We worked at the Loch Raven Reservoir, washed up trash was located on shore…
ALL STREAMS LEAD TO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY! At least around here they do. Check out the amazing size of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed on their site.
…then gathered by mountain bikers, with the help of local high school students..
…then hauled out by bike, for the city to pick up
Even during our Voyage on the road we knew what was going on in Baltimore. We arrived home just in time to participate April 6 in one of my favorite local causes. Mountain bikers have issues. We love the outdoors, we love the trails. We even get along with most other users, despite the “Mountain-Dew” commercial image of flying muddied bikers wreaking caffeinated havoc on downhills with jumps and loud thrashing. We recognize everyone’s right to be out there enjoying the same places we love. Managing this and supporting sustainable trails is important. Another issue is trail access, in this we have an international ally. IMBA is the International Mountain Biking Association, who educate riders and agencies as well as provide advocacy.
Who else was out there this April ?: Chesapeake Bay Foundation picture (see the link below)
Other groups are out there too. Getting along and aligning missions gets more done. Gladly we don’t have to work against each other even though there have been historic cases of one trail user wishing the others would go away. No, today there is actually coordination going on. MORE is the region’s mountain bike club, Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts.
Project Clean Stream is an annual event including Bluewater Baltimore, MORE, The Alliance for the Bay and other groups. They have been making it easier for individuals to have an impact for years. All we have to do is call, or email, then SHOW UP. Our “little” Bay is impacted by citizens hundreds of miles away in 6 states. Maryland of course, but also Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, DC, and even all the way up there in New York. Check out some local links:
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Some good news at Chesapeake Bay Foundation
I think my favorite part of all this is that in the frustrating world of decay and negativity, we are making a difference. We are making progress! I was born in the early 60’s and remember some dead streams I played in as a little boy. I remember our old stinking Inner Harbor. I’ve read and SEEN that there are rivers and streams now, that are healthier now than then. I’ve seen crayfish, a fragile sign of stream health, thriving where once were murky, stagnant and lifeless trickles of a stream. It has been in our lifetime that we learned how small the Earth really is. It has been in our lifetime that we construct fewer concrete culverts and actually encourage streams to slow down and add life to the water and those who live nearby. It has been in our lifetime that we’ve begun taking steps to preserve our habitat.
I am impressed and encouraged to be a small part of our World. Like the Elephant Parade (posted last week in Wow, Now What?), I am finding my place in a city, finding my place in the working world again. Enjoy the wiki of ecology: the relationships of living things.
The Voyage of the Tramper 