Save the Smallmouth Bass!

A recent report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation indicates there's something terribly wrong with the smallmouth bass of the Lower Susquehanna River, and that spells big trouble for us all.

The smallmouth bass, one of our region's most popular freshwater game fish, is plagued by parasites, warming water, and nutrient, sediment, and chemical pollution. Together, these threats combine to cause genetic abnormalities, disease, and massive die-offs.

This isn't just about fish. It's about a significant threat to the health of our waterways, our ecosystem and our economy.

But there's something you can do about it. We urge you to:

1. Address stormwater in Transportation Funding Bills.
Any bill that is being considered should explicitly set standards and funding to address the impacts of stormwater from existing, rebuilt, or new roads and bridges. Failing to address this issue would make the projects incomplete and could lead to unnecessary expenses by other sources of stormwater.

2. Reinstate Conservation District Support.
The proposed state budget eliminates funding for Districts and proposes that Marcellus Shale impact fees make up the difference. One important role of Conservation Districts is to provide technical and planning assistance to farmers, which are critical to improving local water quality and the Chesapeake Bay. At a time with increasing demands on Districts and generally decreasing county financial support, zeroing out of state funding could have significant implications on these important efforts.

3. Reinvest in Growing Greener.
Over the past several years funding has been reduced and now much of the money goes toward debt service, not pollution reduction projects. Reinvesting in Growing Greener would help to ensure that local municipalities, watershed groups, and others can implement projects needed to improve water quality.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect our fish and waterways before it's too late.