Virginia Master Naturalists Help the Bay

The 2010 State of the Bay Report from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation wasn't a particularly happy read, considering the Bay was given a health index of 31 out of 100--a D plus. However, as I read the report, I was cheered to recognize that Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers had contributed to improved scores on several of the health indicators. When I read that oyster numbers are increasing, I thought about our Historic Rivers and Tidewater Master Naturalists who contributed more than 200 hours volunteering on oyster restoration projects, from working with schoolchildren to raise the oysters, to building "reef balls" that make artificial habitats for the oysters, to heading out on boats to deposit the new oysters in the Bay, as one VMN volunteer is doing in this photo (contributed by the Tidewater Chapter.) When I read that populations of underwater Bay grasses are improving, I remembered that four Tidewater Master Naturalists spent more than 60 hours growing these native plants and planting them in the James River. Other Virginia Master Naturalists in the Bay watershed planted riparian buffers and built rain gardens, both of which help keep pollutants out of streams and rivers that drain to the Bay.

Although a 31 out of 100 is a pretty dismal score, it is the highest score the Bay has gotten in decades, and is 3 points higher than last year's score. Of course there are many larger factors, such as new government regulations, contributing to this improvement, but the daily actions of each and every one of us in the watershed make a difference too. Thanks, Virginia Master Naturalists, for helping to make the Bay better!