Blogger Beth Ginter
November 25, 2025
All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you.
– Octavia Butler
October was nutty for the CBLP team. Each of us had back to back events to plan and direct across five states, all month long: CBLP-Shorelines, -Crews, -Buffers, CBLP-A, Level 1, salt trainings, and a field day. We have reached the point in our organization’s growth where I have a hard time keeping track of where everyone is on any given day. I, myself, was away a total of 15 nights in October, including a whirlwind eight-day work-play-work journey through the blazing fall foliage north to New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Driving home on Halloween afternoon in typical crazy PA weather – by turns, balmy, blustery, cold, rainy, and then, finally, sparkling late afternoon sunshine that broke through the clouds – I traveled Route 15 along the Susquehanna, following the river south toward Maryland and the Bay. At Harrisburg, I was drawn off the highway as if the river were a magnet. I needed to pause and sit to think out a few things before parting ways with the Susquehanna. I reflected on how the rivers, ancient highways of the past, today connect our work across the watershed, and ended with a very profound realization of how much this work has changed me.
Ten years ago, closing my design practice to do something “bigger,” I was hoping to effect greater change, to help move the needle toward a more sustainable approach to our built landscapes. I often cite that wish to explain my motivation for a career change, and it is entirely true, but I laugh every time I think about myself saying that. I certainly got what I wished for. I had no idea how great the demand would be for this training nor how CBLP would grow. Contemplating the river, I realized I didn’t think all that much at the time I changed jobs about how I would be affected personally.
I am often awed by the beauty of our Bay region. Preserving, protecting, and improving this little slice of the Earth is the common goal of CCLC and many others working on Bay restoration efforts. Driving the watershed, often solo, brings me time to reflect on how our organization is doing and how we can do better, do more, to train people, meet goals, achieve metrics. I (mostly) relish the drives. I have no doubt that the work is making a difference and that this community of like-minded professionals benefits from its collective impact.
But my Halloween epiphany was about the impact this adventure has had on me, personally, beyond meeting our goals. I’ve been touched, taught, challenged, shaped and strengthened beyond measure by the people I’ve met navigating the Bay’s rivers and roads. Yes, the goal is about saving the Bay and leaving something wonderful for future generations, but as I watched the Susquehanna racing by, I realized that for me, what we’re doing has become much more about the people. Beyond just meeting our training goals, it’s the people doing impactful work across the watershed whom I’ve met, and who welcome and inspire me along the journey, that make it most meaningful for me. I am continually amazed by the stories and the passion you have shared with me. Knowing you has changed me for the better.
This week, I am especially grateful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!
Beth Ginter, MPSLD, CBLP
Executive Director, Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council (CCLC)
Beth became CCLC’s first executive director in January 2020. Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and working across the mid-Atlantic region, CCLC educates and supports professionals to implement sustainable landscapes and green infrastructure practices for a healthy and resilient Chesapeake Bay watershed. She helped develop and also direct CCLC’s Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) certification initiative. Previously, Beth was the founding principal of a landscape consulting & design firm, and she directed scientific communications programs in the corporate sector. She earned a Masters in Sustainable Landscape Design at The George Washington University and a B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University.
