15.930: Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

15.930

Active

National Park Service (NPS) [DOI]

July 25, 2022

July 25, 2022

The National Park Service – Chesapeake Bay Office connects people to the natural and cultural heritage of the Chesapeake Bay watershed through the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network and supports efforts to implement the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Assistance supports implementation of: • The Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act, which authorizes the NPS to: identify, conserve, restore, and interpret natural, recreational, historical, and cultural resources within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; identify and utilize the collective resources sites for enhancing public education of and access to the Chesapeake Bay; link sites with trails, tour roads, scenic byways, and other connections; develop and establish watertrails comprising water routes and connections to sites and other land resources within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; and create a network of sites and watertrails. • The Chesapeake Bay Program, a collaborative watershed restoration partnership among the states of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and West Virginia, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the federal government. The six Governors and the other partners signed the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement establishing specific goals, outcomes, management strategies and work plans for conservation and restoration. The NPS is responsible for fostering interjurisdictional collaboration to add 300 new public boating, fishing and water access sites to the Bay and tributaries and conserve 2 million acres of hunting, fishing, wildlife and other conservation lands by 2025. NPS also participates in and supports other initiatives advancing the agreement. • The partnership-based Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (NHT). This 3,000 mile trail extends from Norfolk Virginia to Cooperstown New York and along all the Bay’s major tributaries. The Chesapeake NHT was created through the National Trails System Act (Public Law 90-543, as amended) which provides for technical and financial assistance to States or their political subdivisions, landowners, private organizations, or individuals to operate, develop, and maintain any portion of such a trail either within or outside a federally administered area. To advance these, the NPS collaborates with partners to increase access to the Chesapeake and rivers, to conserve important landscapes and resources, to promote tourism and local economies, to engage youth in meaningful work and placed-based education, to improve recreational opportunities, and to interpret the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake region.

B - Project Grants (Cooperative Agreements)

Recipients must either be a non-profit organization qualified as such under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code or a state or local government. NPS Chesapeake technical and financial assistance strategically supports projects and programs that meet DOI’s key responsibilities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act authorizes the NPS to: identify, conserve, restore, and interpret natural, recreational, historical, and cultural resources within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; identify and utilize the collective resources sites for enhancing public education of and access to the Chesapeake Bay; link sites with trails, tour roads, scenic byways, and other connections; develop and establish watertrails comprising water routes and connections to sites and other land resources within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; and create a network of sites and watertrails. Other specific plans and strategies which guide NPS –Chesapeake implementation include: • Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and implementing management strategies and work plans, including the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Public Access Plan • Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT planning documents, including: Comprehensive Management Plan, Interpretive Plan, Conservation Strategy and segment plans for the James, Potomac and Lower Susquehanna rivers.

General Public.

https://sam.gov/fal/415bc60e8e8941a4b00eea26aa5ad407/view