Chesapeake Conservancy facts for kids

The Chesapeake Conservancy is a non-profit group that works to protect the Chesapeake Bay. This large bay is on the east coast of the United States. The Conservancy uses modern technology and speaks up for important causes to help keep the bay healthy. Their main office is in Annapolis, Maryland.

What is the Chesapeake Conservancy?

The Chesapeake Conservancy is an organization dedicated to caring for the Chesapeake Bay. They use science and technology to find the best ways to protect the bay's land and water. They also work with communities and leaders to make sure the bay stays healthy for everyone.

How the Conservancy Helps

The Chesapeake Conservancy works on several exciting projects. They use special maps and technology to understand the land around the bay. This helps them decide where to focus their efforts to reduce pollution and protect nature.

Mapping the Land (High-Resolution Land Cover Project)

One big project is creating super detailed maps of the Chesapeake Bay area. Imagine a map so clear you can see individual trees and buildings! This is called the High-Resolution Land Cover Project.

• Why it's important: These maps show natural areas like forests and wetlands, as well as human-made things like roads and buildings. Knowing exactly what's on the land helps scientists and conservationists. They can see where pollution might be coming from. They can also find the best spots to plant trees or restore natural habitats.
• How it works: The Conservancy uses special mapping tools, including topographical mapping. This helps them create maps with a resolution of one square meter. This is much more detailed than older maps, which only showed areas of 30 square meters.
• Using the maps: All this map data is put into an easy-to-use online tool. This tool helps people involved in conservation find the best places to plant trees or take other steps to stop soil and nutrient pollution. The Conservancy calls this "precision conservation." It means they can be very exact about where they do their work.
• New technology: The Conservancy teamed up with Microsoft. They use Microsoft's cloud computing service, Azure. This makes the online map tool work super fast. They also use a special computer model called a deep neural network. This helps them update the maps often. This way, researchers can track changes like deforestation (losing forests) and urbanization (more cities). They can also see the impact of climate change on the land.
• Mapping water flow: In 2018, the Conservancy received money from the Environmental Protection Agency. This helps them map how water moves across the land. They use lidar data, which comes from lasers bounced off the ground from an airplane. Combining this with their land cover maps helps them find the best places for projects that clean up water.

Returning Land to Native Americans

In 2017, the Conservancy helped return a piece of land to the Rappahannock Native Americans. This land is next to the Rappahannock River in Virginia. The Rappahannock people had been forced to leave this area in the 1600s. This project was a way to help correct a past wrong and honor the history of the land.

Champions of the Chesapeake Awards

Every year, the Chesapeake Conservancy gives out "Champions of the Chesapeake" awards. These awards honor people and groups who have done great things to protect the Chesapeake Bay and its environment. For example, in 2017, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan received this award.