Clean Water, Better Health

Land use and land management have a direct impact on the quality of our waterways. Our communities need healthy drinking water sources and waterways to provide access to recreation and economic opportunity. The connections between land, water and community health are so intertwined that conserving lands with ecological, historical and community value is a central goal of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

Protecting Our Land Protects Our Waters

Scenic Rivers has long relied on a watershed model for prioritizing our preservation work because we know that preserving ecologically valuable lands such as forests and wetlands—nature’s tools for removing pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus—has a direct positive impact on the health of our waterways, and in turn, the health of the natural treasure in our backyards: the Chesapeake Bay.

Currently, Scenic Rivers’ conservation easements protect 172 acres of wetlands, 2,600 acres of forest and 11,400 feet of shoreline.