Good News.

[Dave Sikorski]

Taken from the MD DNR website.

DNR Announces Creation of The Maryland Artifical Reef Initiative
Releases First Ever Maryland Artificial Reef Plan for Public Comment

ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in partnership with Coastal Conservation Association Maryland (CCA MD) and over 30 conservation organizations, corporations, foundations and outdoor recreational groups launched the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative (MARI) to raise funds to facilitate development of marine habitat enhancement projects.
“I am very excited to launch this new and important initiative,” said DNR Secretary Ron Franks. “Improving Maryland’s marine habitat is one of the central objectives of the Department and the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative will help us achieve this important goal. I would like to thank our partners for their dedication, hard work and contribution to this worthy purpose.”

The Coastal Conservation Association Maryland is the functioning 501(c)3 non profit entity that will receive and distribute donations made to MARI. All donations will be held in a special account and funds will be dispersed to artificial reef projects. Individuals, businesses, corporations and foundations can donate to the MARI fund through CCA MD and through the “Buy a Ton” program at the CCA MD website.

“This is a fantastic example of how public and private entities can work together to make a positive difference for our marine resources,” said Robert Glenn, executive director of the Maryland chapter of CCA. “Our members welcome the opportunity to participate in this effort and are very excited about the precedent it sets. We consider absorbing the costs of administering this dedicated fund so that tax-deductible contributions go directly to reefs projects as simply part of our mission. We encourage every angler in Maryland to visit the website and Buy a Ton. Projects like these are the future for the health and longevity of Chesapeake Bay.”

The catalyst for the program is the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which is available to be used for marine and fish habitat, but for which the cost of transportation and deployment is required. The Wilson Bridge offers the opportunity to build out up to a dozen separate reefs in Maryland's portion of Chesapeake Bay by providing a hard substrate and point of attachment for myriad marine organisms, where they previously had none. The initial focus of MARI will be to acquire the Wilson Bridge for reef habitat, but ultimately other projects in the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coast will be initiated.

In conjunction with the launch announcement of MARI, DNR is releasing for public comment the first ever Maryland Artificial Reef Plan. The plan is both a historical reference document of past artificial reef work in Maryland waters, and a planning and management tool for future reef development. The Maryland Artificial Reef Plan will be the blueprint for future artificial reef projects. It is modeled after the National Artificial Reef Plan, and was written with the feedback of major fisheries stakeholder groups in Maryland. The public comment period will run through January 31.

Following are the organizations joining the Department of Natural Resources in helping establish MARI.

American Bridge/Edward Kraemer
Annapolis Chapter of CCA MD
Annapolis Chapter of MSSA
BP Oil Corporation
Chesapeake Bay Artificial Reef Coalition
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Chesapeake Guides Association
Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland (CCA MD)
Deale Island Charter Boat Association
Deale Charter Boat Association
Dorchester Chapter of MSSA
Honeywell Corporation
Kent Narrows Chapter of CCA MD
The Maryland Aquatic Resources Coalition (MARC)
Maryland Charter Boat Association (MCA)
Maryland Legislative Sportsman’s Foundation and Caucus
Maryland Saltwater Sport Fishermen’s Association (MSSA)
The Mitchell Petersen Family Foundation
Perry Hall Chapter of MSSA
Shell Oil Corporation
Solomon’s Charter Boat Association
Somerset County Charter Boat Association
Southern Maryland Chapter of CCA MD
Southern Maryland Chapter of MSSA
St. Mary’s Charter Boat Association
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project

More to follow on how to donate funds to help move the material to the reef sites.

-D

[tolmaz]

I heard about that...How bout it

[Ravens16]

http://www.ccamd.org/MARI/MARI_donate.htm
Buy a ton!

[Dave Sikorski]

On the Outdoors: Candus Thomson
January 7, 2007
Remember fishing the Summer Gooses in its heyday? It wasn't that long ago.

Come the dog days each year, boats - up to 100 of them - used to sit atop one of the greatest hard-bottom areas on the Chesapeake Bay, chumming. Glistening, fat striped bass came over the sides of boats in nets held by straining anglers-maybe you were one of them about a decade ago.

But a slow-motion avalanche of silt buried that prime spot. Although boats still make a pass for old time's sake, in the eyes of most, the Gooses are cooked.

Restoring that hot spot isn't really an option, given the state's financial situation and all the other bay restoration projects on the wish list.

But creating a new one is.

On Tuesday, the Department of Natural Resources will announce an unprecedented reef-building program that combines the passion of more than 30 recreational fishing and conservation groups with the financial backing of a high-tech corporation, two oil companies and a Shady Side philanthropist.

The aim of the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative is to build fish-friendly habitats out of the remains of the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge, starting, perhaps at the mouth of the Choptank River.

Citizens will be invited to participate, donating $25 to pay for the moving of a ton of material from the Potomac River shore near Washington to the bay.

"Imagine this huge desert of sand and in the middle is an oasis teeming with life," says Bill Curry, president of the Maryland chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. "There's no way to put a dollar figure on the ecological and economic benefits."

To save administrative costs, the CCA agreed to use its charitable status to administer the program.

"We're not skimming off the top and that's an important thing," Curry says. "A lot of people stepped up to the plate, and we don't want to diminish their efforts."

The spark came last fall, when DNR took a gamble and diverted $38,000 in funds from fishing license sales to pay for 50-ton bridge slabs to be hauled from the Potomac to the waters of Point No Point off St. Mary's County.

But after that pilot effort, the cash-strapped state agency was tapped out.

Luckily, Nancy Petersen read news accounts of the ambitious reef project and decided she could do something.

"We all hear so much about trying to save the Chesapeake Bay. Well, here's a really good idea and it seems like the only obstacle is money," she recalls thinking. "What do they mean they only have $38,000? I have $38,000."

Actually, as trustee of a small family foundation, Petersen, 58, oversees a little bit more than that, money she dips into for school environmental projects and programs for disadvantaged women and children. The Mitchell-Petersen Family Foundation has donated $100,000 to the reef project.

"The foundation itself likes projects where it can be a catalyst for a bigger result, to get the ball rolling," Petersen explains. "My passion has always been the environment."

As a long-time Alexandria, Va., resident and publisher who decided two years ago to start the retirement process with a move to southern Anne Arundel County, Petersen was a frequent user of the Wilson Bridge.

The reef project, she says, "was very appealing. It was kind of a cool connection between my working life and my new life, whatever that is."

She called the Wilson Bridge folks, who put her in touch with DNR's Marty Gary.

Gary, meanwhile, was looking for the mechanism by which donations could be collected and distributed to the reef program.

"We're not talking about a one-and-done project here," Gary says. "We'd like to see this take root and grow."

Recently, Gary and world-renown diver Nick Caloyianis peeked in at the Point No Point reef to see who was home. Already, Gary says, there are signs of new life.

There's plenty of clean bridge material left, and Gary says there are about a dozen accessible sites on the bay, including areas off Tangier and Solomons islands and at the mouth of the Choptank on the north side of the navigational channel in about 35 feet of water.

Long-time fishermen, charter boat captains and watermen say the Choptank bottom has the same characteristics as the Summer Gooses. If barge loads of construction materials from the bridge are dumped in the 80-foot-long trough, fish and oysters will take to it, they say.

Curry envisions the project growing to a point where clean construction materials from other projects can be used in the bay, off the Atlantic Coast and in freshwater impoundments.

"It may be a drop in the bucket, but it's a good drop," he says.

BUY A FEW TONS

-D

[flatbottom]

thanks dave. !

[Dave Sikorski]

You're welcome!!

-D

thanks Jer.

[makomyday]

Bring some up myway .

[Dave Sikorski]

If I understand the project properly there are 12 sites that have been selected/approved in the MD part of the Bay. They will start placing the middle section of the Wilson Bridge, then work on the MD section if $ allows it.

I will see if I can't find a map or list of the approved sites.

-D

[Timber]

good news indeed, thanks for the post!

[OneMoreCast]

Originally Posted by makomyday

Bring some up myway .

I am working on that Jose. Right now we have to focus on the selected spots and do everything we can to make them successful. That way, when the time comes for our backyard, there will be a precedent in place. It is time to make a difference.
Hope to see you at the tiefest buddy. I talked to chris the other day and he told me you were in search of a rod. Try out the albright rods along with the tfo. Let me know which one you like better.