Conditions for The Chesapeake Bay Show Only Modest Gains

The condition of the beleaguered Chesapeake Bay is improving, if only modestly, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. But there are signs of hope. The advocacy group released its State of the Bay report today and WYPR’s Joel McCord was there.

Joel McCord:  The Bay’s infamous “dead zones,” where there isn’t enough dissolved oxygen to sustain life, have shrunk. The crab population is increasing and even oysters, once thought to be all but commercially extinct, are rebounding. Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, told a news conference the bay’s health has improved by 10 percent.

Will Baker: “Cooperation and science have overcome the narrow interests of opposition. We can see a saved bay in our lifetimes.”

McCord:  Nonetheless, pollution levels are still too high, underwater grasses, important for filtering pollutants and providing habitat for juvenile fish and crabs, are declining. And the overall grade in the foundation’s report is a D plus.

Baker:  “It’s only a D plus, and it’s still a system dangerously out of balance.”

McCord:  Baker said he fears that elected officials and the general public will get complacent just as the Bay is turning a corner. I’m Joel McCord, reporting in Annapolis for 88.1, WYPR.