Watershed Radio on April 9, 2002 and April 8, 2003 String of Pearls Listen to this program To listen to the program, you need Real Player. You can download a player for free. Dick Lahn of Crofton, Maryland, hopes his Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls Project will convince property owners to save their own "pearls"—the thousands of privately owned, and yet untouched, acres of land with natural, historic or cultural value. Lahn believes that much land could be protected through conservation easements or public-acquisition programs, but that landowners don't always know these programs exist. When the Pearls project is up and running, it will serve as a clearinghouse to help landowners find out about lands being protected. Lahn hopes the project will help preserve the Chesapeake Bay watershed's treasured places—the pearls—before they are lost. | Background info | References and further reading

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Protecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed one pearl at a time...

"Lands define the Chesapeake Bay, determine its health, reveal its history and show its culture. When treasured lands rich in these ingredients are changed so that their special qualities no longer exist, Chesapeake Bay is diminished. We too—as individuals and as living together in communities in this region—tied to the condition of the Bay, are diminished also. The Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls project finds and protects the treasured places of Chesapeake Bay—the pearls—before they are lost. (From the Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls project website.)

The Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls project invites people to find and nominate those special places in the watershed that are still untouched by human activity and that have natural, historic or cultural value. The project divides the Chesapeake Bay watershed in 17 subwatersheds and for each subwatershed a committee will review the nominated pearls and decide how to protect the land. With help of the project, local individuals and organizations will then protect those special places. For more information about the project, visit the Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls project.

References and further reading

Related Watershed Radio programs

• Search for other stories in the Watershed Radio Archive.

About the Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls project

• The Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls Project.

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