Outdoor Resources Review Group Report - American Recreation ...

Protecting a Treasured Landscape—
Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the
United States, known throughout the world
for its impressive biological productivity,
cultural diversity, recreational resources, and
scenic beauty. Captain John Smith, whose
momentous voyages of exploration were
recently memorialized with the establishment
of the 2,300-mile-long Captain John Smith
Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail,
described the Chesapeake as one of “…the
most pleasant places known, for large and
pleasant navigable rivers, heaven and earth
never agreed better to frame a place for man’s
habitation.” The bay’s lands and waters and
natural bounty nurtured the region’s earliest
inhabitants and shaped much of America’s
early history, culture, and economy.
Though the past 400 years have altered the
Chesapeake, many great places remain—
pristine marshes, riparian forests, islands,
shorelines, river corridors, open spaces,
and hidden treasures—that look much the
same as those Captain John Smith saw in
his explorations of Chesapeake Bay and its
Queen of America’s bays, the Chesapeake is as beautiful
as ever—on the surface. It must be restored to health
and adequately protected as a treasured landscape.
Stephen St. John / National Geographic Stock
42 GREAT OUTDOORS AMERICA
tributaries in the years 1607 to 1609. These
treasured landscapes retain to a remarkable
degree their historic integrity from the time
of the early Native American settlements
and the first European contact. For the bay’s
citizens, recreational users, and tourists, they
evoke images of a much earlier time in the
bay’s history and its unique heritage.
They also hold the promise of new
opportunities for recreation, public enjoyment,
conservation, and geo-tourism. Yet such
scenic, wild, and historic landscapes are not
adequately represented in the National Park
System, or sufficiently protected by other
agencies. Partnerships among government
agencies, land trusts, and willing private
landowners can play a key role in helping
conserve these treasured places and afford
Americans access to the outstanding
recreational opportunities they provide. In
recognition of the importance of Chesapeake
Bay, President Obama in 2009 issued an
executive order characterizing the Chesapeake
landscape as a national treasure.