Joined
·
721 Posts
First and foremost, non-profits don't have the teeth for enforcement of natural resource regulation or policy. That is the role of government.
What makes that more frustrating has been the lack of Federal enforcement of the overall watershed, as evidence by the near total failure of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement, minus oysters, which some of you may be surprised to hear were the only category to meet or exceed their minimum restoration targets for 2025 (only through a huge effort among a coalition stakeholders at many levels).
Sure, some NGO's seem to focus on their PR than others, but some do tremendously effective advocacy work (Shore Rivers & the Marshyhope), take on the the extremely heavy lifting (Oyster Recovery Partnership), and/or educate and engage with the public through hands on volunteer events (St. Mary's River Watershed Alliance, all for example), but the County, State, and Federal Governments are the ones at the end of the day who need to crack their knuckles and make the decisions to fix the Bay (with our demands).
Add to this the the overall population and development of the region outpaced all predictions that were made in ~1983 when the Chesapeake Bay Program was getting off the ground, so it's no wonder the Bay hasn't dramatically improved in the last 40 years.
I have my doubts about the new guy's background and the Dog and Pony show he was part of, but it's certainly a huge swing in the opposite direction from the previous secretary.
Hopefully for the better.
What makes that more frustrating has been the lack of Federal enforcement of the overall watershed, as evidence by the near total failure of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement, minus oysters, which some of you may be surprised to hear were the only category to meet or exceed their minimum restoration targets for 2025 (only through a huge effort among a coalition stakeholders at many levels).
Sure, some NGO's seem to focus on their PR than others, but some do tremendously effective advocacy work (Shore Rivers & the Marshyhope), take on the the extremely heavy lifting (Oyster Recovery Partnership), and/or educate and engage with the public through hands on volunteer events (St. Mary's River Watershed Alliance, all for example), but the County, State, and Federal Governments are the ones at the end of the day who need to crack their knuckles and make the decisions to fix the Bay (with our demands).
Add to this the the overall population and development of the region outpaced all predictions that were made in ~1983 when the Chesapeake Bay Program was getting off the ground, so it's no wonder the Bay hasn't dramatically improved in the last 40 years.
I have my doubts about the new guy's background and the Dog and Pony show he was part of, but it's certainly a huge swing in the opposite direction from the previous secretary.
Hopefully for the better.
