SUMMER 2012
Envision the James: Community Led Conservation Planning
Neighbors on Virginia’s James River, from the tidewater to the headwaters, attended six meetings held earlier this spring designed to elicit their thoughts on how to shape a common agenda for the river’s future and promote regional collaboration efforts to protect the river’s natural resources, cultural heritage, sense of place, and wildlife habitats. Called Envision the James, the project will develop a long-term conservation vision for the James River that incorporates the desires of the many communities along its shores. This process will also serve as a blueprint for community engagement and conservation that can be used as a model on rivers throughout the Chesapeake Bay and other ecosystems around the nation. The Conservancy is working with the James River Association, our lead local partner, and National Geographic Maps to develop internet based community engagement tools to help guide the vision and share information about the river. The work of the partners is supported by the Virginia Environmental Endowment, MeadWestvaco, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This spring’s work is only the beginning. The goal of these meetings was to begin a conversation with the people of communities on the James to develop a descriptive vision of the river, its place in its neighbors’ lives and its future. “Our intent is to build a vision that reflects the priorities and aspirations of communities in the James River watershed, with a special focus on the river corridor. Envision cont. page 3
Secretary Salazar Designates Four Rivers as Historic Components of Smith Trail More than two years of work by the Chesapeake Conservancy paid off in midMay when Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar designated four water trails as new historic connecting components of the existing Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
facility enhancement, interpretive trail route marking, and promotion along the connecting trails.
The designation recognizes the significance of the Susquehanna, Chester, upper Nanticoke and upper James Rivers—to the history, cultural heritage, and natural resources of the 3,000-mile-long national historic trail in the Chesapeake Bay. The new connecting trails are found in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Secretary Salazar was joined in a ceremony at Sandy Point State Park by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley; National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, Superintendent John Maounis, the head of the Chesapeake Bay NPS office; Tadodaho Sid Hill, spiritual leader of the Haudenosaunee nations (Six Nation/ Iroquois Confederacy); Chesapeake Conservancy Executive Director Joel Dunn, and the Conservancy’s Chairman Charlie Stek and Vice-Chairman Patrick Noonan.
The National Park Service, which administers the national trail,will now be authorized to work closely with state and local agencies and other partners - notably conservation and tribal organizations - to provide technical and financial assistance, resource management,
“These river trails, totaling 841 miles in length, are closely associated with [Captain] John Smith’s exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, including the American Indian towns and cultures of the 17th-century Chesapeake that he Connecting Trails cont. on page 3
With the stroke of his pen, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar designated four rivers historic components of the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. He is flanked by Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, left, and Director of the National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis, right. Courtesy of Department of the Interior
Chesapeake Conservancy 410 SEVERN AVENUE, SUITE 405 | ANNAPOLIS, MD 21403
ONLINE AT www.chesapeakeconservancy.org