On April 18, David and Janet Carle will describe their experience of how communities relate to local waterways based on a journey they took around the globe following the 38th Parallel, the latitudinal line that passes through their home on Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Following this line took them everywhere from the Mississippi River to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. They also visited Turkey, Greece, the Azores…and the Chesapeake Bay.

While traveling the Bay area in the fall of 2009, David and Janet visited the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Education Center on Smith Island. They spent some time on the water with our education staff discussing the challenges the Bay has faced in the past few decades, as well as the improvements that have happened as a result of citizens, businesses, and government working together. And because no trip on the Bay would be complete without it, they helped catch some delicious blue crabs! Visits with staff at other environmental groups like the Friends of the Rappahannock River and the Mattawoman Watershed Society rounded out their trip.
Traveling the 38th Parallel, a Water Line around the World represents years of hard work exploring the way different places around the globe are influenced by the water that surrounds them, and how human activities are affected by the ecology of these areas. From success stories to the negative impacts of a lack of balance between our actions and the need to preserve the environment we rely on, this book explores the unique relationship we have to the water around us.

Those who attend on April 18 will hear an inspiring story about how people around the world experience and respond to the challenge and responsibility of caring for rivers and streams. The audience will also enjoy a great opportunity to engage in community dialogue around a truly remarkable literary accomplishment. Traveling the 38th Parallel explores a diversity of projects that offer several different perspectives on the management of water resources.  Come prepared to learn and also to see what you can do to take care of local waterways right here at home.
Join Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Talbot County Free Library at what promises to be an exciting and illuminating discussion!

Bess Trout

Bess Trout
Eastern Shore Grassroots Field Specialist
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

As the Director of the Center for Chesapeake Studies (CCS) at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) I have been involved with the Maryland Humanities Council’s (MHC) Practicing Democracy initiative’s Let’s Be Shore project initiative in a variety of ways over the past year.

Among other roles, I have had the pleasure to serve as a local community leader to assist with the planning  of public dialogues  and participated in a forum at the Talbot County Free Library as part of the Chesapeake Film Festival.   We also partnered with Let’s Be Shore as part of our annual Chesapeake Folk Festival by providing a site for the Let’s Be Shore sharing station as well as hosting a panel discussion with a diverse audience.  These MHC programs tie in very closely to the work that the Center for Chesapeake Studies is now undertaking with regard to public discussion and outreach to new audiences.

State of the Oyster, the first series in CCS’s new initiative titled Community Conversations, will focus on the status of the oyster fishery and its past, present, and future significance to different Bay communities.  Scheduled for four Sunday afternoons in late winter 2013, these programs will pose the question of whether and how oyster production can continue as a backbone of the region’s culture and economy. While biological dimensions of the “oyster question” will be addressed, the primary focus will be on the cultural and social dynamics of this issue. One of the most significant goals of the project is to host public forums where stakeholders holding different, and in some cases conflicting, perspectives can have meaningful conversations.  The hope is to use the formal presentations as a catalyst for open and civil dialogue about topics important to the community as a whole.   A “Civic Engagement” grant from The Maryland Humanities Council provided funding for this innovative project which will also include an art exhibition, original video production and new research as part of the overall program.

Each session will examine a particular aspect of this complicated topic: the social history of Chesapeake oyster production and conservation; the causes of the oyster crash; the traditions, expertise, and perspectives of watermen; and the possibilities and consequences for addressing the imperiled state of oystering. Programs will include presentations by historians and scientists as well as oyster harvesters and processors followed by , questions and comments from the audience and mediated group discussions between the presenters and the public. Throughout the duration of this project, photographs and paintings depicting the daily activities of watermen will be on display and will provide a stimulus for reflection and conversation.  Video clips of watermen engaged in activities such as tonging, the inner workings of processing plants, and scientists engaged in actual field work will be shown at the beginning of each program in order to provide context for the topics discussed.
In order to address the various problems caused by the decline in the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population in depth, we have divided this program into four, separate sessions:

• Sunday, February 24th, 2pm-4pm:We will focus on the social history of oyster production and conservation during “Oysters and People” in order to address the long-term interactions between oysters and the region’s human inhabitants. This panel will include a historian, a folklorist, and an oyster biologist.
• Sunday, March 3rd , 4pm-6pm: “How Did We Get Here?” will debate the various factors that have contributed to the decline of the Chesapeake oyster populations and will include showing excerpts from the SeaGrant film, “Who Killed Crassostrea Virginica,” as well as presentations by researchers and watermen.
• Sunday, March 10th, 2pm-4pm: This panel consists of watermen and women who will present their experience-based perspectives on the history and future of Chesapeake oystering. During “Watermen: Traditions and Perspectives,”  participants will hear directly from these men and women what it is like to make a living under today’s difficult circumstances, the changes that have seen in their lifetimes, and their ideas about the future of the industry.
• Sunday, March 17th, 2pm-4pm: This session is called “State of the Oyster: Possibilities and Consequences.”  A panel of watermen, oyster researchers, and oyster farmers will discuss the future. This includes aquaculture, reclaiming shell and moving seed, disease research and mitigation, and sanctuaries. The focus of this final session will be on how the cultural worlds within which watermen are enmeshed can be part of each of these proposed solutions.

While we recognize that no one program can settle these questions once and for all, our goal is to use a humanities-based, dialogue-centered approach to encourage respectful engagement, facilitate listening, and generate better public understanding.  The idea is to engage with others who think, feel, and believe differently.  Please join us as we look beneath the surface of these complex issues.

State of the Oyster programs are open to all free of charge.  For more information please visit:  www.cbmm.org  

Robert Forloney
Director of the Center of Chesapeake Studies
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Robert Forloney

Robert Forloney is currently the Director of the Center of Chesapeake Studies at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Saint Michaels.  He has worked in the field a variety of ways over the past fifteen years as a teacher for the New York City Museum School as well as an educator, administrator and consultant at institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, the Morgan Library, American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art and the South Street Seaport Museum.  Whether working at an art institution or a history museum, Robert attempts to make objects and images accessible to audiences through facilitating conversations as well as utilizing experiential learning techniques.

Below is a list of how the Maryland Humanities Council (MHC) can assist local organizations to implement future programs.  We are eager to talk to you about whether you would like to take advantage of this assistance.

1.            MHC can help to identify and foster partnerships or new connections between local groups or organizations. Email us at letsbeshore@mdhc.org.
2.            MHC can offer guidance on how to apply for a “Civic Engagement” grant from our grant program. This grant could potentially fund programs that use the humanities to bring Marylanders together for discussion.
3.            Program Manager Beth Barbush is available to consult with planning of a future public dialogue or program. Email her at ebarbush@mdhc.org.
4.            MHC Let’s Be Shore communications can inform constituents about your events or programs inspired by the Let’s Be Shore project via our blog, the Practicing Democracy Facebook page, and Let’s Be Shore monthly Email blasts.
5.            MHC can  provide consultation on connecting organizations with humanities pieces, scholars, and ideas to springboard discussions. This includes the free use of the Let’s Be Shore videos that can be found on the Let’s Be Shore website or downloaded directly from YouTube.
6.            MHC can assist and connect organizations with mediators or facilitators statewide.
7.            Transcripts from Let’s Be Shore interviews featuring Eastern Shore residents’ opinions and perspectives on land use, agriculture and water quality will soon be available through the Edward H. Nabb Research Center in Salisbury.

What types of resources do you need to carry on the conversation about land use, agriculture, and water quality along the Eastern Shore?  We’d love to hear your opinions.

You can read and share comments made by other participants, from dialogue event attendees to sharing station visitors, to users who watched our video portraits and responded.  Do you want to share your experience with Let’s Be Shore?  Feel free to comment on one of our many comments pages, posts, or below in response to this post.

(LBS) Why did you participate in the Let’s Be Shore project?

I participated in the Let’s Be Shore dialogue process because I believe in dialogue to solve problems.  When people can sit down and share their views and listen to others respectfully, then it’s far easier to come to some type of consensus once people get to know each other and understand their motivations.

(LBS) How were you affected by your participation in Let’s Be Shore?

I feel like the process helped me to clarify my thoughts on the WIP process and helped me express, not only the way I feel about the cleaning up the Chesapeake but also gave me the space to talk about why I have built a career working to restore our waterways and build community at the same time.

(LBS) What did you like most?

For me, the most enjoyable part of the process was being interviewed by (Project Manager) Beth Barbush.  Beth has a rare ability to ask probing questions and then sit back and give somebody the space to answer the question while taking as much time as they want or need.

Tom Leigh and Drew Koslow

• Watch Drew Koslow’s Let’s Be Shore video portrait with fellow Riverkeeper Tom Leigh.

(LBS) Did you learn anything new by taking part? How did your participation in the Let’s Be Shore project affect your perceptions about land use, agriculture, and water quality?

I did learn a lot by watching some of the other interviews.  They gave me an opportunity to really understand where other people are coming from, their motivations and insight in how to talk to them in a productive way.

Drew Koslow,  Choptank Riverkeeper, is a biologist and noted clean water advocate. Drew was instrumental in starting the South River Federation and served as its president from 1999-2002 and served for four years as its first full-time South Riverkeeper. Drew obtained a graduate degree in marine biology from the University of Virginia and has worked for both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. He began as the Choptank Riverkeeper in April 2009.

John Kotoski takes part in a panel at the Chesapeake Folk Life Festival in July 2012

John wanted to voice his thoughts on how he feels his profession connects to the issues of water quality and the environment on the Eastern Shore and felt that more often than not his profession had been represented in a negative or unclear way.  John took advantage of the Let’s Be Shore platform to express his personal opinions on the issues.  Whether you agre

e or disagree with John Kotoski’s viewpoints, he has been an active participant in a quest to engage, share and understand others’ viewpoints around these important community issues. He has proved a willing player in a process that may be a first step in either finding common ground or starting to understand each others’ differences.

Click here to watch John Kotoski’s video portrait

We asked John if he would reflect a bit further and share his thoughts about the Let’s Be Shore project. Our thanks to John for responding to our short Q&A. Let us know what you think! Did you participate in an Let’s Be Shore dialogue event or stop by a s

haring station this summer?  Have you watched video portraits or read quotes?

LBS: Why did you want to participate?

JK: I saw it as an opportunity to get my opinion out there to others who may not be as informed on issues of water quality.

LBS: What do you feel you got out of this process?
JK: The opportunity to hear opinions from others who were interviewed.

LBS: Which part did you find most compelling or enjoyable in the process?
JK: The video interview process was an enjoyable learning experience. The videographer was very professional and kept me at ease

during the interview. Beth (Let’s Be Sh

ore Project Manager) was also great with the audio interview process and video.

LBS: Do you feel dialogue is beneficial? If so why?
JK: I think civil dialogue works when both parties are willing to listen. You can agree to disagree.

Participants watching John’s video portrait at the Salisbury University World Cafe Dialogue event, October 22

At the event at Salisbury University I actually had a conversation with Professor Tom Fisher who, like me, did a video interview. He questioned my statement that water leaving a golf course is cleaner than when it enters. He based his doubt on that statement with work he has done with fertilizers on corn. I explained there is a difference between fertilizer management of corn and turf. And in the end we still may have disagreed but now we will end up exchanging study materials in the near future with each other and hopefully in the end I can prove my point to him.

LBS: Did you learn anything from this process or the other participants involved in this program?
JK: I learned about other points of view from waterman, biologists and others that all are passionate about protecting their jobs, the economy and environment.

LBS: Did you form any new relationships or contacts because of this program?
JK: Yes, with people from the Maryland Humanities Council and other participants in the videos.

LBS: Do you have any ideas of how to move forward on the difficult issues focused on during this program?
JK: I think getting all the (Let’s Be Shore) video participants in the same room and having a round table discussion moderated by the Maryland Humanities Council about where common ground can be found on water issues.

LBS: What would you like to see happen in your community around the focus issues? Any new thoughts?
Open civil dialogue with the Council helping out.

LBS: Has participating in the Let’s Be Shore project changed your behavior, attitudes, or perspectives on water quality today?  Were there any good ideas you heard from others? Have you made changes at River Run as a result of these dialogues?
JK: Seeing and hearing from other people is what I would say are negative attitudes or perceptions about the effects of my industry on water quality. I know from my 30+ years of experience that these perceptions are incorrect and that maybe with giving my perspective and insight, I may help in changing some of those attitudes about my industry.

LBS: If you could have a ‘last word’ on the subject, what message do you want to leave with constituents?
JK: What I would leave to others is that in the end you have to look at all the known scientific facts and leave any political or ideological notions checked at the door when dealing with this issue.

The first was a Reader’s Theater, followed by discussion moderated by the Maryland Conflict and Resolution Office (MACRO), on Saturday, October 20 at the Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre.  “Stories from the Shore” was an original play created from Let’s Be Shore transcripts of interviews with Eastern Shore residents.  After the play the audience participated in “Lou’s Bar,” facilitated by Lou Gieszl of MACRO.

On October 22 at Salisbury University, Let’s Be Shore teamed up with the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (PACE) at Salisbury University for a World Café-style dialogue event, “Land, Water, and Communities: What is the Future of the Shore?” Over 100 participants watched Let’s Be Shore video portraits, then broke into smaller discussion groups.

Did you attend one of our Let’s Be Shore dialogue events?  Now that you’ve had some  time to reflect on your experience, please share your feedback with comments below or send us an email at letsbeshore@mdhc.org.

• What would you like to see as the “Lets Be Shore” program’s next step? More dialogues? More outreach to new populations? More education on topics? Something else?
• Are there specific topics related to land use, water quality, and agriculture that should be addressed in more depth?
• Are there specific local groups, individuals, or organizations that you feel should be involved in this process? Who are they?
• What suggestions do you have for improving the “Let’s Be Shore” events or the program?

Thank you for participating in the Let’s Be Shore project!  In the coming weeks we will be posting excerpts from transcripts and other reports on each event.

These are the sort of questions that those within the Lower Shore region will have a chance to discuss the evening of October 22 at Salisbury University as part of the “Let’s Be Shore” Lower Shore civic dialogue entitled: “Land, Water, and Communities: What is the Future of the Shore?” Sponsored by the Maryland Humanities Council (MHC) and the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (PACE) at Salisbury University (PACE), “Land, Water, and Communities: What is the Future of the Shore” is a one-of-a kind event. It will utilize the “World Café” meeting model to provide an opportunity for those who live, work, and play in this special part of Eastern Shore to have meaningful conversations and discover common ground ideas around land use and water quality on the Lower Shore.

A “World Café” allows participants to explore an issue through small-group discussions based on three well designed questions. The objectives of the event are to build trust and strengthen relationships among diverse community members and begin to identify common ideas around important topics. It is a creative process that is held in a setting that is warm and inviting, where food is served, and participants are seated around small tables (rather than in rows found in typical meetings). The cafe ambiance allows for a more relaxed and open conversation to take place and participants are encouraged to share, write, and draw their discussions as a way to capture free flowing ideas as they emerge and to increase the likelihood that others will build off of the ideas. Stakeholder representatives help plan and promote the event to better ensure a high level of attendance by people with diverse perspectives.

• Register for this FREE World Café event at LBSWorldCafe.eventbrite.com.

This process is facilitated by Jennifer Hicks who is the founder and manager of Sustainable Delmarva (www.sustainabledelmarva.net), a peninsula-wide project that uses dialogue and regional networking as a tool to increase community well-being.  Jennifer guides the sponsors and the planning committee to develop the scope of the meeting and during the event will synthesize the “big ideas” that emerge during the final event. Attendees will be encouraged to think about next step actions during a final exercise at the end of the program and consider supporting an ongoing effort to continue the conversation on the Lower Shore based on the “big ideas” from the community dialogue.

Jennifer Hicks, MS | Sustainable Delmarva
(443) 282-0801 | jhicks@sustainabledelmarva.net
www.sustainabledelmarva.net

You see, story is everywhere – in advertising, in politics, in how we understand ourselves, how we argue, how we talk to each other and how we learn (and remember) life’s lessons. After all, kids don’t say, “Please tell me another fact before bedtime? Please!?” No, they want a story.

We all want a story – and the moving image is the most powerful, popular method we have devised to tell them. Film brings us intimately into the lives of others, makes fantasies real and takes us inside experiences we’d never be able to touch. Film has a pulse and a heart. It entertains, it informs, it moves. It is magic.

While most often that magic is employed to allow us to escape to distant galaxies or experience the moral struggles of superheroes, it can also shine new light on complex issues close to home as well as halfway around the world. Headlines can be made human and compassion elicited from controversy.  Film can transform as well as transport.

It is the power of film to transform, to humanize conflicting views and encourage dialogue that drove me to make films, help found the Chesapeake Film Festival and to help create video profiles for the Maryland Humanities Council’s Let’s Be Shore project. Might film’s humanizing power make a new dialogue about the future of our beloved Eastern Shore possible? I hope so and I hope you will help.

Because, in the end, everything is possible. The lights come up, you take a breath and reflect upon what you’ve seen and where you’ve been. At a film festival, this moment marks a new beginning, the opportunity to participate in a community – your community – to raise your voice and speak to your experience. That is the power of a film festival. This September 21-23, I hope you will join us.

Doug Sadler films Amanda Fenstermaker for the Let’s Be Shore project

Doug Sadler is an award-winning filmmaker and the Creative Director of The Pocket Media Group (www.thepocketmediagroup.com). He was the founding Artistic Director of the Chesapeake Film Festival, where he now serves as an Advisor.

As part of CFF 2012, he will moderate “A Conversation About Land and Water”  featuring author Tom Horton,  filmmaker Ethan Goldwater, and agriculture advocate Jennifer Rhodes. The dialogue immediately follows screenings of “The Last Waterman of Wittman” and “Meet Your Farmer”  on Sunday September 23rd at 2:30 pm  at the Talbot County Free Library in Easton, MD. Details available at www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com

During the process of choosing subjects to interview for video portraits, the Let’s Be Shore team interviewed nearly 30 Eastern Shore residents, one of which was Bethany Brinsfield, 10th grader at North Dorchester High School and Envirothon member.  Click here to read what Bethany had to say about water quality.

As per a suggestion via a comment to our site, we decided to capture more youth views.

In July, “Let’s Be Shore” staff visited the Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre to meet with the Playmakers Summer Camp, which runs for five weeks in Chestertown, Maryland.  The Garfield Center for the Arts runs educational outreach programs throughout the year, offering seasonal workshops for youth. GCA educational programming engages the whole PLAYMAKER- physically, mentally and artistically – providing practice in the areas of improvisation, movement, character development, self-presentation, script building, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving. Campers come from a diverse set of economic and racial backgrounds, and the camp culminates with an original mainstage production.

Project Manager Beth Barbush unveiled the Let’s Be Shore project to campers ages 11-15. She showed two  video portraits to the student campers and asked them to write their thoughts on Let’s Be Shore postcards. Students watched video portraits of:  Tom Leigh and Drew Koslow (Riverkeepers), and Jenny Rhodes (Poultry Farmer).  They were asked to identify the similarities and differences of opinion they heard in these portraits and lastly, to include any questions they may have.

The excerpts below reveal the campers’ views and concerns about water quality in their community.  We encourage you to share Let’s Be Shore videos with your family, learn about water quality and explore ways that you too can make a difference.   We’d love to hear your response via comments below to those views expressed by these perceptive campers.

“They are too busy arguing to actually help this problem.”   – Camper, age 11

“She (poultry farmer) feels very strong about her farm. Seventy percent of the land is farming.  The River Keepers thought it was the farmers polluting, the farmers thought that it was everyone.  I hope she (Jenny Rhodes) will be able to stay with her farm.” – Camper, age 11

“Everyone pollutes in some way. (There is a) need to educate people too!” – Camper, age 11

“I learned that without a healthy river, a negative chain reaction begins.  We can’t live without polluting in a way. We have to stop polluting altogether. We need to improve the water quality for survival and so together we can move forward for our children’s future.” – Camper, age 12

“I really like the water, swimming, and tubing.  Both of the Riverkeepers want to protect the river and lakes.  They both believe that the water is important to the local community. The chicken farmer thinks that farming is all about family and helping out the local community.” – Camper, age 12

“Farmers think Riverkeepers try to shut them down; they want everyone to be in it together. …Why can’t the farmer and river keepers just talk it out?” – Camper, age 13
“(They would) like to see open conversations with the community about how to save the river. The woman wants to farm, but you need fertilizer.” – Camper, age 13

“They all want the water fixed, but for different reasons.  They have different views which might be because of their positions or jobs.” – Camper, age 13

“A river keeper takes care of the river.  Both of them (river keeper/farmer) are helping the environment. One is talking about land and the other is talking about water.” – Camper, age 13

“If we have dirty water, we will not have most things we have now. We need to work together to clean up the rivers.  We have the right to clean water….If we don’t have farming, we don’t have all the food groups we need. If we work together we can make the Shore a better place.  We all just want to do it different ways, [which is why] we can never get anything done and the Shore will never be clean. We have a right to speak and we want to be heard. “  – Camper, age 13

“It is very boring, listening to people talk about water pollution.  They both want to help the environment and (to) reduce pollution.  The Riverkeepers think that the farmers could and should do more, but the farmers don’t’ see how they can do anything else to help the environment.”  – Camper, age unknown

Have you watched Let’s Be Shore videos yet?  Let us know your thoughts by commenting below each video.

This fall, The Maryland Humanities Council will partner with The Prince Theatre for a public event. Actors will bring to life perspectives collected by the Let’s Be Shore project, followed by audience dialogue.  To receive Let’s Be Shore events information by email, click here to join our list.

Our special thanks to Lucia Foster, Executive Director, of the Garfield Center for the Arts, for her help coordinating our efforts.  To find out more about The Garfield Center for the Arts and The Prince Theatre, visit www.garfieldcenter.org for more information.

When we think of water pollution on the Eastern Shore, we usually conjure up images of corn, tractors, and chicken houses. This makes sense – agriculture is the dominant land use on this side of the Chesapeake Bay and therefore is a significant contributor of the nutrients entering our waterways. But there’s another image we should be conjuring up alongside that of farmland: the image of the perfectly green home lawn.

The largest crop grown in the State of Maryland is not corn, as you might think; it is turfgrass. The acreage of turfgrass in Maryland is almost double that of corn. And while farmers have to follow strict nutrient management regulations, homeowners traditionally have had free reign when applying fertilizer to their lawns. But that is changing.

Here on the Eastern Shore, farmland dominates the landscape, interspersed with patches of green lawns. But these patches add up, as do the nutrients we put on them. And all together, these nutrients help fuel the algae blooms, dead zones, and general decline in water quality that so severely impact our local waters and the Chesapeake Bay today. Every single person who cares for a home lawn has a chance to impact the Bay – for good or bad.

Here’s what you can do to make sure your lawn is healthy for the Bay:

• Stop fertilizing your lawn – this will reduce the amount of nutrients entering your river and help improve water quality. Plus, you will save money on lawn care.
• Or, use organic and fertilize according to the new regulations– avoiding artificially-made fertilizer saves resources. Following the new regulations will increase the chances the nutrients you put on your lawn will be taken up by plants and not washed into the water.
  • Read the new regulations:  MD Fertilizer Bill Summary (Chesapeake Bay Commission)
• Stop mowing so often – let grass grow a litter higher; it prevents scorching, reduces weeds, and protects the soil from drying out, resulting in an all-around healthier lawn. You’ll save time and money by not mowing as frequently, and you’ll also save gas and reduce harmful emissions by using your lawn mower less.
• Stop bagging your clippings – grass clippings have nutrients in them; leave them on your lawn as a natural fertilizer! Plus, once again, you save time and energy by skipping this step.
• Stop watering your lawn – many grass species naturally go dormant and turn brown in the hot, dry summer months; but they will get green again when the rains return. In the meantime, save water and don’t force your grass out of dormancy before its ready!

If you need help remembering what you can do to make your lawn healthier for the Bay, remember: Just Stop.

In the Bay watershed, the states of Virginia, New York, and now Maryland have all passed strict legislation regulating the use of home lawn fertilizer in an attempt to reduce its negative impacts on local waters and the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland’s Lawn Fertilizer Use Act of 2011 goes into effect on October 1st, 2013. This new law affects every Marylander who maintains a home lawn.

Traditionally, the responsibility for good water quality has rested on farms, septic systems, and storm water and waste water treatments. Now, however, every single person who cares for a home lawn will be held accountable as well. Now we all have the chance to step up to the challenge and become better stewards of our environment, simply by changing the way we care for our lawns.

Isabel Junkin is a Policy Specialist with the Chester River Association.  She holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke and a B.S. in Animal Behavior from Bucknell.  She has had experience with the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC and with the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy.

• Watch a video portrait of Riverkeepers Drew Koslow and Tom Leigh.