At the end of November, the Chesapeake Conservancy announced the 2025 Champions of the Chesapeake: the organization’s most prestigious award honoring individuals whose accomplishments have significantly advanced the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay’s natural and cultural resources.
Here are the 2025 Champions of the Chesapeake:
Robert G. Stanton, the 15th director of the National Park Service and a former senior advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, received the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Champions of the Chesapeake Award for his decades of leadership in conservation, historic preservation, and public service. A former member of the Chesapeake Conservancy board of directors, Stanton has played a central role in national efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
Stanton has served with national organizations, including the National Parks Conservation Association, the Student Conservation Association, and the Rosenwald Schools Park Campaign. His work has been recognized with many prestigious awards, including the U.S. Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award, the Cornelius Pugsley Gold Medal, and the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“It has and continues to be my privilege and pleasure to work with the Chesapeake Conservancy and many other organizations and leaders now spanning more than 40 years,” he said. “From my perspective and experiences, it can be said that, anchored in collaboration, partnerships, and teamwork, the protection and enhancement of the environmental quality and historic integrity of the Chesapeake Bay is an exemplar of effective cooperative resource stewardship.”
Ann Holmes Jones is recognized for more than four decades of leadership in land preservation and her strong advocacy for Maryland’s Program Open Space, a state program that funds the creation of local and state parks, helps protect important habitat, and supports local foods through the preservation of agricultural lands. She is well regarded for her expertise in monitoring Program Open Space funding through the budget process and works tirelessly with conservation partners to ensure the program remains fully supported.
“Growing up on a Howard County dairy farm, playing in the streams and mud puddles, I learned early that you cannot separate the land from the water,” said Jones, whose family continues to live on the Maryland farm, continuing a more than 275-year legacy.
“The land envelops and directs the water. Forward-thinking Maryland legislators, led by Senator James Clark of Howard County and Senator Bill James of Harford County, established the programs that make Maryland a national leader in land preservation. I am honored to accept this award, but it belongs to the legislators who had the vision to fund the land preservation programs, the advocates who work tirelessly to implement and fund the programs, and most importantly, the families who voluntarily protect their farms and forestland.
Since 1987, Jones has served as a private consultant and currently administers the Piney Run Rural Legacy Program in Baltimore County, a $48 million purchased easement program that has protected more than 8700 acres. She has developed monitoring systems for conserved lands, administered federal and private easement programs, and launched an innovative easement program for nonprofits and faith communities through the Howard County Conservancy. She has also served on key preservation boards and initiatives.
Lysle S. Sherwin is recognized as a 2025 Champion of the Chesapeake for more than 50 years of leadership in watershed restoration and wildlife conservation. A retired Penn State University educator and former director of the Center for Watershed Stewardship, Sherwin has led academic, nonprofit, and federal initiatives to restore streams, protect wildlife habitat, and improve water quality across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. At Penn State, he guided graduate students in applied projects in watersheds, including Spruce Creek and Halfmoon Creek, where they conducted biological and chemical monitoring, modeled nonpoint source runoff, planned riparian buffer plantings, and implemented stream restoration projects that stabilized streambanks and restored trout habitat.
Today, Sherwin continues his work as an affiliate biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners Program, collaborating with private landowners to enhance fish and wildlife habitat and improve water quality in impaired streams. He is deeply engaged in community-based conservation, volunteering with organizations such as the Penns Valley Conservation Association, where he coordinates buffer plantings, wetland restoration, and habitat improvement for species such as brook trout and woodcock. He also partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Conservancy, and local conservation districts to implement multi-agency watershed projects. Sherwin is a two-time recipient of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award in 2001 and 2021.
“The Chesapeake Conservancy’s Early Delisting initiative offered a strong platform for collaborative efforts at impaired Chesapeake Bay waterways, including Penns Creek and Halfmoon Creek,” Sherwin said. “Much has been accomplished in these watersheds, and I am gratified to have an active role and to receive the prestigious Champion of the Chesapeake award.”
Chesapeake Conservancy CEO Susan Shingledecker says, “These Champions prove how creative, committed, and collaborative people can make a real difference for the Bay. Their decades of service inspire us and give hope for a healthier, more resilient Chesapeake in the years ahead.”
To learn more, visit chesapeakeconservancy.org.
