CHESAPEAKE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA LETTERS OF SUPPORT

The Chesapeake National Recreation Area will increase diverse public access to the Chesapeake Bay and strengthen the culture of stewardship across the region. Additionally, the CNRA will highlight the stories that often go untold – those of Indigenous peoples; free and enslaved Blacks; the role the Bay played in the earliest days of the Maryland and Virginia Colonies; the key part the Bay has played, and continues to play, in the region’s economy; and the story of watermen and -women who are essential to the economic success and health of the Bay region. Everyone who resides in the watershed has an important role in Bay conservation and culture.

The effort to establish a CNRA is supported by a wide array of over 100 stakeholders from local elected officials, to environmental and historical preservation organizations, to racial justice advocacy groups, to seafood and outdoor recreation businesses, and many more. The proposal has received letters of support from over 70 organizations, local government officials and agencies, and community leaders all of which can be found below: