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Green Scene, by Joel M. Lerner 

Joel writes a weekly column that appears in The Washington Post called Green Scene. Here he covers local and international landscaping, design, horticulture, and many other environmental design topics.  His columns can be found here.

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International visitors learn about improving environment: Annapolis tour includes rain gardens, green roofs
article by Pamela Wood, The Capital

They came from all over the world - Mexico, India, Thailand, Serbia - to a quiet corner of Annapolis where purple coneflowers bloom and switch grass sways in the breeze. Read the the full story..

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RainScaping Campaign Promotes Homeowner Involvement in Reducing Bay Pollution

April 2009 -- A new campaign is urging Anne Arundel County, Md., residents to find "beautiful solutions to water pollution" by installing rain gardens, rain barrels and other methods of absorbing polluted runoff before it makes its way into the Bay.

The RainScaping Campaign, which kicked off this Earth Day, is a social marketing effort supported by more than 30 organizations throughout Maryland. The purpose of the campaign is to help reduce the fastest-growing source of pollution to the Bay: the dirt, oil, fertilizers and pesticides that run off residents' lawns, decks and driveways when it rains. Read the full story..

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Help the Bay in Your Backyard

We may think the actions we take in our yards are contained within our fences, but runoff from fertilizers, pesticides and pet waste collectively have a big impact on our local streams, creeks, rivers — and ultimately the Chesapeake. A healthy Bay begins in your backyard; so follow these tips to help clean the Bay, one yard at a time. Learn more about what you can do in your own backyard..

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Bay only 38% of the way toward meeting water, habitat goals
article by Karl Blankenship, Bay Journal

Measured on a 100-point scale, the Chesapeake Bay is only 38 percent of the way toward meeting its water quality and habitat goals, according to latest annual assessment from the state-federal Bay Program partnership.

Overall, the 2008 report found very little change from 2007 conditions. Read the full story..

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Large sanctuaries urged for recovery of wild oyster population
article by Karl Blankenship, Bay Journal

One of the biggest problems for the Chesapeake Bay oyster is that too many people expect too much from the filter-feeding bivalve.

Watermen want to harvest them to make a living; biologists want their reefs, which serve as habitat for a host of other species; and cleanup advocates want a return of their water-filtering abilities. Read the full story..

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County's rivers flunk health test
article by Pamela Wood, Capital Gazette

Published 04/03/09
BOWIE - Anne Arundel County's rivers - the Magothy, Severn, South, West and Rhode - have the poorest health of all the rivers in the Chesapeake Bay region.

The rivers, grouped together as the Lower Western Shore, flunked an annual bay health report card issued yesterday by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Read the full story..

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DNR Tree Coupon

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is offering $25 coupons off the purchase of trees with a retail value of $50 or more at participating nurseries around the state. The coupons can be downloaded from their "Marylanders Plant Trees" website. Please go out, purchase a tree, and plant it in your yard for the health of the South River and the Chesapeake Bay. Find out about the DNR tree coupon..

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Oyster Gardening Incentives

The State of Maryland offers a tax credit for 100% of the cost of an aquaculture oyster float, up to $500. These floats are produced by a number of vendors in the area, and allow waterfront homeowners, or individuals living in neighborhoods with community pier to grow oysters under their docks. Commercial oystering operations on the Choptank River have enjoyed tremendous success raising their oysters in floats, avoiding many the problems with disease found in other populations. Learn more about the oyster gardening incentives..

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Bay Restoration Fund - Free Septic Upgrades

The Bay Restoration Fund (BRF) pays all or part of the cost to upgrade existing septic systems with nitrogen-reducing pretreatment units. The units reduce the amount of harmful nutrients such as nitrogen that septic systems discharge into the Chesapeake Bay.

Supported by a state environmental grant, the BRF helps protect water quality in the Bay and its tributaries. The BRF is only used to fund state-approved nitrogen-reducing systems that have demonstrated consistant and reliable performance. Learn more about the septic system program.

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