Draft Interpretive Plan Join the adventure! - Captain John Smith ...

*Weather and the seasons affect the Bay and the people who live there.
* Climate change and changes in the weather will affect the Bay as the wind and tides are
altered.
*People’s perceptions of swamps have changed – many people see swamps as essential
contributors to the fertility of the Bay.
*Harvesting the Bay: For four hundred years fishermen and watermen have harvested the
food resources of the Bay: shad, sturgeon, crabs, oysters and other species. Fish camps
and buy boats are part of this story.
*What has made this area attractive and appealing has been its downfall.
*The Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline has changed over time. Examples are at Calvert Cliffs,
St. Clement’s Island and Point Lookout.
*The Chesapeake Bay is an important stopover for migratory birds on the Atlantic
Flyway.
*Convey the loss of resources. There is a “disconnect” for people driving across the Bay
Bridge—people don’t understand the loss of resources when they view a “beautifullooking
Bay.”
*Celebrate the recovery of wildlife, such as the bald eagles and some golden eagles at the
convergence of the Nanticoke and Choptank rivers.
*Emphasize the living rivers such as the Nanticoke and Choptank rivers with shad, large
mouth bass and migratory birds.
*In Delaware the sand ridges that are old coastal dunes are important to understanding
the geology of the area and are home to rare species.
*The Chesapeake Bay has been a historic locus of recreation with amusement parks,
beaches and summer cottages.
*The environmental history of the Chesapeake Bay includes silting from the erosion
caused by the use of the plow in farming, the discharge of sewage and the dumping of
garbage. In 1970, the “river was a mess” and you needed to “wash your hands if you
touched it.” There has been restoration and conservation.
*There are success stories such as the removal of the Embry Dam in 2004 and the
preservation of a 30-mile corridor.
*Silt has filled in creeks and rivers. In colonial times, ships could anchor up the creeks.
*Some sewer plants are doing a good job. The operators are unsung heroes.
*Captain Smith would have seen a shoreline of massive, old growth trees. Very little old
growth forest survives today. Most of the land was cleared before the Civil War.
*Contrast what Captain Smith found here and the landscape of 17 th century England
where forests had been mostly eliminated.
*The pace of change around the Bay has accelerated in the last 75-100 years. Eighty
percent of the structures have been built since 1950.
D. Other messages and themes
Participants identified other messages and themes as important to the history, culture and
natural history of the Chesapeake Bay, and contributed their perceptions about the
development of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
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