|  The
Chesapeake Bay’s natural infrastructure is an intricate
system of terrestrial and aquatic habitats linking the landscape
and environment of the Bay. It is composed of the thousands of
miles of river and stream habitat that interconnect the land,
water, living resources and human communities of the Bay watershed.
Long-term protection of this natural infrastructure is essential.
Chesapeake 2000 aims to strengthen the Bay’s vital
habitats by concentrating restoration efforts on expanding underwater
grass beds, protecting and restoring wetlands, conserving and
expanding the Bay’s forests, and working with citizens to
develop community watershed management plans throughout the Bay
region. By managing the Bay ecosystem as a whole and focusing
efforts on improving habitat, Chesapeake 2000 aims to secure
the future health of the Bay.
These vital habitats – including open water, underwater
grasses, marshes, wetlands, streams and forests – support
living resource abundance by providing key food and habitat for
a variety of species. Submerged aquatic vegetation reduces shoreline
erosion, while forests and wetlands protect water quality by controlling
erosion and naturally processing pollutants before they enter
the water.
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| By working to restore
and protect habitats, Bay Program partners hope to provide
the food and shelter that the Bay’s fish, shellfish
and other living resources need to thrive.
- Vast beds of underwater grasses covering more
than 185,000 acres of the Bay’s bottom. This priceless
habitat resource will provide nursery and feeding places
for fish and crabs, as well as winter food for migratory
waterfowl.
- Protected wetland habitat, including 25,000 newly-restored
acres, will naturally filter waters, retain floods and
provide critical nursery areas to Bay fish and wildlife.
- Large expanses of riparian forest buffers
along the Bay watershed’s streams and rivers. The buffers
will provide healthy wildlife habitat and filter pollutants
before they reach the waters that feed the Bay.
[See All: Protecting
and Restoring Vital Habitats Commitments] |
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- In 2002, underwater
bay grasses covered 89,568 acres – the largest
amount since Bay scientists began collecting data in 1978.
Recent bay grass increases during years of low rainfall
highlight the linkage between improved water quality and
the abundance of this critical resource.
- Wetlands
protection is operating at approximately a “no-net-less”
level throughout the watershed. Fortunately, Maryland,
Virginia and Pennsylvania state regulations now protect
thousands of acres of isolated and headwaters wetlands,
for which federal regulation has been effectively challenged
in the courts.
- Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania have partnered
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to provide financial
incentives for farmers to expand wetland and riparian
protection and restoration efforts on private property.
Based on available data, approximately 4,977 acres of
wetlands have been restored across the watershed between
2000 and 2001.
- In 2002, Bay Program partners met their Chesapeake 2000
commitment to restore 2,010 miles of streamside
buffers eight years ahead of schedule. In 2003, the
Chesapeake Executive Council agreed to a fivefold expansion
of the original goal, pledging to restore 10,000 miles
by 2010.
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[Protecting
and Restoring Living Resources] [Protecting and Restoring
Vital Habitats] [Improving Water
Quality] [Soundly Managing
Lands] [Stewardship and Community
Engagement]
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