The 2025 Maryland General Assembly is underway!  Audubon and our partners are in Annapolis advocating for birds and the special Maryland places they rely on. Together with your help we will stand up for birds in Annapolis by focusing on legislation that supports habitat protections, brings resources to our Marshes for Tomorrow work, and advances investments in renewable energy. As you may have heard, this will also be a difficult budget year for Maryland and our environmental priorities. We will continue to advocate for programs that support birds and bird habitat such as Program Open Space and the Chesapeake Bay Program in the state FY26 budget. So far, the Governor has for the most part protected those priorities, and we will focus attention on urging the legislature not to make further cuts to these important conservation programs. 

 

Sponsored by Delegate Dana Stein, in collaboration with Audubon, this bill provides an official definition for “Ecological Restoration” in Maryland. Ecological restoration projects such as critical marsh and wetland restoration efforts are not keeping up with the urgent threats Maryland’s landscapes and habitats face, and there is an inconsistent understanding of ecological restoration. Providing a clear definition for ecological restoration across state agencies and with the public will reduce confusion and miscommunication about what projects are being included in ecological restoration permitting processes.  

Having a definition codified in law will: 

 

This bill draws attention and resources to the tidal buffer zone between productive agricultural land and important coastal bird habitat, including tidal marsh zones of our Marshes for Tomorrow project. This Act creates a balanced approach protecting habitat and providing resources for farmers to implement conservation efforts. The bill will reduce pollution of tidal waterways, increase vegetated buffers adjacent to important bird habitat, and support farmers working near the water’s edge in Maryland’s vital agriculture industry.  

 

As Maryland faces growing demand for electricity as well as rising energy costs, we need to make sure clean energy is the quickest and most cost-effective energy source to build, benefiting both birds and people. The AACE Act will ensure Maryland can generate the clean energy people and birds need.  Electricity use accounts for more than one-fifth of Maryland’s polluting emissions. The AACE Act  will help Maryland meet our climate goals while keeping energy reliable and affordable through local generation and reduced transmission costs by investing in local clean energy production.

 

In Pennsylvania, the General Assembly convened in Harrisburg this January. Audubon is waiting for the governor’s budget to be released in February. We will look to make sure the department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the Department of Environmental Protection are fully funded, as are investments in a renewable energy economy, habitat conservation, watershed protections, healthy forests and environmental justice. Audubon’s legislative priorities in Pennsylvania will include advancing community solar legislation, providing resources for state agencies and communities to tackle invasive species, new riparian buffer protections, and incentivizing bird friendly management of the state’s forests on public and private land.