Only 20% of homes have a park within walking distance. Obesity rates for children have sky rocketed and 7 in 10 city officials are responding to the economic crisis by making personnel cuts. A pre-summer National Recreation and Parks Association survey found that 55% of its members suffered budget cuts in 2010 and 60% expect more in 2011.

Despite difficult budgetary decisions 118 cities and towns across the country have made the commitment to ensure that children in their communities are active and healthy and as a result they have earned recognition as 2010 Playful City USA .

Playful City USA, is a designation given to communities by KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to saving play.

Playful City USA communities are making a commitment to play and physical activity by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community. In doing so, some of the most innovative ideas and cost-effective programs are being developed in Playful City USA communities - proving that parks and play are more important than ever.

Maryland is fortunate to have five cities that have been designated as a Playful City USA. The five Maryland Playful Cities are:

• Annapolis, Md.
• Chevy Chase, Md.
• Greenbelt, Md.
• Laurel, Md.
• Takoma Park, Md.

The National Wildlife Federation is sponsoring a nature-themed haiku writing contest. It’s easy and fun! They are looking for any and all nature-themed haiku poems your family and kids can create. Whether it’s about a summer vacation at the lake or bird-watching in the backyard, they want to hear about it.

A haiku is a simple poem consisting of three lines, the first of which contains five syllables, the second contains seven syllables and the last line contains five syllables. It doesn’t even need to rhyme!  

Winners will be featured on the National Wildlife Federation website! The finalists will be announced in the upcoming September Be Out There™ e-newsletter, so be sure you’re signed up to receive this informative and helpful email.  

Help your kids experience the outdoors this summer as well as explore their creative side – submit a nature haiku today! But hurry, the deadline for submissions is August 31.

You must be 18 years or older to submit a haiku and adults can submit on the behalf of children. Submit your haiku here: http://online.nwf.org/site/PageNavigator/BeOutThere_HaikuContest_2010

Just in time to fit in one last summer trip, in celebration of “America’s Best Idea,” more than 100 national parks that usually charge admission will be free on August 14-15, September 25 and November 11.
The following national parks that usually charge admission will be free on those days.

Maryland
Antietam National Battlefield
Assateague Island National Seashore
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine National Monument
Fort Washington Park
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Pennsylvania
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
Steamtown National Historic Site
Valley Forge National Historical Park

Virginia
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
National Memorial
Assateague Island National Seashore
Colonial National Historical Park
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
George Washington Memorial Parkway's Great Falls Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Petersburg National Battlefield
Prince William Forest Park
Shenandoah National Park

West Virginia
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park


For more information on National Parks: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm

Share your love for the Chesapeake Bay you could win $2,500 cash by playing The Hooray for the Bay Contest, hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Trust. The contest is about raising awareness and saving the Chesapeake Bay and, more specifically, how purchasing a Bay Plate can help raise funds to do just that.

What’s the Contest All About?
Hooray for the Bay! is all about saving the Chesapeake Bay. 100 Chesapeake Bay factoid signs have been planted around parks, schools, and community centers within Maryland each giving a little bit of information about how the Chesapeake Bay Trust has been trying to save the bay (for example, one sign says, "In 2009, Bay Plates supported the installation of 6,752 feet of linear feet of living shoreline").

3 Ways To Enter:

1. If you come across a Bay Plate Factoid, snap a picture and send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
2. Use the online entry form to tell why you love the Bay.
3. Text "BAYPLATE" to 24587. The clues are simply to help people locate the signs and learn about the Bay.

Deadline: September 15, 2010.

The grand prize winner and the Bay Plate prize winners will be selected in the month of October 2010.
The winners will be posted on the Chesapeake Bay Trust website at www.bayplate.org before November 15, 2010.

Prizes
The first 100 entrants will win a free Treasure the Chesapeake license plate. All participants are entered to win the grand prize of $2,500 cash.
The grand prize winner will be chosen by a panel of judges who will select the best “Why I Love the Bay” message. Judging will be based on originality, creativity, relevancy, and amusement factor.

Watch the Perseids Meteor Shower

Maryland Star Gazing in the Wee Hours with Dr. Alex Storrs, Towson University, Astrophysics

Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 10 pm – 2 am

Watch the Perseids Meteor Shower from the open meadows of the Howard County Conservancy on this dark new-moon-night. This should be the best viewing in decades: up to 60 meteors an hour! Take a star walk and learn about the meteor shower with Dr. Alex Storrs, Associate Professor of Astsrophysics, Towson University.

The Perseid meteor shower has been observed for about 2000 years, with the earliest information on this meteor shower coming from the Far East.

Bring a late-night picnic, flashlight, and reclining lawn chair, blanket, or air mattress to stretch out under the dark sky. Some telescopes available to view planets. Beverages provided.  If weather is rain or cloudy: the show will go on! View the stars and take a star walk with Dr. Storrs in the special planetarium set up inside the Gudelsky Building.

Check the Conservancy’s website (http://www.hcconservancy.org) and phone message for last minute details.  Program is free.  10 p.m. – 2 a.m.

The Howard County Conservancy is a non-profit organization and the only environmental education center in Howard County. The Conservancy provides educational programs for children and adults throughout the year at our 232-acre Mt. Pleasant farm.  The Conservancy is located on Old Frederick Road (Route 99) between Bethany Lane and Woodstock Road in Woodstock, Maryland.

Please call 410-465-8877 or visit www.hcconservancy.org for further information.

Want some really cool ringtones for your cell phone?

eNature.com has a beta site they are testing that includes the songs of each state bird and mating calls for 17 different birds and animals. The ringtones are free and even if you don't want the ringtone it's fun to listen to the calls and read more about each species.

Check out the eNature ringtones.

Buoy to Track Water Quality at Surface and at Bay Bottom near Little Choptank River

A “smart buoy” has been deployed in the Chesapeake Bay just west of the Little Choptank River. The new buoy is located near the Dominion Reef at the Gooses, an 80-acre artificial reef constructed with materials from the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

This buoy is the newest in NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS), a network that provides scientists, boaters, and educators with real-time data about the Bay. In addition to monitoring water quality at the surface, as do all CBIBS buoys, the newest buoy also tracks water quality at the bottom.

“The Dominion Gooses Reef CBIBS buoy gives us the opportunity to do some really innovative monitoring,” said Peyton Robertson, Director of NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office, which manages CBIBS. “Data from this buoy’s water-quality sensor on the Bay bottom will give us an unprecedented look at the health of the Bay in this location.”

CBIBS buoys collect weather, oceanographic and water-quality observations, and transmit this data wirelessly in near-real time. These measurements, as well as historical and cultural information, can be accessed at www.buoybay.org (www.buoybay.org/m for mobile devices) and by phone at 877-BUOY-BAY (877-286-9229). CBIBS buoys monitor the broad range of measurements necessary to track Bay restoration progress. Online educational resources are also available. Data from this buoy will also be available at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ www.eyesonthebay.net website.

"This is a tremendous effort by everyone involved and the information it is going to provide is critical to understanding the artificial reef and the health of the Bay," said Bruce Michael, Director of DNR’s Resource Assessment Service.

Captain Jeff Lill and the crew of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ buoy tender M/V J.C. Widener worked with NOAA to transport and place the buoy in its final location. Maryland Department of Natural Resources has also committed to maintain the water quality instruments on the buoy for the next five years.

This buoy was made possible by a $200,000 grant from the Dominion Foundation to Coastal Conservation Association Maryland via Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative. The U.S. Department of Commerce—home to NOAA—accepted the buoy as a gift.

Buoys in the system also mark points along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, which highlights the natural history of the Bay and provides new opportunities for recreation, education, and tourism in the Chesapeake Bay region, and encourages stewardship of this national treasure.

This is the ninth buoy in the CBIBS system. Buoys deployed earlier are located at the mouths of the Patapsco, Potomac, Rappahannock, Severn, and Susquehanna Rivers, in the James River near Jamestown, in the Elizabeth River off Norfolk, and in the Potomac River just south of Washington, D.C.

http://www.noaa.gov.

Nissan LEAFs Will Be Available in Select Markets Next Year

Delivery of 500 Nissan LEAFs will begin in January 2011 and will continue throughout the year. In addition to the LEAFs, Enterprise Rent-A-Car will offer customers electric vehicles from other manufacturers as they become available. The announcement is the latest evolution of Enterprise’s ongoing commitment to embracing alternative technologies and bringing viable solutions to the market place.

“As a company that owns and operates the world’s largest fleet of passenger vehicles, we have a vested interest and a history of working with manufacturers to integrate alternative-powered vehicles into our fleet,” said Lee Broughton, director of sustainability for Enterprise Holdings, which owns and operates Enterprise Rent-A-Car as well as the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands. “With airport and neighborhood locations within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, our Enterprise Rent-A-Car offices are uniquely positioned to test the market viability of new alternative fuel technologies like the electric vehicle with daily commuters nationwide.”

Electric vehicles, commonly referred to as EVs, use no gasoline and do not produce greenhouse gas emissions.  The cars can be charged using a standard 110-volt home outlet, or a 220-volt or 480-volt commercial charging station. Most EVs can travel about 100 miles on a single charge, accommodating the travel habits of the daily commuter, who drives an average of approximately 40 miles a day.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car initially will offer electric vehicles to customers across eight different markets where the infrastructure exists to support the vehicles, including Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Knoxville and Nashville, Tenn.; San Diego; Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle. Beginning November 2010, charging stations will be installed at select locations, including several of the Enterprise “hybrid branches” – nearly 100 designated locations which offer hybrids and other environmentally-friendly rental options in 30 different markets. Enterprise is rolling the vehicles out to a limited number of branches to ensure that it can properly train its employees to show customers how to use and charge the EVs.

Take Action Prior to August 16, 2010.

Your support is needed to ensure that all Maryland students learn about the environment by the time they graduate from high school. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has proposed an environmental literacy graduation requirement.

Environmentally literate students understand environmental and physical processes and systems, including human systems. They are students that possess the knowledge, intellectual skills, attitudes, experiences and motivation to make and act upon responsible environmental decisions as individuals and as members of their community

In order to make sure that the Environmental Literacy program is accepted it is crucial that the MSDE hear from as many people as possible with their support of the requirement. Please let MSDE know that:

• You strongly support an environmental literacy graduation requirement.
• You support passage of the proposed language in COMAR 13A.04.17, which describes environmental education instructional programming.
• You strongly encourage the addition of an environmental literacy graduation requirement to COMAR 13A.03.02: Graduation Requirements for Public High Schools in Maryland.
• You believe that environmental literacy is crucial for Maryland students and why.

Detailed information about the environmental education program being proposed and the environmental literacy graduation requirement is available at:  Proposed Maryland Environmental Literacy Graduation Requirement: Key Questions & Answers.

Comments should be sent before August 16, 2010 to :

DixieStack

Director of Curriculum, Maryland State Department of Education

200 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fax: (410)333-2369

Enjoy a unique display of artwork that celebrates our relationship to the natural world at Ann Marie Gardens. The current exhibition GREEN includes more than sixty-five works of art displayed inside and out, that examine ecological issues on a local, regional, national, and global level. GREEN TOO opens Friday, July 16th and is a complementary component of GREEN creating an experience that physically immerses the audience in environmental issues.

Ann Marie Gardens is a 30 acre public sculpture park in Solomons, Maryland. GREEN and GREEN TOO run through August 27, $3 adults, $2 seniors and children ages 5-12, 5 and younger free.
Annmariegarden.org
13480 Dowell Road, Dowell, MD 20629 - t. 410.326.4640