Who decided to clean up the Bay?
The Chesapeake Bay was the first estuary in the United States targeted for intensive government-sponsored restoration efforts. The cleanup effort was first championed by citizens throughout the watershed who fought to stop the pollution that had damaged the health of the Bay. In 1983, the first Chesapeake Bay Agreement established a voluntary government partnership to direct and manage Bay restoration. This partnership, called the Chesapeake Bay Program, includes Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Chesapeake Bay Program served as a model for dozens of other estuary cleanup efforts throughout the country, such as Casco Bay, Long Island Sound, Tampa Bay, Monterey Bay, Puget Sound and others.
