Stories by Rachel Felver
Rachel is the Director of Communications for the Chesapeake Bay Program. She has the experience of growing up in a headwaters state--Pennsylvania--and is now living life right next to the Bay in Maryland. After obtaining her masters' in environmental policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh, she spent almost nine years with the Environmental Protection Agency before a stint with the National Aquarium. She loves to explore the watershed by hiking, paddleboarding and kayaking.
Chesapeake Bay receives highest health grade in over 20 years
July 10, 2024Bay receives a C+ in annual University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science report card
Read story![](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/jul_10_24_1800-01-20181101-IMG_4662.jpg)
Help the Chesapeake Bay Program chart the next phase of Bay restoration
July 1, 2024Draft recommendations on the future of the Watershed Agreement now available for feedback
Read story![Aerial view of a river weaving through forest and farmland.](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/images/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/49525971706_c31ae3e863_c.jpg)
How one town is determined not to drown
June 10, 2024Collaboration and local engagement aim to restore an Eastern Shore community
Read story![Salt marsh wetlands eroding into the Bay.](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/images/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/20231109-5K1A9237.jpg)
Eight out of 10 reefs are now restored in Chesapeake Bay tributaries
June 6, 2024Over 1,500 acres of oysters have been planted in Maryland and Virginia over the past 10 years
Read story![](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/images/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/jun_6_24_1800-01-5K1A2581.jpg)
Bridging the gap between modeling and monitoring
May 14, 2024The new Bay TMDL Indicator refines how water quality in the Chesapeake watershed is measured
Read story![](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/53602230024_fafe33e62d_c.jpg)
Bay jurisdictions continue to chip away at pollution
May 2, 2024Watershed Model shows decline in nutrients, sediment entering the Chesapeake
Read story![](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/53471772796_de0b4e1a31_c.jpg)
Building a 21st-century National Recreational Area
April 23, 2024Taking action to provide public access to a "major part of the nation's heritage"
Read story![Three women stop to take a photo along a boardwalk near a beach.](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/apr_23_24_1800-02-5K1A9289.jpg)
EPA Chesapeake Bay Program awards historic amount of funding to grant programs guiding Bay restoration
March 28, 2024Additional $35 million awarded to watershed organizations through Chesapeake Stewardship Fund for on-the-ground projects.
Read story![](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/CBP-20240327-9E3A9835.jpg)
Wetlands see a small but mighty increase across the Chesapeake watershed
January 22, 2024New Chesapeake Bay Program tracking tool expands data collection
Read story![Waterfowl floating on a wetland.](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/jan_19_24_1800a-01-9E3A5912.jpg)
Witch stories from around the watershed
October 30, 2023Historic St. Mary's City. (Photo courtesy of Jimmy Emerson/Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed)
Read story![](https://d18lev1ok5leia.cloudfront.net/chesapeakebay/_492x328_crop_center-center_none/oct_30_23_1800-02-5636355216_0c67eb2b81_o.jpg)