Our Impact

Decades of measurable progress across the watershed.

The existing ArcGIS experience remains managed by the Trust and embedded here. Open the map in a new window, or use the keyboard-accessible selected project index beside it.

Volunteers plant marsh grass pots along a sandy living shoreline
Living shoreline planting funded through watershed restoration grants.
# Project & focus Place
View the Trust's published map image Map of the Chesapeake Bay watershed dotted with clustered project markers

The 2024–2025 Year in Review

One grant year of work by Trust grantees, in the Trust's own published numbers.

237,661native trees, pollinator plants, marsh grasses, and other native plants installed
1,443,500oysters raised and released
77acres of forests, stream buffers, seagrass beds, and wetlands created or restored
113,241square feet of rain gardens created
70,886pounds of trash removed from communities and waterways
51,520students engaged by 3,282 teachers
25,149volunteers engaged, donating 159,228 hours
41acres of impervious surface treated or removed

Source: Impact of Our Work, cbtrust.org →

Impact stories

A diver's gloved hands lift a wire oyster cage crusted with young oysters from green water
Oyster cages headed for Bay reefs.

1.4 Million Oysters, One Grant Year

Grantees raised and released 1,443,500 oysters in 2024–2025, and the Chesapeake Oyster Innovation Award Program keeps pushing the science of reef restoration and aquaculture forward.

Chesapeake Oyster Innovation →

Students and instructors haul a seine net through shallow water on a sunny shoreline
Students haul a sampling net through shallow shoreline water.

51,520 Students in the Field

Environmental education grants engaged 51,520 students through 3,282 teachers in the 2024–2025 grant year, from classroom tanks to waders-in-the-water days like this one.

Environmental education grants →

Annual Reports

Every year of activities, accomplishments, financials, and impact, reported in full since 2006.

View Reports Library