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Maryland Coastal Bays presents 10-year conservation plan to Worcester County commissioners
Summary
The Maryland Coastal Bays Program presented a new Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) with four themes and 24 prioritized actions; the plan will be discussed at a June 24 policy committee meeting and is expected to take effect July 1, 2025.
Kevin Smith, executive director of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, briefed the Worcester County Commissioners on the program’s newly completed Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan — a roughly 10-year roadmap developed with partners and public input.
Smith said the CCMP was developed over a little more than two years with input from county staff, federal and state partners including the National Park Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and multiple public gatherings and a citizens advisory committee.
The new CCMP organizes work around four themes: provide healthy waters; protect fish and wildlife and their habitat; create resilient communities and ecosystems; and develop public engagement and partnerships. Under those themes the plan lists goals and 24 focused actions (a reduction from the prior plan’s larger action list) with assigned responsibilities and cost estimates for each action over the 10-year period.
Smith told the board that the plan will be reviewed in greater detail at a June 24 policy committee meeting in Ocean City (Harrison’s Harbor Watch) and that a partner signing ceremony is scheduled the same afternoon at the Ocean City Lifesaving Museum. He said the CCMP is expected to be implemented beginning July 1, 2025.
Commissioners did not vote on the CCMP at the meeting; the presentation was informational and intended to solicit questions ahead of the policy committee review.
