Saving the Bay

Book excerpt: For centuries before the arrival of European settlers, the Chesapeake Bay's natural bounty and pristine beauty were self-sustaining. Today, after three centuries of human use and abuse, almost everyone agrees that the Bay is fragile and its future uncertain. As scientists work to understand the environmental threats and policy makers respond with new regulations, ordinary people are increasingly doing their part to ensure a healthier future for the Chesapeake. Saving the Bay gathers dozens of these stories and brings them forward as examples of how broadly the coalition to protect the Bay has grown and succeeded. Through engaging photographs by Richard A.K. Dorbin and moving first-person accounts compiled by Ann E. Dorbin, this book celebrates a new chapter in the history of the Bay, one in which people in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Delaware, West Virginia, and New York work hand in hand to shape the future of a beloved resource. From Americorps volunteer Julie Benintendi's work with shoreline restoration to Mike Ogburn's efforts to build a non-polluting electric car, from the mountainous outer reaches of the watershed to the mouth of the Bay, the people working for the Chesapeake are as diverse and dynamic as the resource itself. Here are teachers, engineers, writers, farmers, parents, and naturalists working with grit and imagination. Saving the Bay demonstrates how these unprecedented efforts throughout the Chesapeake Bay region are making a real difference toward creating a better future. "By bringing these stories to the forefront, we hope to educate readers, show that individual actions are critical, and accentuate positive rather than negativehuman impacts on the environment. Just as the wonder of the Bay is not reserved for experts or old-timers, neither is the work that lies ahead. Therein lies the premise of this project--that behind the reports and controversy over the human-induced decline of the Bay's health and the path of its future, are many people doing their part, in different and necessary ways, for the future of the watershed." -- from Saving the Bay