Capt. John Smith, one of the earliest 17th Century English explorers of the New World, is back…and running for President. Well, sort of. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is running a fictional Presidential campaign featuring Capt. Smith to draw awareness to needs of the Chesapeake, and the rivers and streams that feed it, for the upcoming Presidential election.

The original European explorer of the Chesapeake, Capt. Smith found a rich environment filled with fish, oysters, and, of course, Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs in his journeys around America’s largest estuary. In the 400 years since the Bay has lost an enormous amount of its vitality due to pollution from the nearby cities of Baltimore and Washington DC plus the enormous runoff of fertilizer and pesticides from farmlands throughout the Chesapeake’s vast watershed stretching through Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and even southern central New York State. The need for restoration has never been greater in order for future generations to be able to enjoy the abundance the Bay has provided throughout all of modern American history dating back to the founding of Jamestown and the Colony of Virginia.

You can takepart in helping preserve and restore the Bay by learning more a the website of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the premiere non-profit organization working on behalf of this ecological treasure.

LINKS:

Hometown Annapolis: John Smith for President

WUSA9: John Smith Joins Race for President

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Blog: It’s Official! A New Presidential Candidate* Throws His Hat Into the Fray