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The Chesapeake Bay String of Pearls Project honors those who have contributed lands for preservation in six states and the District of Columbia of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. We believe that the preservation of land leaves a perpetual legacy for the greater good and deserves to be recognized. To protect the water, land must be preserved.

“Pearls” are lands throughout the watershed that are preserved forever. Like knots in a mesh net, they keep together the mosaic of patches and corridor networks to hold the landscape together. They tie together land, water, wildlife, and people, in harmony. That synergy is necessary for sustainability and it is a challenge for this region.

At least once a year we will hold a ceremony to honor pearl creators in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. In 2011, the project honored land owners in Caroline and Talbot Counties helping preserve watersheds of four waterways: Tuckahoe, Choptank, Robbins, Wye, and the Bay itself. In 2010, the project honored land owners in Anne Arundel County, as nominated by Riverkeepers® of the Magothy, Patuxent, Severn, South, and West/Rhode Rivers

At the September 2010 Ceremony, Certificates and Resolutions honoring the actions of individuals and organizations were presented by Anne Arundel County, the Maryland legislature and the State of Maryland. Recordation of these “pearls“ and locations with names of those acting to preserve these lands were made in the Register of Pearls in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This Register is on public display in the Circuit Court  in Annapolis as a lasting recognition of these legacies.

Future ceremonies will honor those who protect lands elsewhere in the State of Maryland, and in other jurisdictions in the Chesapeake watershed: Virginia, The District of Columbia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York.