Built in 1888, this Victorian home has braved the elements and fought sea level rise on Holland Island in Chesapeake Bay for well over a century. Despite best efforts to save the house and protect the island, the rising waters of the Bay would overcome both and erase them from the map. The house collapsed in 2010.
Change is Here Built in 1888, this Victorian home has braved the elements and fought sea level rise on Holland Island in Chesapeake Bay for well over a century. Despite best efforts to save the house and protect the island, the rising waters of the Bay would overcome both and erase them from the map. The house collapsed in 2010. © Jay Fleming

Stories in Maryland/DC

Change is Here

2019 Impact Report

Maryland/DC Executive Director Tim Purinton speaks during memorial greenspace dedication at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, June 8, 2019.
Tim Purinton Executive Director, Maryland/DC chapter © Matt Kane / TNC

From the Director

This year I am extremely excited to announce the launch of an ambitious, five-year capital campaign for The Nature Conservancy’s Maryland/DC chapter.

Our “Change is Here” campaign is a focused effort to leverage our conservation and policy work to make as big of a contribution as possible toward the global effort to tackle climate change.

For more than 65 years The Nature Conservancy has been protecting some of the most iconic and ecologically significant lands and waters in the world, including more than 75,000 acres here in Maryland. Today, climate change threatens to erode many of the important conservation gains that we have made together over the decades.

Make no mistake; with more than 7,000 miles of Atlantic and Chesapeake coastline in Maryland, and millions of residents living in the warming urban centers of the District of Columbia and Baltimore, we are already feeling the impacts of climate change.

But nature can help.

There is a growing body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence, including studies led by The Nature Conservancy, that have quantified the benefits of harnessing nature to tackle climate change and provide benefits to people and nature.

Our chapter is on the front lines of this fight. We work on the ground to deliver large-scale, science-based conservation projects that will help people and nature adapt to a changing climate. And we work with lawmakers and industry to accelerate renewable energy deployment to mitigate the human causes of climate change. We do this work in concert with the entire organization so that we are all pushing in the same direction, driving the local and global change that we want to see in the world.

Together with supporters like you, we will ensure that our legacy is one of action. Join us to be part of the greatest success story in the history of the planet.

Program Highlights

The sun sets behind grain silos near Cambridge MD.
Maryland Agriculture The sun sets behind grain silos near Cambridge MD. © Adrian Jones, Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

 

Protecting Clean Water and the Chesapeake Bay

Engaging with Maryland's largest industry—agriculture—to restore clean water and healthy habitats. 

Small farms dot the Central Appalachian mountains in western Maryland.
Restoring Appalachian Forests Small farms dot the Central Appalachian mountains in western Maryland. © Kent Mason

 

Restoring Appalachian Forests

Working with both public and private landowners to keep western Maryland’s forests healthy and connected.

Maryland staff during a successful eelgrass monitoring trip in Sinepuxent Bay off of Assateague National Seashore, Maryland.
Resilient Coasts Maryland staff during a successful eelgrass monitoring trip in Sinepuxent Bay off of Assateague National Seashore, Maryland. © Severn Smith / TNC

 

Strengthening Coasts

Tackling climate change through mitigation and adaptation.        

Rain gardens installed at Washington, DC's historic Mt. Olivet Cemetery to capture stormwater.
Green Infrastructure Rain gardens installed at Washington, DC's historic Mt. Olivet Cemetery to capture stormwater. © Matt Kane / TNC

 

Building Green Cities         

Making substantial progress with stormwater, the fastest growing source of pollution to our rivers and to the Chesapeake Bay.

Solar panels located off Route 50 near Chesapeake College on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Renewable Energy Solar panels located off Route 50 near Chesapeake College on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. © Matt Kane / TNC

 

Powering the Future

Working with governments to show how renewable energy development can grow economies while reducing carbon emissions.    

LEAF interns (l to r) James Boyd, Violet Bauman and Claire Marlowe with CCC member Connor Liu (rear) install beaver baffles at Maryland's Finzel Swamp Preserve.
Tomorrow's Leaders Creating a future where environmental policy is grounded in science. © Bianca Bowman / TNC

 

Inspiring Tomorrow's Leaders

Empowering the next generation of environmental advocates   

  • Change is here. A look back at conservation successes in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

    2019 Annual Impact Report

    A look back at conservation successes across Maryland and Washington, D.C.

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  • Change is here. A look back at conservation successes across Maryland and Washington, D.C.

    Informe Anual de Impacto 2019

    El cambio ha llegado. El Informe de Impacto Anual de 2019 tiene más información sobre el trabajo de las costas resilientes, nuestro impacto en la agricultura sostenible, la naturaleza en las ciudades, y los bosques saludables.

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A young girl volunteers at Seaton Elementary school for a garden build day in the Shaw District of Washington, D.C.

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