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Natural Resources Police Fight Poaching With All-Night Stakeouts

rlorente — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 05:00:00 +0000

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Overnight on the Chesapeake Bay

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This year's fishing season has seen the largest rockfish poaching bust in more than 20 years. Officers found nearly 13 tons of illegally caught fish over the next few weeks, sometimes working 18-hour days to haul in nets.

By KERRY DAVIS
Capital News Service
Friday, March 4, 2011

EASTERN SHORE -- It's just after 12:30 a.m. on a recent weeknight and Natural Resources Police Cpl. Roy Rafter, 48, is driving on the Eastern Shore to a stakeout near an oyster bed that he's heard is being illegally raided at night.

The plan is for Officer Drew Wilson to drive an unmarked vehicle and drop off Rafter within view of the oyster sanctuary. They don't use their regular police trucks for fear of being spotted in small communities where they're not terribly popular with some folks.

Cardin Law Makes Federal Government Pay Stormwater Fees

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:00:00 +0000

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By LAURA E. LEE
Capital News Service
Thursday, January 13, 2011

COLLEGE PARK - Local and state governments could see stormwater management fees from the federal government in "a matter of weeks," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Thursday about a new law he co-sponsored.

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<p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Nancy Sutley, chair of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality, talks to Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin Thursday about the effect water runoff has on the health of waterways like the Chesapeake Bay. Capital News Service Photo by Kerry Davis.</p> <p> </p>

St. Mary's Prof Sees Green in Micro-loans

rlorente — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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By DAVID M. JOHNSON
Capital News Service
Wednesday, December 2, 2009

WASHINGTON - Micro-finance institutions that serve an estimated half billion of the world's poor could be in a unique position to prepare developing countries for climate change, according to a report by one St. Mary's College professor.

As President Obama and other world leaders visit Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Summit next week, economics professor Asif Dowla, hopes poorer nations and their people will be kept in mind when decisions are made.

Alternative Heating Sources Sought in Washington Suburbs

rlorente — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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Grain Bins Serve Clients in Mt. Rainier, Takoma Park

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By LINDSAY GSELL
Capital News Service
Friday, November 13, 2009

MOUNT RANIER - On a brisk fall night here, Brent Bolin fires up his corn-burning stove.

"It's great you can have some heat while you're sitting in your living room or doing whatever," said the 33-year-old National Institutes of Health employee. "It's a cozy, nice thing to have."

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Mt. Rainier's Protect Our Planet corn cooperative opened an urban grain bin in October to provide a local supply of corn for those using the grain to heat their homes. It's a sister co-op to Takoma Park's Save Our Sky. Photo by Maryland Newsline's Lindsay Gsell

State Urges Tourism Industry to Be Green

rlorente — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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By CATHERINE KRIKSTAN
Capital News Service
Thursday, November 12, 2009

ANNAPOLIS - Maryland's parks, trails and estuarine allure are often what sell the state to tourists.

This month, the state unfolded an effort to encourage the tourism industry to more actively safeguard these natural resources.

Launched on the heels of the Maryland Green Registry, Maryland Green Travel is a free and voluntary self-certification program that urges businesses in the tourism industry, starting with the lodging sector, to adhere to eco-friendly practices, from waste reduction to energy efficiency.

Bankers Take to Forest to Bring Climate Change to Workplace

rlorente — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

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By JAMES B. HALE
Capital News Service
Thursday, October 1, 2009

EDGEWATER - Tricia Murray is used to working at an HSBC bank in the prairies of Canada's Saskatchewan province.

But for two weeks, the bank paid its assistant manager to drop what she was doing and work with a kind of green found in the remote forests of Maryland.

HSBC sent 12 employees to work with researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater as "climate champions." They were directed to learn about climate change and come back with ideas to make the company more eco-friendly.

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Tricia Murray, 22, of Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo by James B. Hale.