2022
Annual Report
Protecting the Land and Water that Matter to You
Our mission is to conserve and restore the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations.
Our Vision
Our Vision
Our Vision
We believe the Chesapeake is a national treasure that should be healthy, accessible to everyone and its watershed a place where people and wildlife thrive.
Our Mission
Our Mission
Our Mission
To conserve and restore the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations.
We serve as a catalyst for change, advancing strong public and private partnerships, developing and using new technology and empowering environmental stewardship.
Our objective is to accelerate progress to conserve 30% of the Chesapeake watershed by 2030 by equitably connecting people to the Chesapeake while conserving and restoring priority lands and waters.
Our DEIJ Statement
Our Commitment to the Communities We Serve
Our Commitment to the Communities We Serve
Protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay requires diversity in perspective and practice.
Chesapeake Conservancy understands that protecting and restoring the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed require intentional commitment to inclusive practices and narratives within the conservation movement. Through our work we celebrate and elevate the people, places and cultures of the region, especially by engaging underrepresented communities. Committing to the values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice is critical to achieve our vision of a Chesapeake that is healthy, accessible to everyone and a place where people and wildlife thrive. To that end, we commit ourselves to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice both in our programmatic priorities and our internal organizational development through inclusive recruitment of staff and board members and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture.
What we do
We use technology to enhance the pace and quality of conservation, and we help build parks, trails and public access sites.
Connect
Connect people to the natural, cultural and recreational opportunities of the Chesapeake watershed – including its rivers, tributaries, landscapes and historic places.
Conserve
Work with partners and leverage data-driven strategies to conserve 30% of the Chesapeake watershed’s lands by 2030 and the special places that are important to diverse communities, indigenous tribes and visitors and that preserve the Chesapeake watershed for this and future generations.
Restore
Expedite the Chesapeake watershed restoration effort by leveraging data-driven strategies and partnerships to meet regional habitat and water quality standards and provide their associated community benefits.
Diversify
Infuse diversity-based policies and practices in our culture that are essential for the success of Chesapeake Conservancy’s mission.
Excel
Ensure adequate funding, staff, controls and proficiencies to remain the key partner for connecting, conserving and restoring land and water in the Chesapeake watershed.
2022 Stands Out as One of Chesapeake Conservancy’s Banner Years
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Please join us in celebrating what was truly a remarkable year for Chesapeake Conservancy and our partners: 2022. In our work to protect and provide access to the land and water that matter to you, we helped return 465 acres of ancestral homeland to the Rappahannock Tribe. We partnered to save the last remnants of a historically Black beach and created a new public park.
We advocated for the Chesapeake National Recreation Area as momentum continued to build for what has been a decades-long dream. We ensured that one of the Chesapeake’s most visited parks sets an example that is inclusive and welcoming for everyone.
We generated the first high-resolution change data that is available for the Chesapeake as open data, available to anyone, providing an unparalleled window into what is happening on the landscape over time. And, we saw on-the-ground results using technology to inform stream restoration in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
We accomplished these goals and many others with our incredible partners and through the support of donors like you. It was a year that Chesapeake Conservancy will not soon forget and that will inspire our climate crisis efforts to conserve 30% of the Chesapeake by 2030.
As you read this report highlighting our achievements and partners, we hope you will share this sentiment: “Land is more than dirt and acres. Land anchors life. See the beauty and wonders of the natural world, from the soil and creatures beneath our toes to the tree canopy and the birds above.”
Thank you for supporting and inspiring our work. You are helping to empower the Chesapeake conservation movement by using technology to achieve precision conservation.
Please note that in 2022, Chesapeake Conservancy changed its fiscal year. Previously reported as a calendar year, our new fiscal year is now October 1 through September 30. This annual report reflects a transitional year and reports finances and accomplishments for a nine-month period, from January 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022.
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Organizational Achievements Since Our Founding
Secured more than $42 million in federal funds (FY15-22) to protect more than 7,500 acres of land at national parks, wildlife refuges and forests in the Chesapeake watershed along with partners through the Land and Water Conservation Fund program
Chesapeake Conservancy is committed to conserving 30% of the Chesapeake by 2030. Today, 22% of the watershed is conserved. Together, with your support, we can reach the 30% goal.
Established the Conservation Innovation Center to empower the conservation community with access to the latest data and technology
Our team of geospatial analysts worked with partners to produce 1-meter-resolution land cover data for approximately 100,000 square miles of land in and surrounding the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the Chesapeake Bay Program. This data is open for all land conservation entities, large or small, to use to implement precision conservation. We continue to create tools for our partners to command the data and drive impressive change on the ground.
Through land conservation, restoration and empowering the conservation community with the latest data and technology, we are working every day to slow climate change and help communities become more resilient.
Together with our partners, Chesapeake Conservancy's achievements include:
- Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network for 206 new access sites
- Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Chesapeake Trail)
- Mallows Bay–Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary
- Werowocomoco
- Antietam National Battlefield
- Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
- Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park
- Elktonia/Carr’s Beach
- Fort Monroe National Monument
- George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
- James River National Wildlife Refuge
- Pissacoack
- Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Creation and expansion of state and local parks
For more information, review this comprehensive list of our organization's achievements since our founding.
Your gift today
Supporting our work directly supports the Chesapeake you love
More than 18 million people call the Chesapeake home and have fallen in love with its awesome landscapes and rivers. So much so that thousands of acres of open space disappear each year. We are in a race against time to conserve, protect and restore what makes the Chesapeake so special before it is too late. Thank you for supporting our work. No amount is too small or too large to help us achieve great things together.
“When we are gone, what is going to do the most good? We have made a home with nature, we’ve enjoyed it. Now it is incumbent upon us to pass those treasures on to future generations.”
– Charles and Mary Dankmeyer, members of our Seven Generations Society who have left a planned gift for Chesapeake Conservancy in their will.
To find out how to make a planned gift, visit our website.
Your tax-deductible contribution of any amount is truly appreciated. Our tax ID number is 26-2271377.
Testimonials
Virtual Connections
Virtual Tours
While nothing beats the experience of seeing the beauty of the Chesapeake firsthand, we’ve created 14 virtual river tours along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Chesapeake Trail). Similar to Google Street View, the virtual tours can help you plan your next adventure. Take a virtual tour, scope out the access site you plan to use or just soak in the beauty from your screen with the perspective of a paddler.
Webcams
We are grateful for our partnerships with explore.org, the Crazy Osprey Lady, Corporate Office Properties Trust and the owner of the great blue heron rookery for the generosity that makes these webcams possible. Millions of viewers from all over the world watched the cams in 2024.
Chesapeake Conversations Podcast
Tune in to Chesapeake Conservancy’s podcast, Chesapeake Conversations, hosted by Joel Dunn. Cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest and longest-running ecosystem restoration efforts in the world. Over the last 50 years, billions of dollars have been invested to restore the Bay, and the world is watching to see how the Chesapeake responds. Chesapeake Conversations takes an in-depth look at what’s working for the Chesapeake and what’s not, and features interviews with a diverse group of conservation leaders.
Chesapeake Conversations is produced by Platform Media, LLC, with music by Scott McDaniel from Wild Echo Media. Special thanks to our partners and donors who make our work possible. Find us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you download your podcasts.
Champions of the Chesapeake
Since 2014, Chesapeake Conservancy’s annual Champions of the Chesapeake awards have recognized individuals and organizations from across the region for exemplary leadership and dedication to protecting and restoring the Chesapeake’s natural systems and cultural resources.
In 2022, Chesapeake Conservancy proudly presented the Champions of the Chesapeake awards to Rappahannock Tribe Chief Anne Richardson and Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation President and Founder Vince Leggett.
Chief Anne Richardson was instrumental in the return to the Rappahannock Tribe of a 465-acre sacred site at Fones Cliffs on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River in Virginia. The site will be permanently protected by a conservation easement and used for recreation and education.
Chief Anne Richardson
Vince Leggett is recognized for his efforts of more than 15 years to preserve the Chesapeake Bay’s Black history and culture. Specifically, his work with Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation resulted in the preservation of Elktonia Beach as a city park for Annapolis, Maryland, to provide direct public access to the Chesapeake and a place to interpret the area’s rich African American heritage.
Vince Leggett
Financial Report
In 2022, Chesapeake Conservancy changed its fiscal year. Previously reported as a calendar year, our new fiscal year is now October 1 through September 30. As such, a transitional year was needed, and this annual report reflects finances and accomplishments from January 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022.
Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2021, the Conservancy received a restricted donation of $4,751,139 to fund the purchase of conservation land. The donation was recorded as revenue and support and included in the change in net assets with donor restrictions on the statement of activities, and in cash on the statement of financial position as of December 31, 2021. The funds were used to purchase conservation land and are reflected in land conservation efforts expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.
This Year
Last Year
For more detailed information on our financials and governance, visit our website.
Donors
Our sincere appreciation to the individual, foundation and corporate donors who have made our work possible. We truly appreciate your generosity.
Annenberg Foundation
Carl M. Freeman Foundation
Jim and Sylvia Earl
Farvue Foundation
Ed Hatcher and Angie Cannon
Randall Larrimore and Cathy Cutright
The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment
Charles and Mary Dankmeyer
Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
Barbara Moulton and Tom Helm
David Moulton
1994 Charles B. Degenstein Foundation
Roemer Foundation
Bancroft Foundation
Stephanie and Rob Meeks
Molly Ward
Mark Belton
Mike and Cindy Brubaker
Leslie Delagran and Mark McConnell
Jim Ellet
Greg Gershman
James and Victoria Handa
Alex and Annie Larrimore
Judy Larrimore
David and Sally Law
Vincent and Aldena Leggett
M&T Charitable Foundation
Pamela Marks and Michael Mininsohn
Joseph McCauley and Julia Herrick
Patrick McGeehin
James and Margaret McLaughlin
Lisa Dickinson Mountcastle
Mamie Parker
REI, Inc.
Steven Schuh
Richard Scobey and Bruce Ragsdale
George William Teare Jr.
James Warlick
Weis Markets
Ziger Snead Architects LLP
($500-$999)
Becky Anderson
Joy and Michael Avery
Gray Benoist
Denis Bovin
Margaret Bursaw
Century 21 Home Team Realty
Donald R. and Catherine P. Cotten
Jody Couser
Sally F. Davidson
Lars Henriksen
Carnelious Jones
Ned and Rebecca Lawson
Laurence and Sue Manlove
Brian and Janalee Melikian
Liza and Sky Morehouse
Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy, Inc.
John and Susan Neely
Mark and Karen Perreault
Ann Powers
Resource Legacy Fund
John and Barbara Reynolds
Doug and Lynn Smarte
Ann and Eric Swanson
Matthew Trotta
Beattra Wilson
Gwendolyn Wynn
Eric Zagorsky
Bill Armbruster
Betsy Barrett
Joan Barton Sundheim
Thad and Renee Bench
Justin Bent
Murray Berstein
Cheryl Bishop
David and Suzanne Boyd
Charles Brittingham
David Castro
Brett Cheplowitz
Mike and Cara Clifford
Walter and Suzanne Cochran-Bond
Kevin and Katie Cooke
Janice Davis
Howard Freedlander
Matthew Garavaglia
Kyle P. German
Stacy Graven
Maria Heyssel
Matthew Hunley
Cacky Janssens
Gary Jewell
Andrew Kupchock
Will and Meg Lahneman
Ruth Lane
Erin Largay
Lucie Lehmann
James and Jane Levitt
Steve and Ann Lindblom
Vicki Littell
Robert and Connie Loarie
Glenn McLean
Susan Minnemeyer
Matthew Provost
Gregory Richardson
James Slaughter
Matt Spong
Thomas Straehle
Duane Szatkowski
Marcia Verploegen
Bruce Weininger
Linda Wright
Anonymous (2)
Barbara Anderson
Joseph W. Angle
Ken and Connie Baker
Sterling Barksdale
Maureen Barrett
Jim and Shirley Blackwell
Paul Bollinger
Warren Lee Brown
William and Marion Butler
Ruth Callard
Pete and Christina Callaway
Anna Capetanakis
David and Anna Castle
Kathy Clatanoff
Tara Clifford
Stephen and Jane Coley
Miles Cooper
Jennifer Cox
Jennifer Crews-Carey
Timothy Cureton
Diana Dale
Karen Daly
Ronald and Loretta Davis
Carly Dean
Anne Delano Weatherby
Carla Dinowitz
Joel Dunn
Kathleen Felmey
Mike Fleagle
Garden Club of Twenty, Inc.
Ellen Gardner
Gerard Glaser
Betsey and Pep Godfrey
The Godstrey Family
Linda Gooding
Michael Goralski
Sharon Gustin
Julia B. Hale
Jill and Ridge Hall
Elizabeth Hepler
Jo High-Downey
Mary Hill and Mrs. Jack Holland
James Holman
Thomas Hunter
Frederick E. Illston
Reginald Irby
Connie Jack
Brenda Johnson
Paul and Maggi Johnson
Susan Johnson
Willem Kalbach
Theodore and Lillian Koons
Dale and Patricia Larrimore
Charles and Leslie Leaver
David Ley
Samuel Little
Aaron and Stacey Loiselle
Jane Loiselle
Kevin Lopez
Betsy S. Loyless
Adele Madden
John Maraia
Arthur D. Mason
Erika Matheis
Bob McIntosh
Ed McMahon
Ann Mech
Amy Meyer
Cyndy Miller
Melanie Miller
Sharron Miller
Alan Mintz
Jerry Mitchell
Jeff and Paula Mumford
Mary Margaret Nousek
Vinnie and Melissa Odell
Midgett Parker
Christine Parks
Margaret and Reed Perry
Raphael Pierce
Terry Pinkston
Christine Plummer
Sara Ramotnik
Allyson Redpath
Maureen Reightler
Craig Riley
Brenda Rion
Ruth Robinson
Heather Rupp
Ryan Scheuermann
Sally Schofield
Christopher Seiler
Robert Shields
Nick Shreiber
Kathleen Shultz
Karen Siegel
Christina Skoglin
Alma Smith
Edwin and Carolyn Smith
Eliza Smith
Daniel Stack
Charles Stek
Sarah Stolte
Joe and Jennifer Swedorske
Doug Tanner
Janelle Thibau
Lawrence Thompson
Andrew Waldron
Stafford and Sue Warren
Bob Wenneson
Michael Westfall
Jeffrey White
Mary Wigginton
Daniel Zajac
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Anne Arundel County (MD)
Bay Bridge Run 2022
Bay Paddle 2022
Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation
Bureau of Land Management Eastern States
Charles B. Degenstein Foundation
Charles County (MD)
Center for Watershed Protection, Inc.
Chesapeake Bay Trust
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Chickahominy Tribe
Choose Clean Water Coalition
Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County
Corrigan Sports Enterprises
Department of Defense REPI Program
Environmental Protection Agency - Chesapeake Bay Program
Forever Maryland Foundation
Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, Inc.
Friends of the Rappahannock
George Washington's Mount Vernon
Grayce B. Kerr Fund
Harford County (MD)
Harford Land Trust
Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology
Herbert, Rowland, and Grubic, Inc.
James River Association
Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Commission
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Merrill Family Foundation
Mt. Cuba Center
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
NatureServe
NPS - Captain John Smith Chesapeake
National Historic Trail
NPS - Chesapeake Gateways
NPS - Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
Partners for Open Space
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Potomac Conservancy
Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission
Rappahannock Tribe
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Severn River Association
Shared Earth Foundation
Susquehanna University
The Conservation Fund
The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
The Hamer Foundation
The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment
TeraWulf Charitable Foundation
US Department of Agriculture
USDA Forest Service
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
US Fish and Wildlife Service
US Geological Survey
Virginia Forever
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
West Virginia Land Trust
Wildlife Management Institute
Barbara Anderson
Anna Capetanakis
Diana Dale
Janice Davis
Stephen Griffith
Verna Harrison
Matthew Hunley
Michael and Phyllis McCauley
Anthony Ostuni
Kimberly Pell
Sara Ramotnik
Ryan Scheuermann
Melissa and Peter Smith
Thomas Straehle
Mary Wigginton
Anonymous
Ad-Hoc, Inc.
Beveridge and Diamond PC
Jennifer Crews-Carey
Anne Delano Weatherby
Hogan Lovells LLC
REI, Inc.
Nate Austin
Roxanne P. Barbeau
Jean Ecken
My Greg
John Maounis
Bruce R. McCurdy
Jim Schofield
George William Teare Jr.
Margaret Bush
Katie and Kevin Cooke
JT Dean
Randy Larrimore
Betsy Fogle Morrow
Chief Anne Richardson
The People Who Helped Get the Land Back to the Rappahannock Tribe
The Terrapins
Thelma Peterson
Senator John W. Warner
Wedding of Holly Krull and Kevin Gillis
2022
Board of Directors
2022
Chesapeake Council
2022
Chesapeake Conservancy Staff
Contact us
Chesapeake Conservancy is a nonprofit organization based in Annapolis, Maryland. We are conservation entrepreneurs. We believe that the Chesapeake is a national treasure that should be accessible for everyone and a place where wildlife can thrive. We use technology to enhance the pace and quality of conservation, and we help build parks, trails, and public access sites. Chesapeake Conservancy works in close partnership with Indigenous Tribes, the National Park Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management Eastern States, as well as other federal, state and local agencies, private foundations and corporations to advance conservation.
Earl Conservation Center
1212 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
Photo Credits
Chair and the President: Jody Couser
Organizational Achievements: “Brown Pelican Rookery” Michael Weiss
Your Gift Today: “Kayaker” Yazan Hasan
2022 Accomplishments: “Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford at Sandy Point State Park Bilingual Nature Center” Office of Maryland Governor, Elktonia Beach Signing Ceremony” Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program, Fones Cliffs Boat Tour” Tami Heilemann/DOI, “Bird River Aerial” Chesapeake Bay Program, “Computer Collaboration” Jody Couser
Innovation Map: Chesapeake Conservancy
Podcast: Mark Hamilton
Virtual Connections: “Peregrine Falcon” Peter Turcik
Champions of the Chesapeake: “Rappahannock Tribe Chief Anne Richardson” Zhivko Illeieff/The Conservation Fund and “Blacks of the Chesapeake Founder and President Vince Leggett,” Courtesy Photo
Closing Photo Montage (clockwise): “Staff Paddle” Matthew Provost, “Crab Feast” Jennifer Yin, “Belted Kingfisher” Sue Buyaskas, “Pier Fishing at Gloucester Point Beach” Stephanie Little, “Osprey” Jack Anderson, “Greenbury Point” David Sites, “Sunset at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge” Sue Buyaskas and “Deer Peeking Out” Sue Buyaskas