MCBP Gear for Sale!
We still have a variety of new MCBP gear for sale - right in time for the holidays! Adult sizes start at $22. Swing by our office, or come to any of our events, to purchase a sweatshirt, long sleeve, t-shirt, tank, or kid's shirt and help rep MCBP!
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Burley Oak Fundraiser Night
Join us on January 27 from 5-8 pm at Burley Oak for an evening of trivia, auctions, drinks, and fun to support the Coastal Bays!
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Ghost Crabs Pots Collected
MCBP hires watermen annually to pull abandoned (referred to as ghost) crab pots and marine debris left over from the season. This year, Captain Skip Maisel and volunteer Willy Smith pulled 36 pots from Manklin Creek. By-catch included crabs, toad fish and other live fish species, several dead terrapins and interestingly, two live terrapins.
The terrapins went into hibernation mode and were fortunate the pots were pulled prior to spring.
Maisel hopes to pull more pots from the St. Martin River before the 2020 crab season commences.
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Oyster Gardening
Maryland Coastal Bays Oyster Gardeners grew over 7,000 oysters this year throughout the watershed. These oysters spend a year living in cages that hang off of volunteer's docks, filtering the local waterways of excess nutrients and algae. There was a brand new reef planted that will be monitored for success this summer. Special thanks to Nancy Zeller for providing a boat and to all of our volunteers for taking good care of their oysters.
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Stream Restoration Conference
Science Coordinator, Roman Jesien, recently attended the Mid-Atlantic Stream Restoration Conference in Baltimore where almost 500 biologists, engineers, practitioners, and agency personnel met to discuss the latest in stream and floodplain restoration. A highlight of the conference was a field trip to visit a floodplain that was being restored using innovative techniques.
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Keeping Maryland Green Conference at SU
MCBP was thrilled to be a speaker and table the Keeping MD Green Conference at Salisbury University on Thursday, November 21st. The goal of the conference was to promote environmental responsibility within community and to bring education and transparency to issues Maryland is facing.
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UMES Diversity & Inclusion Program
MCBP had the opportunity to engage students at the Diversity & Inclusion Program organized by The Waterbird Society and UMES. The goal of the program was to expose students to a wide range of natural resource careers and about career pathways in our organization.
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Executive Director, Frank Piorko, Retiring at Year End
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It is with saddened hearts to report that the Maryland Coastal Bays Program's Executive Director, Frank Piorko, is leaving the stewardship of the program to his successor at the end of 2019. After serving the Board of the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation as Program Director for almost four years, Frank is heading for retirement after a dedicated 35 year career in conservation and management of natural resources. With leadership from the Foundation Board, program support from the EPA National Estuary Program, and grant funds from MD DNR and others, Frank and the MCBP staff have been successful the past few years accomplishing land restoration projects, water quality monitoring, education and outreach programs, and progressing through the completion of many of the actions contained in the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for the bays.
Regarding his time with MCBP, Piorko stated, "I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this program so committed to the partnership among our MCBP staff, watershed partners, volunteers and local environmental and conservation organizations; all committed to improving the health of the Coastal Bays and their watershed". "Working with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program has been a real highlight in my career, and I wish the program and my successor great things in the future".
The MCBP staff is excited for Frank to begin his adventure-filled retirement, but will miss his love for our organization, passion for the Coastal Bays, and those amazing Monday morning bagel surprises! Thank you so much for a wonderful 4 years!
Please join us in wishing Frank all the best in his retirement and we look forward to announcing the news of the next Director soon.
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Thanks to everyone who donated!
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and donors, we raised over $4,700 on Giving Tuesday! Your generous donations help support our numerous restoration projects throughout the watershed. Our restoration projects, such as the Lizard Hill Wetland Restoration, help provide cleaner waterways which equate to a healthier environment and economy.
We would also like to extend a huge thank you to the West O Bottle Shop for hosting our Giving Tuesday event and providing a fabulous wine tasting. We also thank our food sponsors: South Point Oyster Farm donated freshly harvested local oysters, Bad Monkey West OC donated scrumptious subs, Chick-Fil-A donated chicken nugget platters, Starbucks West OC donated roasted coffee beans, and West Ocean City Chipotle Mexican Grill provided a variety of burrito samplings. And finally we would like to thank the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore for their Shore Gives More initiative, along with their sponsors - Shore United Bank, the Hershey Family Fund, the Perdue Family Fund, and 47ABC.
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Ilia Fehrer Student Field Excursion
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Research has shown that just 4 hours in an outdoor education program has equal impacts as receiving the same knowledge for one month in the classroom. At MCBP, we think it is important to take our students into the field at our restoration sites for a day of experiential learning associated with service. On Monday, November 11, we hosted Stephen Decatur Middle School 8th graders at Ilia Fehrer Nature Preserve. Students engaged in meaningful environmental learning and assisted in the development of a nature trail loop! Thanks SDMS for your dedication and service to our Coastal Bays!
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Chesapeake Watershed Forum
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Our Chesapeake Conservation Corps members Virginia Parker and Chandler Joiner attended the 2019 Chesapeake Watershed Forum in Shepherdstown, WV. They attended sessions and creative installments regarding the diverse and innovative collaborations for better outcomes for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. On the final night of the conference they presented at the poster session; Chandler on an educational survey sent to teacher partners, and Virginia on fish data from a seine survey at the Assateague Living Shoreline restoration site.
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oster titles are referenced below:
"Impacts of Environmental Education Field Excursions in Maryland's Coastal Bays" -Chandler Joiner
"Innovative Shoreline Restoration and it's Effect on Fish Distribution" -Virginia Parker
We are excited for the innovative ideas and leadership skills they brought back to our organization from this conference!
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