C. Boyd Pfeiffer: Each person can make a difference

It can hurt a lot, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that since 1967 has been trying to stop collective carnage to the Chesapeake Bay water and watershed where we fish, hunt and boat. Fortunately, we can do things to prevent destruction of the Bay and even help restore it.

John Page Williams, senior naturalist for the CBF, points to three major areas where we can all help protect the Bay and our fishing and hunting. If you want, consider the ideas as self-serving by protecting what we like to do where we like to do it.

“Anyone who wants a clean Bay needs to get active,” he noted emphatically. He says that proactive action can come in three areas of increasing involvement.

1. Things you can do right now include reducing the use of toxics in household cleaning, mulching grass and leaves instead of bagging them for a landfill, being careful when changing your oil (see above!), and reducing/eliminating fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides used on lawns. After all, the Bay is downstream of all of us.

2. Get involved with volunteer groups that are on the front line in protection and restoration. Join groups such as Trout Unlimited chapters and others involved with stream restoration, protecting forest buffer areas, planting Bay grasses, and aiding in oyster restoration.

3. Get involved with institutional issues, such as Maryland General Assembly, and make your views known to influence legislation in areas such as sewage treatment methods and agricultural run-off. Getting involved with public policy has the ultimate impact. It is not glamorous, but it is vital.

One way to learn how to keep fish in the Bay and waterfowl in the marshes is to check out the Chesapeake Bay Foundation site on-line (www.cbf.org ) and click the “take action” heading. There are lots of ideas for you, your family, your neighborhood and your fishing/hunting club to get involved. The results can directly affect the quantity and quality of hunting and fishing we have in the near and long-term future. It also affects whether or not our kids will have the outdoor experiences and fun that we had and have today. Now that?s important.//www.cbf.org/>

C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally-known sportsman and award-winning writer on hunting, fishing and the outdoors, and has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected]