The Chesapeake Bay Foundation announced Tuesday that it has selected Josh Kurtz as its new Maryland Director.
Josh Kurtz, Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s new Maryland Director
Kurtz had been the policy and government relations director for The Nature Conservancy in Maryland and had worked for TNC for more than eight years in both Maryland and the District of Columbia. He will move from that global environmental organization to lead CBF’s team in Annapolis to advocate for legislation to help Maryland reach its 2025 Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint pollution reduction goals, which includes planting more trees and providing more support to farmers to install conservation practices like planting forest buffers and managing fertilizers.
“It’s my pleasure to welcome Josh to CBF and our Maryland team,” Alison Prost, CBF Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration, said in a statement. “He brings with him broad experience addressing Chesapeake Bay pollution issues in Maryland at the state and local levels. His work will focus on engaging the community, educating decision-makers, and strengthening the state’s environmental policy and regulations.”
Kurtz succeeds Prost, who was promoted to head CBF’s watershed restoration efforts. Kurtz received a bachelor’s degree in wildlife conservation from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University.
“Maryland is working hard to meet the state’s 2025 Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals and these next four years will be key to ensuring the progress we’ve made so far becomes permanent,” Kurtz said in a statement.
“We need to protect forested land, plant trees, minimize stormwater runoff in cities and towns, and ensure farmers continue to reduce polluted runoff flowing off agricultural land. I’m honored to have the opportunity to join the Maryland team in this important work.”
(Editor’s Note: Kurtz is no relation to Maryland Matters Editor Josh Kurtz.)
Elizabeth Shwe
Reporter
Elizabeth Shwe was a Report for America corps member at Maryland Matters through May 2022. She previously covered California state politics during an internship at The Sacramento Bee. She is a 2020 graduate of Princeton University with a degree in political science. At Princeton she was a producer for WPRB 103.3 FM News & Culture section, the station’s only long form podcast-type program. Shwe also wrote for The Daily Princetonian, and tutored with the Petey Greene Program, which offers free tutoring to incarcerated people.
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