Environmental

NEWS:

Attorney General Gansler Seeks Protections for Chesapeake Bay Menhaden
Troubled fish species is essential to health, economic vitality of the Bay
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission considers new rules

Baltimore, MD  (November 2, 2011) - In an effort to combat further environmental and economic damage to the Chesapeake Bay from the historic decline of Atlantic menhaden, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler today asked the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) - the interstate body tasked with managing menhaden - to take much needed steps to better protect menhaden from unsustainable fishing levels. Unchecked commercial fishing - particularly the industrial practice of “reduction fishing,” which grinds the fish up for its oil - has contributed to an 88 percent decline in the Atlantic menhaden population since 1985. The ASMFC's fishery management plan for menhaden has so far failed to reverse this decline. Full Press Release here.

AG Gansler comments to ASMFC - Atlantic Menhaden Management Plan

Environmental Audit Brings AG Gansler to the Choptank River
Tour and briefings will be the third stop of 2011 River Audit

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler visited the Choptank River on Monday, October 31 -  the third stop of his 2011 environmental audit of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 

Attorney General Gansler's day on and near the water in and around Cambridge included a boat tour on the Choptank River to hear firsthand from local environmental leaders, residents, researchers and elected officials about the challenges facing the river.

The valuable information gathered during these audits of individual rivers helps to identify polluters and highlight the unique challenges facing each waterway.  This knowledge is essential in the Attorney General's efforts to enforce the state's environmental laws and it assists in designing creative solutions to environmental problems. 

Attorney General Gansler received briefings on the rich history, progress, and current challenges facing the Choptank River.  He also met with scientists, researchers and students from the renowned Chesapeake Bay research and teaching facility at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). See photos from the audit here.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler Warns Landowners: Before Signing a Mineral Rights Lease, Check Your Mortgage

Your bank/mortgage lender may need to approve the lease. Latest twist in Marcellus Shale gas leases could put homes and farms at risk

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is warning landowners that signing a mineral rights lease could conflict with some requirements of their federally-approved home or farm mortgage. To ensure their homes and farms remain safe from legal entanglements, landowners should always check with their bank or mortgage lender before entering into a mineral rights lease. 

“Marylanders need to protect themselves from unintentionally putting their homes and farms at risk,” said Attorney General Gansler. “If a mineral rights lease is on the table, take it to your bank or mortgage lender first and have them sign off on it.”

Landowners in Western Maryland, whose properties sit above the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, may be particularly vulnerable. High-pressure sales tactics and a lack of knowledge may lead a landowner to neglect checking with their mortgage lender to make sure a mineral rights lease does not conflict with their mortgage. Over 90 percent of all mortgages in the United States are federally backed by government or government-sponsored entities such as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), Veteran's Affairs(VA), the Rural Housing Service or Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). (Full Press Release Here.)

Each year, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler visits four of the Bay's tributaries, meeting with citizens, environmental leaders and elected officials to learn about the specific problems in each individual watershed, as well as pollution issues common throughout the greater Chesapeake Bay watershed.

In each watershed, the Attorney General spends a full day meeting with local elected officials, environmental leaders, students and citizens. He travels by boat and walks the shores of the waterways to learn about the watersheds, their problems and ongoing restoration efforts, and also to identify unique sources of pollution. River-by-river, the Attorney General's focus is on gathering information from those most intimately familiar with the rivers in order to develop solutions and enhance enforcement of environmental laws that serve to protect the rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. The Attorney General's ultimate goal is to improve the health of the Bay.

“Communities and local activists know where problems exist, and the residents can offer practical and innovative solutions to improve the health of the Bay and its tributaries,” said Attorney General Gansler. “This approach is central to our audits and these environmental visits allow my office to establish meaningful relationships with watershed communities and provide critical information to help us identify and target individuals and corporations that pollute, as well as to determine where legislation is needed.”

Each year, Attorney General Gansler will continue to visit four of the Bay's tributaries to conduct similar audits and open lines of communication that will continue long after the day spent at each river as new issues and problems arise. These ongoing relationships will provide eyes and ears to help identify environmental problems and solutions, and what has been learned will inform future audits and enhance their effectiveness.

Copies of the Attorney General's Chesapeake Bay Watershed Environmental Audits can be found at: