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Chesapeake Progress

Principles

Sixteen principles guide the Chesapeake Bay Program’s work. These principles reflect our partners’ collective, core values and are intended to inform the policies we develop and the actions we take to achieve the goals and outcomes of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

Science

  • Use place-based approaches, where appropriate, to target specific geographic areas and produce recognizable benefits to local communities while contributing to larger ecosystem goals.
  • Maintain and enhance a coordinated watershed-wide monitoring, modeling and research program to support decision-making, track progress and assess the effectiveness of management actions.
  • Integrate social science holistically throughout the partnership to support adaptive management, more effectively engage with communities and incentivize individual and collective behaviors that support partnership goals.
  • Adaptively manage at all levels of the partnership to foster continuous improvement informed by the best available science and strong working relationships.
  • Use science-based decision-making, consider Indigenous and local knowledge and seek out innovative technologies and approaches to support sound management decisions in a changing system. 

Restoration & Conservation

  • Achieve Goals and Outcomes in a measurable and timely way and at the least possible cost to the public.
  • Conserve working lands and support economically viable forests and farms to best position landowners to help protect the Chesapeake Bay.
  • Acknowledge, support and engage local governments and other local entities in watershed restoration, conservation and protection activities.
  • Anticipate and respond to changes in the landscape and environmental conditions, including long-term trends in sea level, temperature, precipitation, land use and other variables.

Partnership

  • Represent the interests of all communities throughout the watershed fairly and effectively.
  • Meaningfully engage the public to foster collaboration and grow the partnership to support and carry out the restoration, conservation and protection activities necessary to achieve the Goals and Outcomes of this Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
  • Facilitate outreach to and welcome participation by all communities regarding the partnership’s activities, decisions and implementation.
  • Collaborate to achieve the Goals and Outcomes of this Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
  • Operate with transparency and accountability in program decisions, policies, actions and reporting on progress to strengthen public trust and confidence in our efforts.  
  • Strive for consensus across the partnership when making decisions.
  • Include tribal nations in the partnership in a manner that appropriately considers their unique status as independent sovereign nations and as original stewards of the land.