Don’t let looks deceive you. Some of the pretty greenery you see on the side of the road is invasive.     Invasive plants are a growing problem in the state. Pretty white-flowering Bradford pear trees escaped from domestication, Mile-a-minute weeds and multiflora rose bramble may look nice, but they are invaders. Now the State Highway Administration is on a mission to remove the troublemakers.     Safety worries Charlie Gischlar at the State Highway...

Editor’s note     Three report cards come to us in the early months of the year, each asking us to consider the health of the Chesapeake Bay and where — if anywhere — all our work is getting us.     Each arrives at a different time, uses different criteria and grading systems and supports a different agenda. How to make sense of any — let alone all — of them? Here staff writer Ashley Brotherton offers a cheat-sheet on the basics....

Oyster shells could be worth more than the change in your pocket if the Oyster Recovery Partnership can talk the political talk.     The nonprofit Partnership, which has planted four billion seed oysters in its work for recovery, is now seeking to persuade legislators to pass a bill giving a $1 tax credit for every bushel of oyster shells you recycle.     Shells are desperately needed to make habitats for new oyster families and the communities they support....

Chesapeake Bay waterman were coming close to extinction in 2010 when a group of Chesapeake non-profits got innovative. The bright idea: Training captains who make a living on the Bay to give tours of the water and their craft.     Now, 80 watermen guide tours through the Bay where they make their living, earning extra cash during the slow seasons.     The idea is so bright that the Watermen Heritage Tourism Training Program has won the Maryland Historical Trust...