Longtime Virginia environmental leader and Chesapeake Bay advocate W. Tayloe Murphy passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Murphy served as Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources from 2002 to 2006 and as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing the Northern Neck throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Murphy was a member of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Board of Trustees and CBF’s Virginia Advisory Council.
His many legislative achievements include sponsorship of the historic Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act in 1986, which advances the adoption of sound land use practices essential to reducing pollution to the Chesapeake Bay. Murphy also sponsored the 1997 legislation that established Virginia’s Water Quality Improvement Fund, through which Virginia has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in projects to modernize sewage treatment facilities and cost-share programs that assist farmers in adopting conservation practices. His achievements have significantly reduced pollution to the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.
CBF President William C. Baker issued the following statement.
“Tayloe Murphy was a friend for over 30 years. He and his wife Helen were passionate about saving the Bay. They loved to spend time on the water with us, especially at CBF island education centers.”
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