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Latest Bay report card: Middling health but signs of progress
ALEXANDRIA — Amid the complicated network of land and waterways spread over six states and the District of Columbia that constitutes the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Virginia and Maryland officials gathered with environmental scientists along the banks of the Potomac River Tuesday to discuss the health of the Chesapeake Bay. “Welcome to Virginia. But a heavy […]
EPA settles lawsuit with states, enviros over Chesapeake Bay pollution from Pa.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a tentative settlement with Virginia, other states and environmental groups that sued the agency in 2020, charging that federal officials weren’t doing enough to stop Chesapeake Bay pollution originating in Pennsylvania. The proposed settlement will be published Friday in The Federal Register, triggering a 30-day public comment period. When the comment […]
Chesapeake Bay leaders resolute even as cleanup targets become more elusive
As a 2025 federal deadline for states to meet ambitious goals for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay draws closer, it is starting to dawn on state and U.S. officials and other stakeholders that some states will fall short. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) admitted as much on Tuesday. “That was a difficult recognition,” he said. […]
New director for Chesapeake Bay program selected
A veteran government scientist and meteorologist is poised to become director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, which oversees federal and regional Bay environmental monitoring and cleanup efforts. The EPA announced Thursday that Kandis Boyd will take over as director of the program on Monday. She’ll be the first person of color […]
Chesapeake Bay Foundation names new president
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the advocacy group dedicated to Bay health, announced Monday that its Board of Trustees has selected Hilary Harp Falk to be CBF’s next president and CEO. She will succeed William C. Baker, who began working for CBF as an intern in 1976 and has led the organization since 1981. Falk comes […]
Bay states seek new federal funding initiative for farm cleanup
Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Secretary Bettina Ring and her counterparts from the five other Chesapeake Bay states are seeking a sit-down with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss a proposal to pump extra federal funding into a concerted effort to clean up the Bay. Ring and the other state agriculture officials are embracing a […]
Will Baker, longtime head of Chesapeake Bay Foundation, to step down by year’s end
William C. Baker, longtime president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, announced Thursday that he plans to retire later this year after 40 years on the job. Baker, 67, joined the CBF as an intern in 1976 and became its leader in 1981, transforming the organization from a local environmental group into a regional powerhouse that […]
Cross-Potomac unity: Virginia and Maryland Democrats team up on PAC
Democratic and union operatives in Virginia and Maryland have teamed up to create a political action committee to help political candidates on both sides of the Potomac River. But for now, their focus is on Virginia, where all 140 seats in the General Assembly will go up for reelection in just over a month and […]
Pa.’s lack of progress a ‘600-pound gorilla that was ignored’ at bay cleanup meeting, conservation group leader says
OXON HILL, Md. — The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s president blasted the silence surrounding Pennsylvania’s failure to live up to its commitments to cut pollution flowing into the Chesapeake Bay Thursday at a meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council. “There was a 600-pound gorilla in the room that was ignored until it was brought up […]