Chesapeake Bay Foundation

 

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Mission is to Save the Bay and its waterways by educating, uniting, and inspiring people to take action.

We have a vision for a healthy and resilient Chesapeake Bay ecosystem where people, plants, and animals thrive together.

Help us to raise $40,000 and unlock a $5,000 match during Extra Give!

Lancaster County is Central to CBF’s work in the Commonwealth. We work on multiple fronts to build a movement to clean our water. Activities include tree plantings, community outreach, agricultural policy advocacy, volunteer cleanups, educational opportunities, and more.

Through education, restoration, and advocacy we can and will save the Bay! 

2025 Highlights

 Lancaster Water Week

Volunteers Performing Maintenance on a Riparian Buffer AKA Streamside Trees

 by Avery Van Etten 

Farmers Breakfast 

Farmers learn from Roger Rohrer about Farm Conservation Practices

Pequea to the Bay Boat Trip 

Farmers fish during a Boat Trip on the Bay

Photo by Kelly O'Neill

Pennsylvania Programs

Education 

For more than 50 years, CBF's award-winning environmental education program has been a cornerstone of our effort to reverse the Bay watershed's decline, reaching over 1.5 million learners since its inception. CBF educates tens of thousands of students, teachers, and school administrators each year through immersive field experiences and professional development courses that foster lifelong connections to and stewardship of the watershed. On our PA Rivers & Streams Environmental Education Program, a canoe-based exploration of waterways in central PA, students conduct macroinvertebrate and water chemistry assessments to learn how agriculture and other human activities affect water quality. 

PA Watershed Resiliency & Planning

PA Watershed Resiliency field staff work one-on-one with willing landowners to implement agricultural conservation practices that improve farm sustainability, reduce pollution such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment to local waterways, and strengthen communities’ resilience to climate change. CBF incentivizes conservation practices through a cost-share program that pays for the installation, planning, or design of on-farm conservation practices. Ashley Spotts, our Lancaster resiliency staff has been working with landowners for CBF for 20 years!

CBF’s Watershed Resiliency Planning Program is a recognized pioneer in aligning local stakeholder and community interests with high-resolution watershed modeling to develop science-led plans that provide a roadmap to restore nonpoint source impaired streams to health. Building upon the experience and expertise from our previous watershed management plan development in Pequea and Upper Conestoga, CBF is continuing to develop plans and engage communities in the Columbia-Manor River Tributaries watershed. Once these recommendations are approved and fully implemented, these watersheds will return to nonimpaired.

8 Years of Restoration through the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership

2025 marks the end of an 8-year campaign to plant 10 million trees throughout PA! The Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, including many organizations in Lancaster County, supported this phenomenal goal. Partners have ranged from local to national conservation groups, government bodies, and businesses across Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic. While the program ends in 2025, the work does not. Thank You for your commitment to this amazing endeavor!

"Keystone 10 Million has been essential to the rewilding and restoration of our 15-acre plot. Soon after buying an old farm, we learned that ash trees across the old pastures had been decimated by ash borer, resulting in opened canopies that allowed invasives to overrun much of the property. After forest-mulching and removing unsafe trees, we wanted to plant new native trees and shrubs, but the cost was prohibitive. Then we heard about K10M. Through the program we were able to plant 2200 native saplings that are regenerating this wildlife habitat. Ashley Spotts has been with us throughour 3 year journey, and her knowledge, guidance, and dedicated cheerleading are among the best aspects of our rewilding efforts" - Tracy Daly.
Photo in Order: John King, Sharon King, Tracy Daly, Michael Daly

Advocacy 

We advocate for:

• supporting farmers’ efforts to achieve resilient, productive soils and clean streams;
• safeguarding communities from the ravages of a changing climate;
• ensuring PA's resource agencies have the people, technologies, and tools to meet the environmental challenges and opportunities; and
• standing up against efforts to endanger public health and the environment.

Join us in person Friday, November 21st

Join us at Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse on 112 N. Water St., from 6-9 pm in Lancaster to celebrate the 2025 impact that your support will have and the conclusion of the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership with you!

Thank you again for your support and helping us save the Bay! For more information on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, visit CBF.org.