Join the Masses
You can help restore the health of the
Chesapeake Bay and Virginia’s rivers by
participating in CBF’s Grasses for the
Masses program. Volunteers in the
program grow wild celery, a type of
underwater grass, in small tubs in their
homes for 10 weeks, then help plant the
grasses in local rivers to boost the
population of this critical Bay
resource.
Join the Program
You can help change that by volunteering
for CBF’s Grasses for the Masses
program. Combined with efforts to reduce
nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and
soil runoff, the program helps improve
the Bay’s health by increasing the
amount of grasses in the Bay. It’s easy.
CBF provides the equipment, instructions
and support needed for growing the
grasses. Volunteers do the following:
-
Attend a Grasses for the Masses
workshop to receive a growing kit,
seeds and instructions ($30 fee,
which includes a year of CBF
membership).
-
Plant the seeds within 4 days of
receiving them.
-
Grow and maintain the plants in
their home for a 10 week period.
-
Plant grasses with fellow volunteers
in a designated local river.
-
Return the equipment to CBF at the
end of the project.
Participants this year also have the
added element of our
MyGrass
web page where volunteers can post
questions, concerns or just connect with
CBF staff and other volunteers about
their grasses.
Why
Grasses?
Underwater grasses, also known as
submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), help
the Bay in a number of ways:
-
They provide food and shelter for
young crabs, rockfish, speckled
trout, shellfish, and many more
aquatic creatures.
-
They provide food for ducks, geese
and swans.
-
They help clear the water and
stabilize the sediments that are
already on the bottom of the Bay.
-
They filter pollution that runs into
the Bay.
-
They slow wave action and reduce
shoreline erosion.
-
They produce oxygen necessary for
aquatic life.
-
They take up nitrogen and phosphorus
pollution that can cause fish kills,
algal blooms, and dead zones in the
Bay.
Scientists estimate there once were
hundreds of thousands of acres of
underwater grasses growing in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, helping to
make the Bay one of the world’s most
productive estuaries. However, grasses
have declined dramatically over the past
several decades, primarily because of
poor water clarity caused by pollution.
Excessive nitrogen, phosphorus and
sediment pollution has clouded the Bay’s
water, blocking the sunlight vital for
the grasses’ growth. In 2006, the
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
mapped only 59,160 acres of underwater
grasses Baywide, a decline of 25 percent
from the year before. Grass abundance
didn’t improve during 2007.
Sign
up today--
space
in upcoming workshops is limited.
Workshop schedule:
Richmond -- February 13, 23
Alexandria
-- February 19 and 26
To
reserve your spot,
please sign-up
on-line today.
For more information please
visit our website
. Contact Jess Barton
at
Jbarton@cbf.org or
(804) 780-1392 if you have any
questions.
