The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site provided the keynote address at the Baltimore Watershed Conference on March 1, 2008. The Conference celebrated the announcement of the Baltimore Watershed Agreement by Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, and City of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. The two leaders confirmed their commitment to working jointly to improve the environmental quality and sustainability of these important land-water resources. They charged a blue ribbon Committee of Principals, representing the action agencies and community leaders in both the City and County, with recommending priorities to the two jurisdictional executive leaders for activities advancing each of the five goals for improving watershed sustainability in metropolitan Baltimore:
- Community greening
- Development and restoration
- Stormwater management
- Trash as a contaminant
- Public health
For the text of the agreement and more on what each of these goals might encompass see http://resources.baltimorecountymd.gov/Documents/Environment/Watersheds/watershedgree06.pdf
Steward Pickett, BES Project Director and Distinguished Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, gave the introductory keynote address. In his remarks, Pickett summarized the ecological concept of sustainability. He examined the question of whether sustainability was a "reality or myth" in the Baltimore region. Based on insights from BES research, he proposed that sustainability, while not yet a reality, could be greatly improved by the cross jurisdictional and cross agency interaction promised by the Baltimore Watershed Agreement. One meaning of myth is as a "narrative that provides a guide to ethical behavior and a caution against inappropriate behavior," Pickett observed, suggesting that sustainability could play this positive, narrative role as a vision and a yardstick against which all management and planning actions are measured. Pickett noted that the watershed agreement and the five general goals it espouses place the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County in an enviable position for realizing the vision of improved sustainability in their shared watersheds. He said BES was pleased to be a partner with the city and county agencies charged with meeting the goals of the watershed agreement, and to have its ecological and social science research complement the data being collected by the city and county governments.
Also in attendance were senior members of the BES community, including Claire Welty (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Ken Belt (USDA Forest Service), and Dan Dillon (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies). The day long conference included discussion groups to provide input to the Committee of Principals on the priorities for the five watershed goals.
For additional information on BES, Contact Holly Beyar, BES Project Facilitator at beyarh@ecostudies.org