Groundbreaking Restoration Brings New Approach to Chesapeake Bay
April 27, 2009 — NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco visited the national estuary in Jug Bay, Md., on Earth Day (April 22) in celebration of its restoration. After a 10-year effort, nearly 80 percent of Jug Bay’s once-decimated wild rice marshes has been restored.
NOAA, Chesapeake Bay Maryland Reserve managers, and state and local partners worked together on the massive restoration project.
John Griffin, secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources presented NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco with a fine art print of Baltimore orioles during her visit to the national estuary in Jug Bay, Md., on Earth Day (April 22) in celebration of its restoration.
Photo credit: NOAA.
“In the face of climate change, this highly successful collaboration brings home the strong need for innovative approaches to ecosystem management,” said Dr. Lubchenco. “With America’s estuaries at serious risk, Jug Bay provides a model for tackling fast accelerating water quality issues and concerns about filtering out pollution threatening to human and ecosystem health.“
A National Estuarine Research Reserve, Jug Bay is part of a new national network of “sentinel sites” for climate change data-gathering that will help provide the scientific groundwork needed for optimal ecosystem restoration and management. Jug Bay is situated near the Patuxent River in the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary.
John Griffin, secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (pictured), presented Dr. Lubchenco with a fine art print of Baltimore orioles during the celebration.