Priority Landscapes

Chesapeake Bay

Securing clean water and protecting critical habitats in our nation’s largest estuary.

View from the end of a boat looking into the Chesapeake Bay. A small red buoy sits on top of a seaweed covered crab trap. A blue bin containing silver fish sits next to it.
Fishing Boat on the Chesapeake Bay TNC works with fishermen and communities in the Chesapeake Bay. © Jason Houston
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One for the Bay

Your support will mean cleaner water, healthier habitat and more abundant life in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Aerial view of meandering streams and wetlands.
Maryland's Fishing Bay Aerial photograph of the wetlands in Maryland's Fishing Bay Wildlife Management Area. © © Alan W. Eckert

The Chesapeake Bay's watershed—the area of land that feeds all the water draining into it—encompasses 64,000 square miles of streams and rivers, forests, farms and cities.  

The map and stories below highlight the variety of ways that TNC is working across six states—Delaware, Maryland/DC, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay.

  • Promoting sustainable agriculture practices that keep nutrients on farm fields and out of waterways.
  • Reducing urban stormwater pollution through innovative partnerships and green infrastructure solutions.
  • Working with partners to deploy smart pond technology that anticipates rain events and adjusts water levels and storage volumes.
  • Bringing back the bay's keystone species, the oyster, through aggressive reef restoration efforts.
  • Restoring wetlands and the critical services they provide to help prevent flooding and absorb sediment and excess nutrients.
  • Tackling climate change through our policy work and government relations efforts.
  • Protecting 233,000 acres of land in the bay watershed.
Chesapeake Bay land map showing the boundaries of the six states in the watershed with pins marking TNC protected lands.
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Securing clean water and protecting critical habitat across six states. © TNC

EXPLORE OUR WORK ACROSS THE BAY STATES

Bringing Back an Icon

A man wearing orange rain gear stands on a boat surrounded by large containers of oysters. He extends his arm to show the large oyster he holds in his hand.

Partnerships

Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration

A new program is designed to help oyster farmers impacted by COVID-19 while supporting oyster restoration efforts.

Oct 15, 2020

Two men unload bushel baskets full of oysters from a delivery truck onto a boat slip.

Feature

Covid-Related Oyster Surplus Used for Bay Restoration

The kick off of the SOAR program in Maryland is a critical step in supporting aquaculture, oysters and the role they play in the Chesapeake Bay.

By John Page Williams | Chesapeake Bay magazine | Jan 26, 2021

A large pile of loose oyster shells.

Project Overview

Oyster Restoration in Virginia

Aggressive oyster reef restoration efforts are bringing a vital natural and economic resource back to Virginia waters.

A large, flat metal cage of freshly harvested oysters. A man wearing yellow and green gloves stands in the background sorting the oysters.

Video

SOAR: Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration

Learn how TNC is working with partners to give a boost to oyster farmers hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Promoting Clean Water

The sun sets behind grain silos near Cambridge MD.

Project Overview

Agriculture in Maryland

Engaging with Maryland's largest industry to keep nutrients on our farms and out of our waterways

The agriculture industry represents the backbone of Pennsylvania's heritage and economy.

Project Overview

Agriculture in Pennsylvania

Farms represent the backbone of Pennsylvania's heritage and economy.

Two men walk down an unpaved farm road. They are both smiling. A line of leafy green trees frame an open field behind them.

Partnerships

Achieving a Sustainable Future

Non-operating landowners and their farmers have the power to transform the agricultural system ensuring a healthier landscape.

By Randy Dell | Mar 19, 2020

Close view of two hands holding soybeans on the vine. Only the person's hands are visible. They are surrounded by healthy green plants.

Video

4R Nutrient Stewardship

The PA4R Alliance brings together diverse partners to help farmers achieve Chesapeake Bay water quality goals.

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Reducing Stormwater

A person with a red umbrella on a rainy night in Washington, D.C.

Magazine Feature

Planning for a Rainy Day

Washington, D.C., combines regulations with a new credit market to keep polluted stormwater out of its rivers.

By Jenny Rogers

Water exits a large pipe emerging from a streambank.

Feature

Natural Solutions To Stormwater

The Nature Conservancy, together with partners and the City of Philadelphia, is employing nature to soak up stormwater in Philadelphia.

A great blue heron hunts for fish on the Chesapeake Bay.

Partnerships

Green Infrastructure for Cities

NatureVest aims to help cities accelerate their use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater runoff.

A project to retrofit Chesapeake Bay watershed retention ponds with new technology will allow for water retention and release to be controlled remotely.

Partnerships

Making a Splash

Web-based Smart Pond technology is offering a new way to deal with stormwater, one of the leading sources of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Restoring Wetlands

A leafy tree frames a calm river.

Feature

Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna, the 16th largest river in the United States, supplies drinking water to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians along its reach.

Aerial view of the Pocomoke River. The narrow river channel is bisected in two places by wide cuts in the earthen berms that hem the river in and hold it back from the surrounding forested floodplain.

Project Overview

Flooding The Swamp

Reversing a legacy of ditching and draining to reconnect the Pocomoke River to its floodplain wetlands.

By Severn Smith | Last updated Mar 18, 2021

Sun rise over Holt's Creek. Aquatic vegetation floats in the foreground. Puffy white clouds are reflected on the water's surface. Low marsh grasses meet a line of trees.

Feature

In Water We Trust

The Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund marks a quarter century of restoring wetlands and streams.

By Daniel White

A wetlands area of low grasses and thick tall trees. A fallen log creates a border between the open wetland area and scrub forest.

Pocomoke River: Restoration and Partnership

A healthy Chesapeake Bay is in our grasp. Partnership and collaboration is critical to restoring wetlands and floodplains at a meaningful scale.

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Tackling Climate Change

View of the Ocean City skyline. The buildings line the skyline in the distance across an open body of water. Green marshes cut by meandering channels of water are in the foreground.

Alert

Legislative Priorities: Leading Maryland Forward

Advocating for a cleaner future for Maryland's environment and communities.

The sun rises over a forested mountain range. Rolling green ridges dominate the foreground and roll away to the horizon. White mist rises from the valleys in the distance.

Program Overview

Climate Solutions

Advancing innovative, science-based solutions that match the urgency of the climate crisis.

Views from this rocky outcrop look west onto the Shenandoah Valley and north to Shenandoah National Park.

Feature

Climate Change

Protecting and restoring healthy natural systems in Virginia to withstand a changing climate and rising seas.

Protecting Land to Protect the Bay

Two men paddle a red canoe through the flat, still water of Nassawango Creek. The foreground is dominated by a cypress tree with wide spreading branches.
Nassawango Creek Preserve Maryland's Nassawango Creek flows southward into the Pocomoke River, a major tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. © Alan Eckert Photography
The New Point Comfort lighthouse rises from a spit of land jutting into the Chesapeake Bay. An open area of short, yellow winter grass is in the foreground.
New Point Comfort Strategically located on a peninsula jutting into the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia's New Point Comfort is a key stopover point on the Atlantic Flyway. © Dana Blackmer Photography
Light mist rises from the still water of the Nanticoke River. The tall trees that line the riverbank are reflected in the water.
Middleford North Preserve This Delaware preserve hugs a portion of Gravelly Branch, a last undisturbed portion of the Nanticoke River watershed, one of the bay’s most productive tributaries. © Harold Malde
Seven people walk in a line along a narrow forest trail. To their left is a thick line of trees. To their right, the open ground rises in a steep grade.
Frenchman's Bluff Preserve At the northern extent of the bay watershed, this New York preserve overlooks the Chemung River, a tributary of the Susquehanna River. © Mathew Levine/The Nature Conservancy
Close view of an artists' hand painting in the sky on a small canvas. The painted scene shows an open, green wetland area.
Choptank Wetlands A survey of natural areas conducted by the Smithsonian Institution ranked this Maryland marsh system as one of the most important Chesapeake Bay natural areas. © Mark Godfrey / TNC
A thin blue ribbon of the Potomac River cuts through a steep, rocky gorge.
Great Falls Park At Virginia's Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge. © Devan King / TNC
View looking down into a mist filled valley. A thick green forest opens up into a flat valley dotted with houses in the distance.
Cove Mountain Preserve The 353-acre preserve on Pennsylvania's Kittatinny Ridge is part of the Susquehanna River watershed. © Eric Krukowski
Two people float together in yellow kayaks on the Potomac River. The still, flat water reflects the trees that line the bank. The leaves are just beginning to show fall color.
Nanjemoy Creek The "green thumb" of the Potomac River and one of Maryland's most pristine watersheds. © Alan Eckert Photography
A man in a yellow life vest floats in a red kayak. Green floating vegetation lines the banks with tall trees in the background.
Dragon Flats Widely considered Virginia's most pristine blackwater stream, Dragon Run widens to form the Piankatank River, a key site for our oyster reef restoration efforts. © Andy Lacatell / TNC
Large gray boulders dominate the foreground at the edge of a mountain lookout. Rolling ridges drop off in the background reaching to the horizon.
Bear Rocks Preserve Situated high above the Canaan Valley of West Virginia, this preserve is located in an area that acts as part of the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. © Kent Mason
A yellow bird with black wings perches on a thin branch.
Robinson Neck Preserve Upland forests provide an important buffer in the protection of these Maryland marshes and the entire Chesapeake Bay. © Matthew Wroblewski / flickr Creative Commons CC by 2.0
Two women in a green canoe paddle along the Pamunkey River. Two kayakers float ahead of them. The right river bank is lined with tall leafy trees.
Cumberland Marsh The preserve protects a pristine marsh habitat on Virginia's Pamunkey River, a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. © Daniel White / TNC
Trees showing late fall color blanket a mountain top. Rolling mountain ridges extend into the horizon.
Pike Knob Preserve This preserve in West Virginia's Central Appalachians is located in an area that acts as part of the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. © Kent Mason
× Two men paddle a red canoe through the flat, still water of Nassawango Creek. The foreground is dominated by a cypress tree with wide spreading branches.
× The New Point Comfort lighthouse rises from a spit of land jutting into the Chesapeake Bay. An open area of short, yellow winter grass is in the foreground.
× Light mist rises from the still water of the Nanticoke River. The tall trees that line the riverbank are reflected in the water.
× Seven people walk in a line along a narrow forest trail. To their left is a thick line of trees. To their right, the open ground rises in a steep grade.
× Close view of an artists' hand painting in the sky on a small canvas. The painted scene shows an open, green wetland area.
× A thin blue ribbon of the Potomac River cuts through a steep, rocky gorge.
× View looking down into a mist filled valley. A thick green forest opens up into a flat valley dotted with houses in the distance.
× Two people float together in yellow kayaks on the Potomac River. The still, flat water reflects the trees that line the bank. The leaves are just beginning to show fall color.
× A man in a yellow life vest floats in a red kayak. Green floating vegetation lines the banks with tall trees in the background.
× Large gray boulders dominate the foreground at the edge of a mountain lookout. Rolling ridges drop off in the background reaching to the horizon.
× A yellow bird with black wings perches on a thin branch.
× Two women in a green canoe paddle along the Pamunkey River. Two kayakers float ahead of them. The right river bank is lined with tall leafy trees.
× Trees showing late fall color blanket a mountain top. Rolling mountain ridges extend into the horizon.
As the world’s largest conservation organization, TNC’s work in the Bay watershed helps shape conservation programs around the world.

Chesapeake Bay

Bringing a global network of experience and knowledge-sharing to bear on Chesapeake Bay conservation strategies.

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Explore the Bay States

Learn more about our conservation efforts across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.