News
Media Advisory—May 30, 2008
June 2, 2008—Maryland, Delaware & Partners to Make Announcements On Land Conservation, Tourism & Heritage In Nanticoke River Watershed
Federal and local government partners and conservation organizations will join Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin to make several announcements regarding land preservation, stewardship and heritage tourism opportunities on the Nanticoke River.
Details
May 1, 2008
Shallop Race Promises to be a Bit More Tortoise Than Hare
The Annapolis Capital
It could go down as the slowest boat race ever in Annapolis waters. At high noon Saturday, three replicas of 17th-century wooden boats will race around a triangular course as part of the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival. The replicas are based on the open boat, or "shallop," used by Capt. John Smith as he famously documented the Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago.
Read more
April 1, 2008
Smith Sought Gold, But Found Stafford
The Free Lance-Star
Four hundred years ago this summer, Capt. John Smith sailed up the Potomac and then the Rappahannock rivers to become the first Englishman to set foot on what was to become Stafford County.
Read more
April 2008
Shallop Continues to Serve as Ambassador for Smith Water Trail
Bay Journal
The shallop that re-enacted Capt. John Smith's 1608 travels on the Chesapeake Bay will enjoy a more restful summer this year without straying far from the public eye.
"The shallop will continue to travel the Bay with a new crew of volunteers, telling the story of the John Smith voyage and the Bay 400 years ago, and introducing the John Smith water trail," said Drew McMullen, president of Sultana Projects.
Read more
April 2008
Photo Destination: Captain John Smith's Chesapeake Bay
Nature Photographers Online Magazine
I have spent three years exploring the Bay by car, foot, and kayak for my recent book Chesapeake: Bay of Light, and I’ve seen some pretty incredible places and wildlife events. There really is no end to the shooting possibilities in a place as large and diverse as the Chesapeake, and it is difficult to pick only a few areas to focus on, but here it goes. What follows are some of my favorite locations to shoot on the Chesapeake and its tidal rivers. Read more
March 4, 2008
Groups Seek to Interpret Historic Bay Trail
The Free Lance-Star
The Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail was the reason for a gathering last week of some two dozen local tourism, historic attraction, state government, and park officials. The group held an idea-sharing session to share thoughts on what the trail should become.
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March 2008
Setting the Story Straight
Bay Journal
Americans' fascination with lone heroes has long skewed the stories of Capt. John Smith and the pivotal time period in which he explored the Chesapeake Bay. It's a problem that organizers of the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail want to correct.
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March 2008
History of John Smith's Chesapeake Map Full of Twists and Turns (continued)
Bay Journal
More challenges of the 1600s and what today's mariners have to learn from them.
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February 2008
History of John Smith's Chesapeake Map Full of Twists and Turns (continued)
Bay Journal
Navigational challenges of the 1600s and what today's mariners have to learn from them. Read more
January 24, 2008
Omnibus Spending Bill Includes Funds for Trail
The omnibus spending bill recently approved by Congress includes more than $440,000 for the continued deployment of "smart buoys" to mark the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail and to transmit historical, cultural, and real-time scientific information to boaters.
January 2008
History of John Smith's Chesapeake Map Full of Twists and Turns
Bay Journal
Smith's first published cartographic effort and its successors were the most accurate images of Chesapeake Bay between their emergence from his field notes in 1608 and Augustine Herrmann's much improved 1673 map, which covers four folio pages. Read more
December 26, 2007
Officials Hope Blueway Will Draw Paddlers
DailyPress.com
Canoe and kayak paddlers might be getting a new playground—in the form of a miles-long interpretive water trail that uses some of Poquoson's least-accessed creeks and channels to skirt pristine salt marshes and shore-bird sanctuaries. Read more
December 5, 2007
Chesapeake Executive Council Asked to Expedite Implementation of the New Capt. John Smith Trail
Press release
The Friends of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail has asked the Chesapeake Executive Council to take several specific actions to expedite implementation of the John Smith Trail.
The Chesapeake Executive Council (CEC)meets in Annapolis today. It is made up of the Governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Mayor of the District of Columbia and the Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a legislative body serving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The council establishes policy for the restoration and protection of the bay. Read more >>
More from the CEC meeting
A special thank you to James W. Hubbard, Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, who spoke strongly before the press and the Council in support of the Trail. The following is an excerpt from his comments.
By outlining our priority issues for next year we are doing a lot of looking forward. Before I close I want to take one moment to look back. In late 2006, the region achieved two great victories.
The first was creation of the Captain John Smith National Historic Water Trail. The approval process for new national trails usually takes about 12 years to complete. Through the coordinated efforts of all of the members here, this water trail was established in record time — just 22 months. Now that we have the trail, our next goal will be to work closely with the states to implement the trail. This will take coordination among all the state agencies, working in lock step with local governments.
November 25, 2007
Water Trail Revisits Capt. John Smith's Voyage
All Things Considered, National Public Radio
Andrea Seabook takes a trip down the water trail with John Page Williams, a senior naturalist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Listen >>
November 7, 2007
Interview with Joel Dunn, Coordinator of the Sustainable Chesapeake Program
The Boat Show, WNAV Radio
- Part I - Joel discusses the Conservation Fund, Sultana Projects, and the 2007 ShallopVoyage (11 min) listen >>
- Part II - Joel discusses the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail and Interpretive Buoys (11 min) listen >>
- Websites featured:
October 19, 2007
Jo Ann Davis's Legacy as a Conservationist
The Washington Post
Jo Ann Davis, who represented Virginia's 1st Congressional District until her death from breast cancer on Oct. 6, was a leader in conserving America's natural and cultural resources. She introduced H.B. 5466 to establish the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail. Read more>>
September 8, 2007
Boat Returns After 120-day Journey
The Daily Press
A wooden boat of 28 feet, powered by 17th-century sail technology and six oars, will end a journey today that took a crew of 12 into the creeks and rivers and over the open water of the Chesapeake Bay. Read more>>
September 8, 2007
Replica Boat to Return to Jamestown
Associated Press
Four months of extreme togetherness are coming to a close for a dozen adventurers who've been exploring the Chesapeake Bay much like John Smith did - sailing, and sometimes sleeping, in a replica of his small, open work boat. Their journey was set to end Saturday where it began: Jamestown, America's first permanent English settlement, which Smith helped found 400 years ago. Read more>>
September 2007
Chasing History, Slowly
Chesapeake Bay Magazine
Retracing the figurative footsteps of Captain John Smith, who explored the Bay from top to bottom in 1608? That sounds interesting. But doing so under wind- and oar-power alone, in a 28-foot open boat? For 1,500 miles? That's extreme. But for official scribe Andrew Bystrom, and his 11 fellow modern-day explorers, the John Smith 400 Project has been the journey of a lifetime. Article not available online
August 25, 2007
Will Tourists Follow in the Shallop's Wake?
The Free Lance-Star
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other organizations supporting the new trail believe it will kindle fresh interest in the environment, history and the Chesapeake's native peoples.
"The shallop, the map, the diaries, and most of all, the adventure all inspire us to learn more about the fragile ecosystem of Jamestown and our Chesapeake Bay," Gilbert M. Grosvenor, chairman of the National Geographic Society, told observers at the shallop's Jamestown launch. "What a great way to bring geography and history to life!" Read more>>
August 6, 2007
Indians Seek Recognition
The Washington Post
A traditionally dressed Indian warrior greeted the shallop when it pulled into Calvert County. But representatives from the same tribes had a less-than-welcoming message for government officials: They were tired of not being officially recognized by the state even though they were "exploited" for state-endorsed events. Read more>>
August 8, 2007
Historic Voyage in Chesapeake Bay Provides Unique Water Quality Data Set
Water Online
Four hundred years ago, John Smith kept journals while on his original voyage. He describes the beauty of the Chesapeake waters and its incredible ecosystem. Now, researchers from NOAA are working with the shallop crew to collect high-resolution data about the present-day quality of this same water. Read more>>
July/August 2007
Setting Sail for History
Maryland Life Magazine
The Captain John Smith 400 Project rows its way around the bay. Article not available online
July 27, 2007
'Smart Buoys' Ready to Teach
The Baltimore Sun
The Chesapeake Bay of 400 years ago and the present crossed paths yesterday morning at the mouth of the Patapsco River, when a replica of Capt. John Smith's boat passed by where a bobbing transmitter will tell the story of the explorer and the water around it.
Read more >>
July 25, 2007
Chesapeake Bay High-Tech Buoy Being Launched July 26 to 'Talk' Via Verizon Wireless Data Network
CNN Money.com
On Thursday, July 26, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will deploy its third "smart buoy" as part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail -- the nation's first water-based national historic trail and newest national park. The buoy will be positioned at the mouth of the Patapsco River near Baltimore and will collect water-quality data as well as information on waves and currents via a system of sensors. That information is transmitted in real time via the Verizon Wireless, high-speed data network to websites being used for science and education. Read more >>
 May 24, 2007
Fox 45 TV News
Tour the trail with John Page Williams and Fox 5's Patrick McGrath
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