Current Column
Gutting the Endangered Species Act
By Sharon Guynup
The Bush administration has proposed a series of end-of-term changes to regulations, including changes which weaken the Endangered Species Act that protects hundreds of species in the mid-Atlantic region. Sharon Guynup is an environmental writer for national magazines. 760 words.
11/04/2008 more...
Recent Columns
A golden moment to stop sprawl
By Dick Cooper
High gasoline prices, tight credit and a falling housing market have stopped development and offer a breathing space in which policy makers can create new policies to protect our region's farms and forests - writes Dick Cooper. Will we have the political courage to seize the moment, he wonders. NOTE meeting on November 7. Dick Cooper spent 36 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, and in 1972 won the Pulitzer Prize for General Local Reporting
10/28/2008 more...
Autumn Apples: Last Fruits of the Season
By Carrie Madren
Apples, the last fruit of summer, remind Carrie Madren of the past spring and summer and give us one more way to support local farmers. Madren writes about environmental issues and sustainable living. 667-words.
10/21/2008 more...
Crabbers feel regulations pinch
By Dick Cooper
A ban on harvesting female crabs has cut into watermen's profits. Now, Dick Cooper reports that despite a federal declaration that the Chesapeake crab industry is a disaster, the watermen are criticizing the wisdom of the restrictions meant to rebuild the crab stocks.
10/14/2008 more...
Signs of stress for season’s symbols
By Sara Kaplaniak
Bats, bees, and fireflies lead to crickets, and each has a season. They connect Sara Kaplaniak's year. Now, she notes three are connected in a disturbing way, all suffering population declines and mysterious plagues. Is there a larger, common problem? 789 words.
10/07/2008 more...
Barack Obama: Platform contains Chesapeake-specific policies
By David Bancroft
This special two-part commentary from Bay Journal News Service presents the views of the Republican and Democratic candidates for President. This piece, written by David Bancroft, who is an energy and environment advisor to the Obama/Biden campaign explains why voting for Senator Barack Obama would be good for the environment in our region. A companion piece on Senator McCain accompanies this piece. We urge editors to present both to their readers.
09/30/2008 more...
John McCain: Stewardship ethic would guide decisions
By David Jenkins
This special two-part commentary from Bay Journal News Service presents the views of the Republican and Democratic candidates for President. This piece, written by David Jenkins, who is the government affairs director for Republicans for Environmental Protection, explains why voting for Senator John McCain would be good for the environment in our region. Jenkins serves as National Coordinator of the Environmental Stewardship Coalition for McCain-Palin 2008. A companion piece on Senator Obama accompanies this piece. We urge editors to present both to their readers.
09/30/2008 more...
Celebrating public lands
By Katherine Unger
You don't have to drive to Yosemite to visit some great public lands. From town parks to national forests, they are close by, writes Katherine Unger in this 773-word commentary. This Saturday is Public Lands Day, a perfect time to support these underfunded public treasures. Unger is a staff writer for The Wildlife Society in Bethesda, Maryland.
09/23/2008 more...
Bear Wisdom
By Sarah Minick
Every summer bears meet humans in unlikely places. Last week a bear wandered down Maryland's Eastern Shore, far from current bear territory, and many people have moved into traditional bear country. People can help keep bears safe, and in the wild with some easy practices, writes Sarah Minick in this 796 -word commentary. Minick is a knitter, basket maker, and reading teacher. She hikes and gardens in Virginia with her husband and three dogs.
09/16/2008 more...
Turning a Shambles of the Past into a Promise for the Future
By John W. Frece
The shambles of an abandoned hotel became the sparkplug for a downtown revival in Hagerstown, Maryland. It's a success story that any city seeking a place to locate a new facility might emulate, writes John Frece in this799-word commentary. Frece observed state governments for years as a news reporter. For the past decade he has been a policy adviser and spokesperson on Smart Growth issues and written extensively on the subject.
09/09/2008 more...
Cracking Local Eggs
By Jim Minick
Entrepreneurs from Virginia to New York are experimenting with ways to create local businesses, the kind that rebuild the town's economy and draw on local resources. Jim Minick shows us a good example and suggests that if we want to find more sustainable models for communities we need to crack some local eggs. Minick teaches English at Radford University in Virginia.
09/02/2008 more...
Tired
By Sierra Gladfelter
Do streams have a magnetic pull on tires? Do all tires dream of swimming with the trout? After a day on a stream clean-up, Sierra Gladfelter thinks they must. 792-words. Gladfelter is a Temple University freshman. She is as passionate about writing as she is about environmental issues and community.
08/26/2008 more...
A Gold Rushing Wind
By Chris Bolgiano
You can hear the trees in the Appalachians sighing in the wind. Anxiety? Maybe. Chris Bolgiano says that wind power may be an important part of our energy future, but not in the forests of Appalachia. There the breezes are unpredictable, the wildlife vulnerable, and the forests are the real gold. Bolgiano is a resident of western Virginia and is now Faculty Emeritus at the James Madison University Library in Harrisonburg, VA. She has written five books and many articles for regional and national publications.
08/19/2008 more...
Chesapeake Bay: You can't get there from here, but if you do, it's worth the effort
By Dick Cooper
A third of Americans live within a day's drive of Chesapeake Bay, yet public access to the bay is limited. Improving access may improve public understanding and support for the Chesapeake's restoration, says Dick Cooper in this749-word commentary. While a reporter at the Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Cooper won the Pulitzer Prize for General Local Reporting. He is now president of Cooper Media Associates, and lives and sails in St. Michaels, Maryland.
08/12/2008 more...
Supplying "the Pump"
By Liza Field
Banking groundwater? It's a dividend paying idea that Easterners need to adopt, writes Liza Field, in this 791-word commentary. Photo available. Field teaches philosophy and English in the Virginia Governor's School and Wytheville Community College, plants trees and writes a weekly column for her local papers.
08/05/2008 more...
Counting Mayflies
By Tim Zink
The far-reaching disruptions to ecology caused by mining and drilling in the Appalachian mountains often goes uncounted when we add up the price of energy, writes Tim Zink in this 800-word commentary. Zink is a contributing editor at Bay Journal News Service and is Director of Communications for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a coalition of national hunting, fishing and conservation organizations.
07/29/2008 more...
Living together: maybe it's a mother's thing?
By Cindy Ross
It's a big world, but when it comes to the pea patch it's not that big, Cindy Ross finds in this 767-word commentary. How we share it is the question. Ross lives in Pennsylvania and has written extensively about hiking, travel and recreation.
07/22/2008 more...
Choosing A Cradle of Sustainability Over A Grave of Waste
By Sara Kaplaniak
Wall-E, the hero in a new movie, can inspire us to search for innovative ways to sustain life on earth, notes Sara Kaplaniak in this 800 - word commentary. But right now, she'd be happy if movie theaters recycled. Kaplaniak is a freelance writer, and was formerly a staff member for U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, and worked for the Nature Conservancy and Island Press publishing company. She lives in Pennsylvania.
07/15/2008 more...
The Weight of a Balloon
By Sarah Minick
Balloons seem weightless, yet when released burden the environment, particularly marine mammals. Sarah Minnick suggests we celebrate with the earth-friendliest balloons possible in this 792-word piece. Minick is a knitter, basket maker, and reading teacher. She hikes and gardens in Virginia.
07/08/2008 more...
Reason to Celebrate
By Cindy Ross
It's summer. Is there a better reason to celebrate? Cindy Ross suggests in this 736-word commentary that outdoor celebrations build traditions. Ross lives in Pennsylvania and has written extensively about hiking, travel and recreation.
07/01/2008 more...
We should mine the sea's last big gift
By Liza Field
Our seas and the life they nurture are in trouble. We’ve overharvested their resources and over fertilized them with our wastes. Now there’s talk of offshore drilling. Yet there is one resource the seas offer that we’ve barely touched, but should mine deeply, writes Liza Field, in this 776-word commentary. Field teaches philosophy and English in Virginia Governor's School and Wytheville Community College and writes a weekly column for newspapers in southwestern Virginia.
06/24/2008 more...
A Greener 'I Do'
By Katherine Unger
The "wedding-industrial-complex" generates a serious carbon footprint, notes Katherine Unger in this 652-word commentary. But the modern, eco-conscious bride and groom can make choices that lower the impact and provide an extra note for that all-important day. Unger, who is planning her own wedding, is a staff writer for The Wildlife Society in Bethesda, Maryland.
06/17/2008 more...
Mid-Atlantic natural gas offers a promise and a threat
By Nathaniel Gillespie
The Marcellus Shale, a geologic formation that spans the mid-Atlantic and is rich in natural gas, has drawn the attention of energy companies, and raised concerns about how to protect water and air quality, writes Nat Gillespie in this 798-word commentary. Gillespie is a fisheries scientist and a woodsman.
06/10/2008 more...
Public Access: A Growing Problem in the Chesapeake Country
By John R. Wennersten
The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure, but it's not so easy for the public to get to the water. John R. Wennersten notes governments are working to increase access, but suggests that developers have a role to play as well. 679 words. Wennersten is the author of several books and is a frequent contributor to the Bay Journal News Service.
06/03/2008 more...
The Pennsylvania Navy Sails Again
By Dick Cooper
The geese are long gone. The ospreys are hatching their young. Now a new migration is underway. The Pennsylvania Navy is streaming south to the Chesapeake Bay, intent on squeezing the most out of every weekend, writes Dick Cooper. Cooper has retired his commission in the Pennsylvania Navy. He now lives and sails in St. Michael's, Maryland. He spent 36 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, the last 28 on the staff of The Philadelphia Inquirer. While a reporter at the Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Cooper and fellow writer John Machacek won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for General Local Reporting.
05/27/2008 more...
It all began with the Appalachian Trail
By Cindy Ross
June 7th is National Trail Day and this year the day it helps mark the 40th anniversary of the congressional act that created our nation's system of national trails. Getting involved with one of our many trails is a great way for people to get outdoors, says Cindy Ross in this 800-word commentary. Ross, and her husband Todd, are Triple Crown Hikers, having hiked the length of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. She lives in Pennsylvania and has written extensively about the outdoors.
05/20/2008 more...
A natural gem slipping away
By Dick Cooper
Visitors from around the world go to Blackwater Wildlife Refuge to view the waterfowl and eagles that make the big marsh home. But the refuge is slipping away as the bay's waters rise. In this 741-word commentary, Dick Cooper argues we need to step in to stop the erosion. Cooper spent 36 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, the last 28 on the staff of The Philadelphia Inquirer. While a reporter at the Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Cooper and fellow writer John Machacek won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for General Local Reporting. He is now president of Cooper Media Associates, a media consulting and writing firm. He lives and sails in St. Michaels, Maryland.
05/13/2008 more...
Baptizing the Christians
By Liza Field
Polar opposites have come together. Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson agree on global warming. The typically divisive Christians are working together to protect an Earth they commonly agree is "the Lord's." Perhaps, writes Liza Field, the world is small enough and faith large enough that both can be kept alive. 812 words with quote; 757 without quotes. Field teaches philosophy and English in Virginia Governor's School and Wytheville Community College and writes a weekly column for newspapers in southwestern Virginia.
05/06/2008 more...