Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

In 1971, a group of concerned citizens, representing business, agriculture, conservation, academia, and government began gathering to discuss the declining “state of the Bay” and a lack of political commitment to address it. They formed a coalition called “The Citizens Program for the Chesapeake Bay” and brought regional leaders together to discuss a coordinated approach to the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.

In 1976, the Citizens Program became the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and its voluntary collaborative consensus-based approach became the model for the regional Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Partnership. Soon after its founding, the Alliance was awarded an EPA grant to coordinate community involvement for the CBP.