Letters to the Editor

We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here

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On Jug Bay, Steele Scored 100

Dear Bay Weekly:

Carrie Steele’s article on Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary [vol. xiii, no. 45: Nov. 10] was fantastic! What a great birthday present. She captured the essence of this place with her many insightful descriptions and detailed observations. The days that she devoted to exploring, watching us teach and accompanying Elaine, Karyn and Mike in the field allowed her to gain a much deeper understanding of Jug Bay’s natural habitats and our educational philosophies than any other writer that I can recall. I loved her descriptions of fifth-grader Brian Hutson and his discoveries and the paragraph describing the dusty drive down our entrance road. Perfect! We are indeed fortunate to have such good friends, great writers and enthusiastic supporters at Bay Weekly.

My greatest hope is that more counties and states around the Chesapeake will learn about what we’ve created at Jug Bay and start their own nature parks with stewardship and research as the main focus. Local governments like Anne Arundel County need to play a much more active role in improving the Chesapeake Bay through land preservation combined with on-site citizen education. Your article will help to achieve that goal.

—Chris Swarth

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

Dear Bay Weekly:

I just wanted to complement you on Carrie Steele’s wonderful article in the November 10 issue. I’ve visited Jug Bay many times and have had the pleasure of working with Mike Quinlan, also a long-time volunteer at Watkins Park Nature Center, where I work. We’ve worked together on our raptors’ exhibit, permanently injured birds of prey that we use for educational purposes. We are lucky to have him as a volunteer, and I’ve learned a lot about birds of prey from him. He is one of the few persons who is permitted to “borrow” our birds for various educational programs that he does outside our Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission programs.

—Colleen Sabo, Watkins Park Nature Center

Make Maryland Smoke Free

Dear Bay Weekly:

My wife and I recently visited the states of Maine, Vermont, Delaware, California and New York. On these trips we visited art museums, baseball parks, several stage shows, casinos and even a lecture on puffins. We visited old friends and dined out nearly every evening.

One thing all of these states have in common is that they are among the growing number that prohibit smoking in all work places, including restaurants and bars.

It was delightful to be able to dine out and enjoy our friends without the fear of being exposed to the hazards of secondhand tobacco smoke. Several of our friends stated that they are reluctant to dine out when they visit Maryland due to our lack of smoke-free laws.

In addition to providing a healthy environment for all workers as well as business patrons, the experience of these smoke-free states is disproving the tobacco industry propaganda that smoke-free workplaces would harm business. On the contrary, all of these states have experienced growth in their hospitality sectors. It was interesting to note that business was brisk everywhere we went.

Isn’t it about time that Maryland came into the 21st century and passed our own smoke-free law?

John H. O’Hara, Bowie

Editor’s note: the writer is president of the Maryland Group Against Smokers’ Pollution.