Maryland lawmakers on Monday announced draft legislation to create a unified Chesapeake National Recreation Area.
The proposal would unite a series of park areas and visitor centers owned and operated by the National Park Service as well as privately owned properties along the Chesapeake Bay on a voluntary basis to deliver more federal resources to the region.
By doing so, the proposal would open up new funding streams and allow the National Park Service to better coordinate planning at different sites in and around the Bay watershed.
Lawmakers hope that could then spur economic growth, bolster conservation efforts and increase public access in the Chesapeake Bay.
The initial four sites that would be managed by the NPS are Whitehall Manor, on the Broadneck Peninsula; Burtis House, which sits between City Dock and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis; Thomas Shoal Point Lighthouse, off the cost of Annapolis, and the north beach of Fort Monroe, in Hampton, Va.
U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), who co-sponsored the measure with U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), said the four initial sites chosen for the Chesapeake NRA comprise “a great place to start in terms of demonstrating what the power of the Chesapeake Bay is.”
“This is for everyone,” he added at a news conference at the Burtis House. “This is for everyone who cares about this national treasure, the Chesapeake Bay. We want the establishing legislation to reflect the stories, the perspectives, the lived experiences of Bay communities as diverse as the ecosystems of the Chesapeake itself.”
The idea to create a Chesapeake National Recreation Area started as an op-ed in the Capital Gazette newspaper in the 1980s, Van Hollen said.
“The Chesapeake is the birthplace of American identity and the landscape that bore witness to the many diverse people who have lived along its shores, including the Indigenous peoples who lived here for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, free and enslaved Blacks, and the watermen and women who’ve all played a vital role in the story of our Chesapeake Bay,” said Chesapeake Conservancy President and CEO Joel Dunn. “Their stories are worthy of National Park Service interpretation and education.”
The public comment period is now open for the draft and will remain open for 90 days.
By Meghan McIntyre. John Domen of Maryland Matters news partner WTOP News contributed to this report.
Lesley Israel says
YES!!!
Barbara Denton says
Watch out property owners. Initial step toward the government coming in and taking your property for the public good. Considering we are already teaching false history in our schools I can imagine what the historical write-ups by woke government employees will be like.
This is ridiculous. We need the federal government out of our lives not trying to insert themselves more.
Alan Boisvert says
Cannot believe anyone could find an issue with such a wonderful idea, how sad.
Joan Murray says
Thank goodness for the farsightedness of many politicians who saw the benefit of protecting wilderness areas for all the public to enjoy. I am so grateful to Teddy Roosevelt for having created five national parks and 18 national monuments, and to Nixon for having created the Environmental Protection Agency. I am very thankful for the National Park Service which protects incredible parks like Yellowstone National Park, as well as Civil war sites like Gettysburg.
We are so fortunate to have different organizations and agencies now come together to protect our beautiful Chesapeake Bay. The new Chesapeake National Recreation Area will preserve historic sites, conserve the 64,000 miles of watershed, and allow for public access for watermen, kayakers, hikers, and boaters. There will be no eminent domain.
It is funny how popular the government is during times of floods, fires, and hurricanes. Ron DeSantis voted against federal aid to New York victims of Hurricane Sandy, but he immediately asked for federal help for his state when Florida was ravaged by Hurricane Ian. It is so easy to criticize “government” until one realizes how much we all benefit from the many programs that visionaries have put in place.