On Chesapeake Bay, an Island Saved from Sinking.doc

VOICE ONE: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. Im Bob Doughty. ? VOICE TWO: And Im Shirley Griffith. Today we tell about efforts to save an island in the American state of Maryland. Poplar Island lies about fifty-five kilometers south of Baltimore, in the Chesapeake Bay. This historic waterway opens into the Atlantic Ocean. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: People sailing on the Chesapeake Bay often comment about the beauty of the areas water and wetland birds. Uncounted birds have lived in the area for centuries. But by nineteen ninety, an island important to the birds was sinking. Winds, water and time had reduced Poplar Island to only a few pieces of land. All the land together measured only one and one half hectares. Sometimes, water threatened to cover all of what remained. Birds lost areas where they traditionally lived and reproduced. But now birds are returning to the island. Poplar Island is in the process of rebirth. VOICE TWO: Many birds make a home on Poplar Island today. The island now measures four hundred sixty-one hectares, about the same size as in the eighteen eighties. The birds will have even more space in the future. The island is expected to grow by another two hundred thirty-three hectares. Poplar Island shows what can happen when many people and organizations cooperate. In nineteen ninety-four, engineers and government agencies joined to plan a possible rescue of Poplar Island. The United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Port Administration and other groups became partners in the effort. Environmental activists and people who live near the island supported the campaign. VOICE ONE: The planners thought a Poplar Island rescue could help the port of Baltimore. They wanted to find a new place to put material dug up from shipping channels leading to the port. Each year, container ships carry thousands of tons of goods to Baltimore. The ships need deep waters for the trip. The shipping channels must be dredged, or cleared,