-alarming-levels-of-toxins-being-dumped-in-md-waterways/ https://chestertownspy.org/2022/09/28/report-details-alarming-levels-of-toxins-being-dumped-in-md-waterways/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2022 12:00:17 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/09/28/report-details-alarming-levels-of-toxins-being-dumped-in-md-waterways/ Industrial facilities dumped at least 94,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, including PFAS, into Maryland’s waterways in 2020, according to a report released Wednesday by the Maryland PIRG Foundation. The startling and sobering report, “Wasting Our Waterways,” takes statistics from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2020 and puts the health of Maryland’s waterways in […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/09/28/report-details-alarming-levels-of-toxins-being-dumped-in-md-waterways/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2022/09/13/mde-and-conservation-groups-secure-consent-decree-to-stop-pollution-from-valley-proteins/ Tue, 13 Sep 2022 12:30:48 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/09/13/mde-and-conservation-groups-secure-consent-decree-and-fines-to-stop-pollution-from-nvalley-proteins/ Today, Maryland Dept. Of the Environment filed a judicial Consent Decree signed by the department, Valley Proteins, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth (DCPG), and ShoreRivers that requires Valley Proteins to upgrade equipment, pay significant fines, and investigate groundwater at the site.   Once entered by the Dorchester County Circuit Court, the Consent […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/08/26/shorerivers-safe-to-swim-weekend-report/ https://chestertownspy.org/2022/08/26/shorerivers-safe-to-swim-weekend-report/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2022 12:02:02 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/05/28/shorerivers-safe-to-swim-weekend-report/ Along with summer swimming comes ShoreRivers Bacteria Monitoring season has officially started. It is advised that people not to swim 24-48 hours after a major rain.    ]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/08/26/shorerivers-safe-to-swim-weekend-report/feed/ 6 https://chestertownspy.org/2022/07/28/md-lawmakers-check-in-with-new-agency-leaders-on-bay-cleanup-progress/ Thu, 28 Jul 2022 11:20:57 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/07/28/md-lawmakers-check-in-with-new-agency-leaders-on-bay-cleanup-progress/ With a 2025 deadline looming for states to meet aggressive federal goals for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, members of Maryland’s congressional delegation met Wednesday on Capitol Hill with two women who will be integral parts of the public-private strategy for eradicating pollution in the nation’s largest estuary. Eight of the 10 members of the […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2022/06/23/ecosystem-gary-justine-reinoehl-love-the-chesapeake-bay-environmental-center/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 11:44:41 +0000 https://cs.spycommunitymedia.org/2022/06/23/ecosystem-gary-justine-reinoehl-love-the-chesapeake-bay-environmental-center/ “Where Better to Watch a Sunset Over Water than from a Kayak?!” When Gary and Justine Reinoehl retired from long careers at Amtrak and public schools respectively, they moved to Kent Island on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. With their passionate interest in the outdoors, as well as kayaking, it didn’t take them long to […]]]>