2021-FrackBan

Delaware River Basin Commission votes to ban fracking in the watershed

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Air Pollution & Transportation 

KEY ISSUES 2019 Climate Change Huddling by white-tailed deer herd

Land Rights: Responsibility to the Land

2012 Hurricane Sandy

3 Ways Climate Change May have Worsened Hurricane Sandy

2011-Onondaga

Onondaga Nation Opposes Fracking 

2011

Development of the Marcellus Shale

2005 The future of Urbanization in the Northeast

Forestry Practices Must Adapt to Ongoing Urbanization

2004 Worst Ever Oil spill on Delaware River Destroys Bay Estuary

Worst Ever Oil Spill on Delaware River Damages Bay Estuary

1999

Suburban Sprawl

1979-ThreeMileIsland

Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident

1962 Raw Sewage Makes the River Unbearable

Raw Sewage Makes Hudson River Unbearable

1961-NortheastMegalopolis

Northeast “Megalopolis,” a Revolution in Land Use 

1960 No Memory of What Used to Be Bernie Fowler Maryland State Senator

No Memory of What Used to Be

1960 90 of Osprey Breeding Pairs Disappear

90% of Osprey Breeding Pairs Have Disappeared

1950-JerseyTurnpike

New Jersey Turnpike Constructed 

1940-ElmDisease-ChestnutBlight

Chestnut Blight and Dutch Elm Disease Permanently Alter Northern Forests

1912 Baltimore Protects Oysters from Sewage

Baltimore Adopts First Wastewater Treatment System

1910 Logging Pollution

Logging and Water Pollution Go Hand in Hand

1909 Petroleum Oysters

Petroleum Oysters

1900 Salmon Eliminated in New England

Salmon Gone

1899 Forest Regeneration

Change & Regeneration

1893 The Sturgeon are Becoming Scarce New York Times

The Sturgeon are Becoming Scarce

1887 Deer Rarely Seen, Forest Commission of New York

Deer Rarely Seen in the Northeast

1885 Extirpation of Wildlife

Extirpation of Wildlife

1880 Cod Catches Begin to Dwindle New England

New England Cod Catches Begin to Dwindle

1878 Labrador Duck Declared Extinct

Labrador Duck Declared Extinct

1875 Verplanck Colvin

Verplanck Colvin Decries "Forest Slaughter" in the Adirondacks

1870 Heath Hens have Completely Vanished from the Mainland U.S. and Remain only on Martha’s Vineyard

Heath Hens, Once a Colonial Staple, Vanish from the Mainland U.S.

1869-OysterDredging

Oyster Reefs Decimated by Dredging in New England and Chesapeake 

1864 The Logging of the Adirondacks George Perkins Marsh

The Myth of Inexhaustible Nature

1859 Edwin Drake Strikes Oil

Edwin Drake Strikes Oil in Pennsylvania

Thoreau's Massachusetts

1850-FarmAbandonment

Farm Abandonment Across New England

1845 Last of the Original Wild Turkeys Disappear from New York

Last of the Original Wild Turkeys Disappear

1847 Garden of Eden Washington Irving

Railroads Proliferate in the Northeast 

1880 Original Forest Cover

Original Forest Cover Cleared

1825-WillofMan

Nature Obeys the Will of Mankind

1820 First Oyster Beds Exhausted

First Oyster Beds Exhausted

1820 No Fish Left, John Neptune, Penobscot Chief

"The white people take the fish"

1825 The Erie Canal Opens

Erie Canal: Unprecedented Intervention in the Deep Forest

Deforestation Creates a "New Ecological Order"

Colonial Ironworks Fueled by Logging

1773 River-Spanning Nets Banned, Merrimack River

River-Spanning Nets Banned

1750

Disappearing Salmon

1748

NYC Was a Village

MAINE-1739-ChiefPolin

“The river which I belong to”

1728

Incomprehensible Herring

1700

Ancient New England Forests

1698-ErieNiagara

Erie Tejocharontiong

1681 William Penn Recommends Forest Conservation

William Penn Recommends Conservation of Forest Resources

1748 NYC Was a Village, Peter Kalm

New York Bay Teeming With Life

1668 Infinite Number of Bald Eagles, Wood of Massacusetts

Infinite Number of Bald Eagles

1650

Lobsters Six Feet Long

1630 Chattering Birds, Nicholas van Wassenaer

Chattering Birds in Manhattan

1626 Plymouth Colony Passes First Conservation Law

Plymouth Colony Passes First Conservation Law

John Smith: A Mass of Menhaden in Chesapeake Bay

1620 Heath Hens Abundant and a Staple Food

Heath Hens Abundant and a Staple Food

1612 Eastern buffalo

Eastern Buffalo

1609

Henry Hudson Encounters Forested Island of Mannahatta

1607 Good and Fruitful, Sir George Percy

English Arrive Upon "Good and Fruitful" Land

1600 Half the World’s Supply of Oysters

Half the World’s Oysters on the Hudson River

0BCE10000-Lenape

People of the Waters That Are Never Still

Americas, North America, Northeast U.S. 

Northeast Megalopolis 

The northeastern US is the most populous part of the United States. Much of the North Atlantic coast is a continuous stretch of urban and suburban areas. Water and air pollution, particularly related to fossil-fuel based transportation, are major environmental concerns in this densely populated area, as is habitat fragmentation caused by urban sprawl. 

Northeastern Coastal Forests

From northern spruce-hemlock-pine forests to Appalachian oak and chestnut forests, the Northeast is characterized by trees. Most were cleared for agriculture following European settlement, but later farm abandonment and conservation led to widespread reforestation. Today, 40% of land in the northeast is forested again, but invasive pests and pathogens increase susceptibility of certain trees to massive die-offs.

North Atlantic Coast 

This ecoregion consists of the coasts and near-shore waters of nine Atlantic states, totalling 12.7 million acres. Extensive salt marshes with brackish rivers host many birds and serve as nurseries for marine species. Dunes, maritime grasslands, coastal plain ponds and pine barrens are other important habitat types dispersed along the coast. Settlement fragments these habitats extensively, with 40% of land developed.

Chesapeake Bay

Largest estuary in the United States, fed by over 150 rivers and streams with a watershed extending through six states. Once an incredibly rich fishery famous for shellfish, overfishing and pollution levels since the early 20th century have drastically depleted the health of the bay, although restoration efforts begun in the 1990s show promise. Sea level rise as a result of climate change is already documented. 

U.S. Northeast