Chesapeake Conservancy Submits Letter to Secretary Salazar
July 16, 2010
The Chesapeake Conservancy issued a letter to Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar thanking him for his support and participation during the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative Listening Session in Annapolis while highlighting some recommendations to preserve the Chesapeake Bay as a “landscape of national significance that needs to be protected and on the national map.”
Among other suggestions, the letter recommends:
1. Fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund and dedicating a portion of those funds to a public-private Chesapeake Treasured Landscapes Fund that leverages private and other public financing. The Chesapeake Fund would be used to acquire lands targeted by a new Federal-State, GIS-based conservation planning tool that is modeled on state platforms such as Maryland’s GreenPrint program.You can access the full letter and its recommendations here.
2. Establishing a new 21st Century Chesapeake Bay National Park, as recommended in the Chesapeake Executive Order and the Special Resources Study submitted to Congress in January. A new unit of the national park system in the Chesapeake would not only help address critical needs for landscape preservation, but improve opportunities for public access to the Bay, education, and ecosystem protection, in partnership with State and local governments, and non-profit organizations.
3. Fully funding the activities called for in implementing the comprehensive management plan (CMP) for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, and the Chesapeake Gateways and Watertrails Program. With funding support, these model initiatives will greatly increase targeted conservation, engage citizens in environmental stewardship and expand heritage tourism throughout the 64,000 square mile Chesapeake watershed.
