Fostering Chesapeake Stewardship Goal Implementation Team (GIT 5)

Scope and Purpose

With 17 million people living in the Chesapeake watershed, public participation is a vital piece of the restoration effort.  The Fostering Chesapeake Stewardship Goal Implementation Team’s charge is to promote individual stewardship, support environmental education for all ages, and assist citizens, communities and local governments in undertaking initiatives to achieve restoration and conservation in the Chesapeake region. By engaging these key audiences the team hopes to reconnect the public with nature and foster a shared ownership of the Chesapeake’s diverse resources.  This approach will build public support of restoration efforts and increase citizen engagement and active stewardship.

Objectives

The Fostering Chesapeake Stewardship Goal Implementation Team (GIT 5) is pursuing the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order (EO) 13508 goals and objectives to:

• Conserve landscapes treasured by citizens to maintain water quality and habitat; sustain working forests, farms and maritime communities; and conserve lands of cultural, indigenous, and community value,
• Expand public access to the Bay its tributaries through existing and new local, state and federal parks, refuges, reserves, trails and partners sites, and
• Foster a dramatic increase in the number of citizen stewards of every age who support and carryout local conservation and restoration