EVERETT, Wash. -- Eelgrass plays a vital role in marine habitats, but along the West Coast, it's disappearing at alarming rates.

A new study found to restore seagrasses, it's more important to think about 'where' rather than 'how.' The report, commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts, analyzed 51 eelgrass restoration projects, including 14 in Washington state.

Kathryn Beheshti, California SeaGrant State Fellow for the California Ocean Protection Council and co-author of the report, said there are multiple restoration methods, and she expected that to be the most significant factor.

"What we found was that actually, restoration method, while important, is not the most important factor in predicting whether a restoration project will succeed; and that it's much more dependent on the environmental conditions and the site-specific conditions of a particular project," Beheshti outlined.

Researchers found about 30% of the world's eelgrass has disappeared since the 1870s, including a troubling case in California's Morro Bay, which has seen a 90% decrease in the last 15 years.

Beheshti said major causes of eelgrass decline are development and runoff pollution.

Eelgrass is found near shore and is considered a foundation species for ecosystems; other species, from sea otters to halibut, use it as habitat.

Melissa Ward, a post-doctoral researcher at San Diego State University and the report's other co-author, studies eelgrass's ability to combat climate change.

She said there's promising research that the plant is good at storing carbon. It also removes carbon dioxide from seawater, which is increasing in the ocean as more greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere.

"It's becoming more and more important to keep eelgrass in the water, because it can elevate the pH and make the water less acidic," Ward explained. "So, the refuge that seagrasses provide may become more critical as we move forward, but at the same time, they're also threatened by climate change."

Ward added restoration is crucial work, but conservation is as well.

"While we do need to restore to try to get close to historic levels of eelgrass coverage, we also need to make sure that we don't lose what we already have," Ward urged.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

As Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin pushes forward on plans to withdraw the Commonwealth from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), environmental activists are raising concerns over the plan.

The multistate compact aims to reduce greenhouse-gas pollution through carbon allowances and capping carbon dioxide emissions. It also funds Virginia's Community Flood Preparedness Fund, a program supporting strategies to mitigate and prevent flooding.

Andrea McGimsey, executive director of Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, said pulling out of RGGI would end the initiative.

"Our rainfall is just getting a lot harder, we're seeing these deluges like we've never seen before, and the science backs that up," McGimsey pointed out. "Our communities are flooding more and more, and we need to prepare for that, because we know it's going to get worse."

A report commissioned by the governor found participation in the program will drive up energy bills for Virginia residents by about $2.39 cents per month, and more than $1,500 per month for industrial customers. The report's authors also contended the project has not borne out its intended benefits.

Annette Osso, managing director for Resilient Virginia, countered it is because the program is relatively new. Virginia completed its enrollment in RGGI in January 2021, and the Flood Preparedness Fund has only completed three grant rounds so far.

"You're either going to pay for it later, after a flood, or you're going to spend some money up front now to put in the mitigation," Osso contended.

One path the governor could take to back out of RGGI involves Virginia's seven-member Air Pollution Control Board.

Zander Pellegrino, northern Virginia organizer for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said Youngkin has been filling the board with his appointees, a process which will conclude tomorrow.

"He's going against the will of the General Assembly," Pellegrino emphasized. "There were numerous attack bills that were introduced this past legislative session that tried to do exactly this, that tried to repeal RGGI. He lost. They were voted down."

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is organizing a protest outside the state Capitol building tomorrow to protest Youngkin's efforts to pull out of RGGI. At noon, demonstrators will march backward around the building to symbolize the direction they say Youngkin is taking the Commonwealth.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Communities in Maryland have been awarded portions of a $1 million grant to support infrastructure projects such as improving local waterway health and increasing green space in urban areas. Environmental advocates said it can help improve quality of life.

The Chesapeake Bay Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns grant was awarded to 13 projects across Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Jana Davis, president of Chesapeake Bay Trust, a Maryland-based partner in the grant, said a lot of the awarded communities will use the funds for stormwater runoff control, which can address flooding.

"It encourages water to soak into the ground instead of flooding local streets," Davis explained. "Getting water to flow through the ground and get filtered helps clean the water so that when it enters natural systems it's cleaner than rolling off the surface of a parking lot where it picks up pollutants and goes right into the local stream or bay."

Stormwater management projects include green roofs and vertical rain gardens. Maryland recipients include community organizations in Baltimore, Mount Rainier, Preston and Columbia. The towns of Emmitsburg, Galena, Glen Echo and Millington also received a share of the grant.

The grant is supported in part by the Environmental Protection Agency and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. It also will help local communities increase the amount of green space, such as tree canopies and conservation meadows.

Davis argued every community should have green space within walking distance of all residents.

"It's so important to have an oasis that's green, that provides both a beautiful space to spend time," Davis contended. "But also a place where air quality is locally just a little bit better, where there's shade and where community amenities can be found, whether it's a park bench or a water feature."

Research has shown tree canopies and urban forests can help cities retain stormwater, provide habitat for animals, reduce summer temperatures and store greenhouse gases. Increasing tree canopies is a goal of cities such as Baltimore. Officials want to get the city to 40% canopy coverage by 2037.

Mapping migration routes is important for conserving species such as pronghorn, so supporters hope Congress will fund mapping efforts.

The United States Geological Survey has published two volumes on migration of ungulates, or hoofed mammals, in the western United States. Michael O'Casey, Pacific Northwest field manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said the second volume highlights Sheldon-Hart Mountain pronghorn movements in southeast Oregon.

"It shows this really neat connection between two of the first wildlife refuges in the country that were set aside for big game, specifically for pronghorn," he said. "The map in that Volume Two really highlights the need for connectivity between those two refuges."

The Biden administration zeroed out funding for wildlife migration mapping in its 2023 budget. Advocates for mapping hope Congress will set aside $5 million so USGS can continue work with state and local stakeholders on developing maps for big game species in the West.

Matt Kaufmann, a USGS wildlife biologist, said migrating species are facing more obstacles in the form of fences, traffic and development.

"The mapping gives us a road map to identify the threats that the migrations face, and also identify some of the conservation opportunities," he said, "and without a map, it's really difficult to proactively manage and conserve these migrations."

Kaufmann said migrating animals travel across privately owned land, public lands and tribal reservations, making management complex. But he said ungulate herds are important to western ecosystems, providing prey for large carnivores such as wolves.

"Most of them are also harvestable game animals," he said, "and the harvestable surplus that is produced by migration provides millions of dollars in revenue to the state wildlife agencies that manage those herds, and also billions of dollars in tourism revenue to wildlife viewers."


Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.