CBF Upgrades Chesapeake Bay to "D+"

Chesapeake Bay receives D+ on report card

Chesapeake Bay Foundation's most recent evaluation scores the bay's health at a dismal D+.

Every year, the foundation performs a detailed evaluation, collecting water quality and biological data to construct an overall health profile for the bay.

"Since 1998, CBF has been issuing our signature 'State of the Bay Report' to answer the question that we get all the time, which is how is the bay doing?" said Will Baker, CBF president. "Our 2014 report has mixed news. The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is in place and it's working. As a result, the water is clearer, pollution is declining, dead zones are shrinking, underwater grasses are starting to come back, and the oysters are way more plentiful. But the bay is far from saved.

"We are worried about the declining populations of rockfish (striped bass) and blue crab. Our report confirms that the bay remains a system that is dangerously out of balance. We certainly have a lot of work left to do."

Sounds about fair to me. Although I do see a small conflict of interest on the part of the Foundation. If it were suddenly find a vastly improved bay worthy of an A, they would have to disband, and abandon all their lovely waterside facilities: