WASHINGTON –
U.S.
Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and
Barbara A. Mikulski, (both D-MD) announced today that the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network has awarded Maryland a total of $711,000 in grants for 15 separate projects. The National Park Service provides matching grants up to $100,000 for projects that advance Chesapeake Bay Gateways Watertrails Network goals of accessibility and stewardship.
Created in 1998, the Chesapeake Gateways and Watertrails program helps to fund a network that includes parks, refuges, museums, historic sites and watertrails spanning the Bay watershed.
In 10 years, the Network has grown to include more than 150 sites in five states and the District of Columbia, helping visitors appreciate the far-reaching role the Chesapeake Bay has had in our region’s culture and history.
“The Chesapeake Bay Water Trails Network is instrumental to making the entire Chesapeake Bay experience accessible and enjoyable for Marylanders and all Americans,”
said Senator Cardin,
a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “The 2008 Network grants will continue to foster partnerships with Maryland organizations that are dedicated to helping people understand and appreciate the Bay’s cultural, historic and natural wonders.”
“The Chesapeake Bay is part of who we are as Marylanders –
it is part of our heritage and part of our culture. I am proud to support the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network,”
said Senator Mikulski, a member of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee which funds this program.
“The Gateways Program will help record our history, protect the Bay, reflect our values, and renew our sense of pride and wonder.
I will continue to fight to preserve our national treasure and its history for future generations.”
The following is a list of grantees for 2008 and the amount of funding they will receive:
·
Anne
Arundel County: Annapolis Maritime Museum —
$75,000 for “Oyster on the Half Shell” Exhibit
·
Baltimore City/Baltimore County: Gwynns Falls Trail Council at Parks & People Foundation —
$21,894 for Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls Trail
·
Cecil
County (2): Friends of Mt. Harmon Plantation —
$58,600 for Education and Discovery Center project; Maryland Park Service —
$27,873 for Elk Neck State Park improvements;
·
Dorchester
County (2): Dorchester County —
$30,000 for the Sailwinds Visitors Center’s Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Interpretive Plan; Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge —
$17,000 for Little Blackwater River Boardwalk and Observation Deck
·
Frederick
County: Tourism Council of Frederick —
$75,000 for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Interpretation at the Frederick Visitors Center
·
Harford
County: Havre de Grace Maritime Museum —
$87,450 to promote the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
·
Kent
County (2):
Sultana Project —
$38,998 for the Schooner Sultana/Shallop; Maryland Park Service —
$26,000 for the Sassafras Natural Resources Management Area
·
Queen Anne’s County: Department of Parks & Recreation —
$45,000 for Ferry Point Trail.
·
St.
Mary’s County
: Piney Point Lighthouse —
$43,500 for Lighthouse and Historic Park enhancement
·
Talbot
County: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum –
$50,178 for new Chesapeake Futures exhibit
·
Wicomico County: Ward Foundation, Inc. —
$14,500 for Ward Museum Nature Trail & Living Classroom augmentation.
·
Multiple State Jurisdictions: Maryland Office of Tourism Development —
$100,000 for development of the Star-Spangled Banner Watertrail Interpretation, Access & Stewardship plan.