The Conservancy supports policies, programs, and regulations that protect and restore the Corsica, its streams, and surrounding lands, such as planting trees, installing rain gardens, and reducing the trash that flows into our rivers and streams.  We work collaboratively with elected and appointed officials and like-minded businesses and non-profit organizations to mitigate the damaging effects of development.  We use our outreach to encourage environmental stewardship.

 

Contact Your Elected Representative

  • Centreville Town Council:  Sandy Huffer, President; Frederick Beu; Fred McNeil; David Mason; Jerel McCord. Contact at 410-758-1180.  https://www.townofcentreville.org/government/town-council/
  • Queen Anne’s County Commissioners:  Christopher M. Corchiarino; Phillip  L. Dumenil; James J. Moran; Jack N. Wilson; Jr, Patrick McLaughlin.  410-758-4098.  https://www.qac.org/617/Board-of-County-Commissioners
  • Queen Anne’s County Planning Commissioners: Sharon Dobson; Tom Leigh; Kathy Deoudes; Teddy Baker; Jeffrey Reiss; Bill Sylvester; Ben Tilghman.
    • Director of Planning and Zoning: Amy Moredock
  • Maryland State Legislature-District 36:  Representatives Jay Jacobs, Jeff Ghrist; Steve Arentz.  Senator Steve Hershey
  • 1st U.S. Congressional District (MD-01):  Andy Harris
  • U.S. Senators:  Angela Alsobrooks, Chris Van Hollen

Town and County Commissioner meetings can be viewed on QAC-TV.

2024/2026

  • Monitored and delivered presentations on Centreville’s new, expanded wastewater treatment plant. Met frequently with State, County, and Town officials to learn about and comment on plans.
  • Testified and provided comments on Town of Centreville’s comprehensive plans.
  • Testified and provided comments to County Planning and Commissioners on various proposed developments, including a change in the County’s comprehensive water and sewer plan for a planned 900+ unit development at Providence Farms annexation.
  • Weighed in on Board of Appeals cases regarding pier extensions that threaten oyster sanctuaries.
  • Opposed citizen-sponsored text amendment to increase allowable impervious surfaces for certain properties.
  • Provided comments directly and with Eastern Shore partners on concerns regarding state plans to build new Chesapeake Bay bridges
  • Worked with others at the state level on various issues including menhaden harvest, proposed changes to provisions of the federal Clean Water Act.

2022/2023 Actions

  • Made significant comments and participated in development of Queen Anne’s County Comprehensive Plan
  • Worked with PlasticFreeQAC and the Town Council to achieve passage of plastic bag ban in Centreville.
  • Opposed development of massive storage facility in fragile wetlands on Kent Island.
  • Contributed to efforts to improve State agreement with Exelon on continuation of Conowingo Dam license.
  • Worked with others at the state level to improve the Forest Conservation Act and testified at the County level to oppose efforts to reduce protection of woodlands in the County Code.

2020 Actions

The Conservancy signed on to several environmental initiatives including:

  • ShoreRivers testimony in the 2019-2020 General Assembly in support of the Aquatic Habitat Protection Act (SB629/HB1306) to strengthen submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) zones associated with clam harvesting by requiring annual protection zone updates, buffers, online maps, and an updated study.
  • And testimony in support of Coast Smart development (HB1018), which modified existing requirements to ensure that any development within an area subject to sea level rise or tidal flooding incorporate the Coast Smart siting and design criteria.  With the early dismissal of the General Assembly, these bills did not advance.
  • A letter to the heads of the Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Department of the Environment from Senator Sarah Elfreth and Delegate Brooke Lierman asking that non-profit groups be allowed to continue water quality monitoring even while government field operations were on hold.
  • A letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission urging that the 50-year permit to operate the Conowingo Dam not be renewed for the Exelon Corporation not be renewed until Maryland strengthened its proposed agreement.

Also of interest may be the following actions:

Maryland’s Attorney General, along with others, has sued EPA over the agency’s policy announcement that it will discontinue some of its enforcement responsibilities.  For more details, see  https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2020/051320.pdf

The Maryland Attorney General as well as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others have issued a notice of intent to sue EPA to hold Pennsylvania and New York accountable for their commitment to the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.  For further information, see https://www.cbf.org/news-media/newsroom/2020/all/cbf-issues-notice-of-intent-to-sue-epa.html

ShoreRivers joined with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to issue a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for repealing the Clean Water Rule, which provided robust protections for wetlands and seasonal streams under the Clean Water Act, and replacing it with the dangerously weaker version. For further information, see https://www.shorerivers.org/news/shorerivers-sue-trump

Comments being accepted on Maryland’s Transportation Authority  recommendation to build a new Chesapeake Bay bridge at the site of the existing spans. A draft environmental impact statement was issued on February 23, 2021.   Comments are being solicited through call ins on April 14 and 15 and in person on April 21st and 22nd.  For more information and to register, call 877-249-8370.   Provide written comments until May 10th at www.baycrossingstudy.com/public-involvement/submit-comments. The Queen Anne’s County Conservation Association commissioned an excellent study on the options for and impact of another bridge crossing.