On Thursday, December 12, the Chesapeake Executive Council held a public presentation and press event at the U.S. National Arboretum Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. Executive Council members highlighted the Chesapeake Bay Program's thirty-year history, discussed future restoration and conservation efforts, and named Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley its new council chair. O’Malley served two consecutive terms as chair in 2007 and 2008, and accepted this transfer of leadership from District of Columbia Mayor Vincent C. Gray, who became chair in July 2012. O'Malley promised to lead the Bay Program and its partners into a new era of progress and accountability, which will include the signing of a new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. The agreement, now in its draft form, will be the fourth of its kind and will set a series of goals and outcomes that will guide restoration across the watershed.

Details

  • 11:15 a.m.: Public Presentation, Bay Program Deputy Director James Edward, "Recognizing our History, Planning for Our Future: 30 Years of the Chesapeake Bay Program"
  • 12 p.m.: Press Conference, Chesapeake Executive Council members

In Attendance

  • Vincent C. Gray, Mayor, District of Columbia
  • Martin O'Malley, Governor, Maryland
  • Maggie McIntosh, Chairman, Chesapeake Bay Commission
  • Robert Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • Collin O'Mara, Secretary, Delaware Department of Recreation and Environmental Control
  • Kylah Hynes, Associate Director, New York Governors Office
  • Andrew Zemba, Director, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
  • Doug Domenech, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources
  • Teresa Koon, Assistant Director, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
  • Ann Mills, Deputy Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Event Photographs

To view photographs from the 2013 meeting of the Chesapeake Executive Council, please visit our Flickr set.

News Release and Meeting Materials: