Chesapeake Restoration Topics Featured at National Estuary Conference

October 2008 --Restoration work by Bay Program partners and other organizations throughout the Chesapeake region is being featured at the National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration on Oct. 12-15 in Providence, R.I.

During the conference, our website will feature presentations on Chesapeake issues, including the value of living shorelines, efforts to improve underwater bay grasses and removal of the invasive rodent nutria.

The conference, organized by the nonprofit Restore America’s Estuaries, is the only national conference that focuses on coastal and estuarine habitat restoration.

“Chesapeake Bay represents one of our national treasures,” said Jeff Benoit, president of Restore America’s Estuaries. “Having a strong presence from the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership helps carry the message to all estuaries around the country that working together can make a difference.”

Experts from environmental programs nationwide will present and share ideas on their restoration work. Attendees can also take part in field sessions to see firsthand examples of bay, stream and coastal restoration.

Bay Program partner presentations include:

• The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will present on the removal of a dam from the Rappahannock River, which allowed shad and herring to migrate to historic spawning grounds.
• The Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will discuss the successes and challenges of underwater bay grass restoration in the Bay.
• The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center will hold a forum on salt marsh monitoring and management.

Other Chesapeake organizations that will be presenting at the conference include:

• The South River Federation will discuss how to successfully leverage resources and get a community involved with restoration projects.
• The Chesapeake Bay Foundation will talk about an exchange program in which farmers were brought to the Bay to learn about Bay issues and watermen visited farms to learn about agriculture.
• The Chesapeake Bay Trust will present scientific findings on living shorelines and moderate a discussion on implementing living shoreline strategies and policy.

For more information about the conference and its presenters, visit the Restore America’s Estuaries website.