John Smith Water Trail

Shallop Race this Weekend

Watch history in action as three boats, each a unique modern interpretation of the vessel Captain John Smith used to explore the Chesapeake Bay 400 years ago, race around Annapolis Harbor on Saturday, May 3 at high noon. Who got it right? The boat built by the Reedville Fishermen's Museum, Deltaville Maritime Museum, or Sultana Projects in Chestertown?

The race is part of the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival and celebrates Bay sailing history and the creation of the new Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.

Admission is free. For more information, visit the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival website http://www.mdmhf.org/view.asp?id=526&page=32732

Photo by Raynell Smith, Deltaville Maritime Museum Director, last August when the Shallops met in Deltaville.

Friends Ask Governors for Support in Trail Development

The Chesapeake Executive Council, an organization tasked with establishing policy for the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay, meets today in Annapolis, and the John Smith Water Trail is on their agenda.

The Council 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.

The Friends of the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail are asking the Council to establish a team with members from each state's appropriate state agencies to work closely with the National Park Service and its partners as it creates the foundation of the trail. The Park Service is already in contact with various state agencies, but the creation of a single multidisciplinary team would expedite the complex job of creating a single, unified trail across several states. For details about the request, read the Friends' news release.

The Friends are also requesting the Council ask the Bush administration and Congress to reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Program, which expires in 2008. The program provides technical and financial support for the John Smith Trail.   

John Smith Trail to Help Watermen

Chesapeake College, the Maryland Watermen's Association, and The Conservation Fund recently submitted a $1.5 million grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Labor that would provide training for watermen to give tours on the John Smith Trail. If awarded, we hope this program will not only highlight the Bay's natural and historical heritage but also shape a new sustainable industry that can help preserve the Bay's unique sense of place.

This program was supported by the entire MD Congressional Delegation and Gov. O'Malley's Workforce Investment Board.

We Need Your Support for 'Smart Buoy' Funding

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Barbara Mikulski- D-MD, (pictured on left) and the support of Senators Warner-R-VA, Cardin-D-MD and Webb-D-VA, the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill includes $500,000 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to continue the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS) and deploy more buoys along the trail that promote awareness of the Bay's condition and its history. The buoys mark significant points along the John Smith Trail and provides real-time meteorological, oceanographic, and water-quality information. (www.buoybay.org, 877-BUOYBAY).

Please write your Senators and thank them for the Senate's support for the $500,000 for the buoys included in the Senate bill. In particular, please thank Senator Mikulski for beating back an amendment that would have stripped these funds from the bill. Also, please write your U.S. Representative and communicate your support to include the $500,000 for the CBIBS program in the CJS appropriations conference report.

Park Service Hires Trail Project Manager

In October, the National Park Service hired Sarah Bransom as the new John Smith Trail project manager. Sarah has had a distinguished career as a planner, including work at Yellowstone as a natural resource planner. Sarah will spearhead the development of the Comprehensive Management Plan for the John Smith Trail. Her expertise and experience will be critical as the Trail moves forward.

Dig Casts New Light on Indian Culture

(from The Washington Post)

Discoveries of an ancient and complex Indian past at the Werowocomoco archaelogical dig continue to shed light on the events of 1607 and beyond. Excavation of the site, believed to be the location of Powhatan's capital, began six years ago. Discoveries at the site "really widens our perspective of how complex this society was and had been for a very long time," said archeologist David Brown.

Archaeologoist Martin Gallivan was online Wednesday, Aug. 22 to take questions about the latest findings. Read the transcript.

Jefferson Patterson Park to Receive $30,000 for New Interpretive Project

Southern Maryland Online reports

The Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum in St. Leonard is slated to receive $30,000 for "Reading the Signs: Changes to the Chesapeake Bay since the exploration by Captain John Smith." The project will combine research and educational programming to document and interpret the changes to the Bay's watershed since Capt. Smith first saw it in the 17th century, and it will provide students with information on their role in the stewardship of the Bay.

The grant is one of six totalling almost $164,000 from the National Park Service for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network.

Dobbins Island Boat Parade Scheduled for Sept. 1

CBF and the Magothy River Association are sponsoring a boat parade and rendezvous to support the purchase of Dobbins Island and its consolidation as a port for the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.

When: Saturday, September 1, 2007 @ 1pm
Where: Parade starts near Henderson Point in the Magothy River and will progress along the channel to Dobbins Island
Why: An opportunity now exists to purchase Dobbins Island and consolidate the Island, beach, sandbar and anchorage as a port for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. Making this Historic Island an open space park is a better use of Critical Areas.
What: From 1 to 4 pm MRA volunteers will hand out petitions and educational materials to passing boaters.
RSVP: Contact Paul Spadaro, President Magothy River Association at president@magothyriver.org

Shallop Expedition Gives Indian Tribes a Chance to be Heard

The shallop's trip along the Chesapeake provides many opportunities for learning more about Capt. John Smith and our early English settlers. When it pulled into Calvert County's Jefferson Patterson Park a couple of weeks ago, it offered another opportunity--to learn more about the native Indian tribes who lived and still live in the Chesapeake Bay region, and to give them a chance to make their concerns heard by government officials and the public.

When the shallop came ashore at the park, it joined a weekend of demonstrations and performances that were part of "Patuxent Encounters: The Patuxent Indians and Captain John Smith." The program is a joint project between Jefferson Paterson Park & Museum, the Friends of JPPM, and Maryland's native community aimed at bringing contemporary and historic issues for Maryland's native tribes into the public eye.

While the tribes participated in a ceremony to welcome the shallop, they also made it clear that they don't appreciate being "exploited" for state-endorsed events while the state of Maryland doesn't officially recognize them.

"I ask you, Maryland, why do you ask us to speak when you have already determined that your ears will hear, but they will not listen?" said Piscataway tribal chairwoman Natalie Proctor, also known as Standing on the Rock, fighting back tears onstage. "We are visible here right now, but through the legislative body, we do not exist," she said in a later interview.  (The Washington Post)

For more information about the native peoples of the Chesapeake Bay area, visit the Friends of the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail website. 

Going Above and Beyond: Stewardship in Our National Parks

via National Parks Traveler

Parks are famous as travel destinations, but for many of us, they represent more than just a road-trip. This fall, rock-climbers in Yosemite, backcountry hikers in Olympic, and students in Kentucky and Tennessee are gathering together in their favorite parks to give back to the places which have provided so much for them.

The management role the National Park Service plays in our parks cannot be understated, but the responsibility of protecting the parks does not lie with them alone. You and I have the same responsibility to pass the resources of our park system to future generations, just as it was passed to us by preceding generations.