Restoring the Chesapeake Bay: a decades-old bipartisan effort
1983 Chesapeake Bay Agreement. Photo: Chesapeake Bay Program
Over the past two years, I have been asked the same question over and over again: “How are we able to continue to fund the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort in the current political climate?”
This question has merit, since President Donald Trump’s first proposed budget completely eliminated the $73 million in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program and other critical federal agency support. However, for the past two years, much to the surprise of many, we have been able to maintain the effort because the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams has always crossed political boundaries.