The Whole Watershed Act is a swift and positive response on behalf of the Maryland General Assembly to innovate its approach to regulating and supporting watershed health in the Chesapeake Bay (“Overview of the Whole Watershed Act of 2024,” April 16).

It’s encouraging to see scientists, lawmakers and regulators working together to bring evidence-based reasoning to new forms of watershed governance. The strength of the new approach is dual fold. It will localize the scale at which projects are conceived and implemented, empowering those who live, work, and play on waterways. The second strength is necessitating an integrated project that targets multiple benefits and outcomes of clean water — not the pollution reduction itself — but other critical characteristics of healthy watersheds such as recreation, access to waterways and healthy fisheries.

At Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society (CES), we are training the next generation of environmental stewards and change agents through interdisciplinary, place-based learning.  The Center’s Natural Lands Project has converted over 2,000 acres of marginalized cropland across the Eastern Shore into diverse native meadows, wetlands and forests to increase diversity and improve water quality.

Our Chesapeake Places Program strengthens regional links with students and communities coming together to foster preservation and planning of cultural and natural resources. And the center is presently broadening its research scope to encompass food systems and regenerative agriculture, acknowledging the abundant agricultural potential within our region.

As sustainability is at the heart of our mission here at Washington College, CES sees this legislation as a chance to propose timely, interdisciplinary educational and research projects that can merge natural science and cultural studies to improve, appreciate and understand our place in the watershed. We are excited to see what’s next for the Chesapeake Bay region and happily endeavor to be good stewards and citizens who live and work in this one-of-a-kind natural resource.

— Valerie Imbruce and Beth Choate, Chestertown

The writers are, respectively, director and deputy director of Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society.

Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter.

Delaware State Police Troop 5 has issued a Gold Alert for 85-year-old Joanna Kellogg of Severna Park, Maryland, after she left her residence on April 26, 2024, to go to Selbyville, Delaware. Attempts to contact or locate her have been unsuccessful, and there is a concern for her safety and well-being.

Joanna is described as a white female, approximately 5’ tall, weighing approximately 160 pounds with gray hair. She was last seen wearing a gray sweater. Joanna is operating a 2015 Toyota RAV4 bearing Maryland registration 3DK6254.

Anyone with information regarding Joanna’s whereabouts is asked to contact Delaware State Police Troop 5 by calling (302) 302-337-1090 or dialing 9-1-1. Information may also be provided by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333.

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ANNAPOLIS – A new Maryland law puts an end to book bans within library systems that receive money from the state.

Governor Wes Moore just put pen to paper on the “Freedom to Read” act on Thursday.

“What we’re seeing in the state of Maryland but also nationwide is an unprecedented attempt to censor materials,” Baltimore County Public Library Chief Executive Officer Sonia Alcantara-Antoine said.

The law states material may not be excluded or removed from a school library because of the origin, background or views of the author and not for partisan, ideological or religious disapproval either. 

It also calls for school systems to create a procedure to review titles that may be challenged but must remain available on the shelves during the process. 

The legislation adds protections against retaliation for library staff who follow the law. 

A violation of the law could lead to loss of state funding. 

The law comes to light as Maryland libraries report seeing a 130 percent increase in formal challenges in their collections since 2019, according to the Maryland State Library Agency. 

“I love reading and I would hope that many others who do love reading would not want to ban any books,” a local teacher said. 

Some boards of education across the state already put policies in place to restrict student access to certain books. 

Earlier this year, Carroll County’s Board of Education unanimously made a decision to define what “sexually explicit content” will not be allowed within instructional material.

The decision to change the book selection process follows a push from some parents to remove certain titles last year.

The bulk of the challenges came from members of the “parental rights” organization, Moms for Liberty.

The school district and the group have yet to respond with a statement about the new law. 

“Libraries don’t tell people how to think. Instead, libraries provide access to a marketplace of ideas and information so that people can think for themselves,” Alcantara-Antoine said.

You can read the full act here.