LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT—

Dear Friends of the St. Mary’s River,

      Well the dog days of August are upon us—heat, humidity, and more tomatoes, summer squash, peppers, and egg plant than you can shake a stick at. But this year, sadly, the end of our summer is tarnished by a forecast for the largest ever dead zone in the Chesapeake Bay which threatens marine life and seriously limits activities on the water. Scientists say that oxygen is depleted in more than 30% of the Bay and that the area is going to increase in size for the next few weeks. The lungs of the Bay simple cannot breathe anymore. Heavy rains all spring and early summer have deluged the Bay with nutrients and have led to very low salinity levels.

      Down at your docks, you’ll see crabs balancing on top of buoys and crawling up pilings to the water’s surface, as they blow bubbles in order to inhale life-sustaining oxygen from the air. Fish become scarce and fishermen even scarcer.

      Storm water runoff continues to be the big culprit. As it falls during thunderstorm downpours, it flows off rooftops, parking lots, playgrounds, roads, lawns, and farm fields and it’s not easy to stop. But there is a natural way to lessen some of the damage from too many nutrients entering our waterways—Oysters! Oysters filter the nutrient-generated algae from the water, limiting the chain-of-events that zap the life-giving oxygen from our waters. Oysters are an essential element in the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and the St. Mary’s River.

      By the end of this month I’m happy to report that we will have planted more than 2 million oysters into the St. Mary’s River sanctuary. Their capacity to clean the water is amazing even though half of them are babies. (The other half are two-year-olds.) The oysters that thrive will filter approximately 20,000,000 gallons of water each day and reduce the negative effects of many tons of nutrient pollutants. Now that’s good news, and I want to thank our Executive Director, Bob Lewis who has led our St. Mary’s River restoration effort with hundreds of volunteers who are growing and planting oysters with the Marylanders Grow Oysters program.

      Restoring the river not only requires an army of volunteers, but funding as well. Our first annual “River Affair” which we held on May 15th was a fantastic success. We are grateful to everyone for their generous support in making this the biggest fundraiser in our history. Special thanks to our superb hosts Diane & David Reumont, Canard’s Catering, CSC, and Brome-Howard favorites—Chef Michael and Lisa Kelley. Hats off!

      Stay cool, and I hope to see you all down at Historic St. Mary’s City on September 3 at RiverFest 2011!

See you on the river,

Joe Anderson

—Brome-Howard brunch a huge success ! —

      More then 200 people celebrated the St. Mary’s River by taking part in an afternoon of socializing and bidding. Chef Michael Kelley and host Lisa Kelley provided an outstanding selection of dishes as well as micro-brews, wines, and soft drinks. Oysters-on-the-half-shell provided a direct connection to our river and the resources we must protect.

      Forty-four silent auction items were generously bid upon and revenues for the event exceeded $25,000. Spectacular views of the River rounded out a great afternoon.

—Guitar raffle underway

115,000 ten-month-old oysters (spat) placed in permanent home—

      The Marylanders Grow Oysters program was a grand success for the second year in a row. More than 130 volunteers tended 650 cages of spat-on-shell at 97 private piers in the St. Mary’s River and adjacent waters. The cages were collected in May and oysters planted in the St. Mary’s River oyster sanctuary in the vicinity of North Snow Hill Manor Road.

      Last year, MGO volunteers stewarded and planted more than 250,000 spat..—more than twice the number planted this year. Variability at the hatchery led to the decline in total number.

      We are still in need of more waterfront hosts for the coming fall program. If you have three feet of water at low tide, you can volunteer. Please contact Bob Lewis at 301-862-3517 or BobLewis@StMarysRiver.org to volunteer.

      Cage distribution is set for mid-September.

Oyster Planting August 27 —

      Supported by generous grants from Boeing Global Corporate Citizenship and Tidewater Dental, one million spat-on-shell (baby oysters) will be planted by incoming student volunteers from 9 AM until noon. The public is invited to attend this exciting event at the Muldoon River Center on the St. Mary’s College campus. To volunteer, contact Bob Lewis at 301-737-2903 or email info@stmarysriver.org. Please come to support this effort.
    

—Wild spat strike survey

      As we go to print, the 28 spat collectors deployed on June 1st at seven locations around the tidal St. Mary’s have failed to “collect” a single spat or baby oyster. With salinity levels very low due to excessive rainfall in the Susquehanna and a flush of fresh water throughout the Bay, oyster larvae are unable to survive and “strike” on to a hard surface, which than would become its permanent home. We anticipate that the larvae will begin to strike any day now. Since it is so late in the year, this may indicate that recruitment this summer will likely be lower than normal. Equipment and supplies funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

New Homeowner’s Guide to Conservation Available Free Locally—

      Forty pages of conservation techniques that will save money and reduce your impact on our rivers and streams. Published by your St. Mary’s River Watershed Association and generously funded by the Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust, The Printing Press Inc., Chesapeake Bay Trust, St. Mary’s Soil Conservation District, David A. Reumont CPA PC, and John & Julie McAllister.

      Pick up your copy today at The Greenery, Hilltop Graphics & Gifts, The Glass Garden Shoppe, Dyson’s Building Center, or Good Earth Natural Foods.

      Free download at our Web site: www.SMRWA.org

OUR MISSION

To protect, improve, and promote the well-being of the St. Mary’s River Watershed through the collaborative efforts of economic, agricultural, environmental, social, cultural, and political stakeholders in the community.

We’re on the web!
www.smrwa.org

Upcoming Events:

• Rain Barrel Workshop, Aug 6 from 9 AM until Noon at Historic St. Mary's City visitor's center. To Register Call 240-393-6508
• Oyster Bar Restoration Project Saturday, Aug 27 from 9 AM until Noon at Muldoon River Center.
• RiverFest 2011—September 3 from 10AM to 5 PM at Historic St. Mary’s City, FREE ADMISSION
• MGO Cage Distribution TBA (likely dates September 10 or 17)
• Getting to Know Critical Areas—Saturday, Sept 24 from 9 AM, Cole Cinema in the Campus Center
• Guided Tree Walk “Know Your Native Plants”—Saturday, Oct 1 from 10 AM until noon at HSMC Visitor’s Center
• Rain Garden Hands-On Workshop—Saturday in October—watch for details. (We need your help.)