Who Won The Jansson Prize?

Local writer Steve Carr is the grand prize winner of the 2010 JANSSON PRIZE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING.

The Potomac River Association (PRA) in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at St. Mary's College of Maryland held the first annual competition for the Jansson Prize for Environmental Writing. The prize is dedicated to the memory of Holger, Mary and Eric Jansson and their contributions to the betterment of the environment and culture of St. Mary's County, and will be awarded each year to the best essay on important topics related to the environment and environmental affairs.

The 2010 topic for the initial contest asked for essays on the relationship between property rights and Maryland's critical areas regulations.

Private property rights can be examined from a number of perspectives-cultural, legal, historical and political. Discourse and conflict over the limits of public interest and private ownership are at the center of modern debates about the proper interaction of government and markets. Environmental protection is one of the justifications used to limit the rights of individual property owners. For instance in current law, Maryland's Critical Areas Regulations extends control over private property at the water's edge to protect the public interest in preserving the Chesapeake.

Contestants were asked to compose an essay that reflected upon private property rights in the context of environmental regulations such as Maryland's Critical Areas Regulations. Essays could be written from philosophical, legal, historical or cultural perspectives. Prizes were awarded to essays that creatively illuminate the relationship between modern understandings of property rights with current or new ideas about environmental regulation.

Mr. Carr will receive the first prize award of $500 at an Earth Day celebration that will be held in the Leonardtown Square on Sunday April 17th at 1 PM. There will be lives music and entertainment, canoe and kayak rides on Breton Bay, children’s nature crafts and puppet show, animal welfare and rescue, yoga demonstration and seated massages, and energy & water conservation and recycling information. The public is invited to attend this free event.

For further information please contact:

Bob Elwood
Potomac River Association
P.O. Box 76
Valley Lee, Maryland 20692
301-769-3840
belwoods@verizon.net