Expanding Our Impact

Thank you to the 36 current and prospective members who attended our Annual Members’ Meeting on June 27. We had a productive and impactful meeting, and we’re grateful to all who listened and provided feedback.

This was a big meeting and to keep all our members, and prospective members, informed and up-to-date, here is a summary of the topics discussed, the proposed changes, and the voting results.

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To begin, Board President Joe Anderson spoke of SMRWA’s growth and successes including:

The main topic was expanding our oyster restoration efforts to Breton Bay and what that would look like for our organization. We’ve partnered with Friends of St. Clements Bay (FSCB) since their founding in 2017. This all-volunteer watershed association has worked tireless to preserve and restore the Wicomico, St. Clements, and Breton Bay watersheds, most notably through their native plant gardens at Leonardtown Library and their dedicated Marylanders Grow Oysters (MGO) Program. Their Breton Bay restoration efforts began with MGO plantings at the Lover’s Point reef site (currently ~1.5 acres). SMRWA partnered with FSCB for our annual planting event and together we’ve placed over 4.6 million oysters in Breton Bay.

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With several board members retiring, Friends of St. Clement’s Bay has decided to close their 501(c)(3) corporation at the end of year. They asked us to take over their oyster restoration project in Breton Bay because of our involvement since the beginning. Another group, Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay Chapter, will be taking over the Leonardtown Library native plant garden.

Formally expanding our reach to Breton Bay means amending our mission, and we believe our members, as an integral part of our organization, should be a part of that discussion.

Executive Director Emma Green Ewing shared background and recent survey results highlighting our progress in Breton Bay since its 2010 designation as an oyster sanctuary. Our late-2025 surveys at the Lover’s Point reef site delivered encouraging news, showing strong indicators of a growing reef and a thriving oyster population responding directly to our restoration work.

Building on this momentum, SMRWA and FSCB met with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in March 2026 to present our progress and future vision for the Lover’s Point reef. In response, DNR surveyed five potential sites to test the bottom structure using sounding poles in April 2026. They confirmed three suitable new locations, opening up 19.5 additional acres for oyster restoration in Breton Bay.

We discussed how expanding our work into Breton Bay will impact our organization. To prepare for this unique opportunity, a specialized work group was formed during our Board of Directors meeting in April. This work group included volunteers William Faller, Elizabeth Price, Kelly Ward, and Vice President Larry O’Brien. Larry presented the group’s key recommendations, outlining proposed organizational changes and anticipated impacts. Check out the full Work Group Recommendations here.

These organizational changes include:

• Organizational Name Change:

A change of the organization name to reflect the broader mission and to include existing and future supporters and donors.

New Proposed Name: St. Mary’s Watershed Association (SMWA)

• Mission Statement Revision:

Current Mission: The St. Mary’s River Watershed Association (SMRWA) seeks to protect, improve and promote the sustainability of the St. Mary’s River Watershed through collaborative efforts with the economic, academic, environmental, agricultural, historical, social, cultural, political, and recreational stakeholders in the community.

Suggested Mission: The St. Mary’s Watershed Association (SMWA) seeks to protect, improve and promote the sustainability of watersheds located solely within St. Mary’s County through collaborative efforts with the economic, academic, environmental, agricultural, historical, social, cultural, political, and recreational stakeholders in the community.

A motion was made to accept the Board of Directors’ recommendations to adopt our new name, the St. Mary’s Watershed Association, and to officially expand our mission statement.

Following a membership vote of approval, the motion passed! We are thrilled for this opportunity to broaden our reach and deepen our environmental impact across St. Mary’s County.

To support our mission expansion, we are seeking a planning grant of $40,000 to fund a strategic marketing plan and to upgrade our constituent relationship management system that can grow with our organization.

Regardless of our broadened focus, our commitment to the St. Mary’s River remains absolute. We are currently permitting two new oyster restoration sites in the Upper St. Mary’s River Shellfish Sanctuary, where we plan to deploy reef balls once approved. Meanwhile, our community reef ball build program will continue providing local youth groups with hands-on environmental education while creating vital habitat for river oysters.

We also held nominations and elections for the Board of Directors.

Nominations from the current Board:

For a three-year term (effective immediately, ending in 2029)

1. John Giusti
2. William Faller
3. Diana Mendez
4. Patricia Samford
5. Kelly Ward

For a three-year term (effective 2025, ending in 2028)

1. Rick Hammond
2. Tony Pait

For a two-year term (effective immediately, ending in 2028)

1. Max Stumpf

And for the first time in SMRWA history, we had a motion to nominate from the floor:

For a three-year term (effective immediately, ending in 2029)

1. Howard Kympton III

All nominations were accepted with unanimous approval. Thank you to the members of the Board of Directors for their involvement and dedication to our mission. A special welcome to our newest Directors, Diana Mendez and Howard Kympton III! We are happy to have you on our team.

Thank you to our generous members and donors who make our programs possible.

If you are not a member, please consider joining us! Memberships are available for all price points. You can join or renew at https://smrwa.org/donate/