Why are we championing a national recreation area?

July 13, 2020

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and is one of the most biologically rich and productive water bodies in the world. It has been formally recognized by the National Park Service as nationally significant and has been called a national treasure by both Republican and Democratic US presidents. The Chesapeake Bay is also the focus of one of the largest environmental restoration efforts in the world. Yet unlike other major landscapes in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay does not have a National Park System unit dedicated to the Chesapeake Bay itself.

Established as an official unit of the National Park System, a Chesapeake National Recreation Area would elevate the Chesapeake Bay and bring additional national and international recognition. More importantly, it would bring greater expertise and resources of the National Park Service, the world’s leading park agency, to the Chesapeake Bay and establish more points of public access to the Chesapeake Bay.

Some national recreation areas offer partnership models for how the Chesapeake National Recreation Area can work with already existing public lands to enhance protection and facilitate recreation on Chesapeake landscapes.

What is a national recreation area, and how is that different from a national park?

July 13, 2020

The National Park System includes 421 individual park units with at least 19 different naming designations such as national park, national historical park, national seashore, and national recreation area, to list a few.  The various names have evolved over time and generally are meant to be self-explanatory such as national battlefield or national lakeshore.  Regardless of nomenclature, these units are all commonly referred to as “parks”.

The 62 units formally designated as “National Parks” contain a variety of “outstanding natural features and ecological resources” and also typically encompass “large land or water areas to help provide adequate protection of the resources.”

The title “National Recreation Area” was originally given to reservoir parks managed by the Bureau of Reclamation.  However, the origins of recreation focused parks go back much further to a national program during the 1930s managed by the NPS to establish “recreational demonstration areas” which developed new or expanded recreation opportunities in proximity to major population centers and to support under-represented communities with a deficit of outdoor recreation. For example, within the Chesapeake Watershed during the 1930s Catoctin Mountain Park and Prince William Forest Park were established and are still managed by the NPS today. More modern and well-known examples of national recreation areas in urban centers include Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Gateways National Recreation Area in New York and New Jersey, and Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. These NPS partnership-oriented examples provide urban access to significant historic resources and important natural areas to offer outdoor recreation opportunities for large numbers of people. National recreation areas often explicitly permit boating, fishing, and hunting. There are currently 18 national recreation areas in the National Park System several of which are among the most visited park units across the nation.

What is the Chesapeake Bay National Recreation Area?

July 13, 2020

Imagine a 21st-century park—a collection of parks and other public lands in the Chesapeake Bay that bring national and international attention to the Bay’s significant natural, cultural, historical, and recreational resources. Formally connected through partnerships between the National Park Service, and communities and states, these parks would become the Chesapeake National Recreation Area (CNRA) and tell a common narrative about the nation’s largest estuary and one of the world’s largest environmental restoration efforts. This isn’t a new idea for the Chesapeake (see this editorial dating back to 1986), but it is an idea whose time has come.

Hub sites would enable partnerships between the National Park Service and communities and provide access to the Chesapeake Bay and to recreation and educational opportunities. Partner parks, such as state parks and national wildlife refuges, would voluntarily opt-in to the CNRA and benefit from additional resources and branding provided by the National Park Service.

The CNRA would highlight the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, and could also offer connections to other trails such as the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route.

The formal connection of these hub sites and partner parks, the expertise of the National Park Service, the additional federal resources for conservation and public access, and the influence of National Park Service designation and branding would put the Chesapeake Bay on par with other nationally significant landscapes. Additionally, it would boost national and international support for the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

It’s time for the Chesapeake National Recreation Area. Join our push to create the CNRA! Sign on as a partner in our effort or donate to fund our work to advance the goal!

For more information, contact Chesapeake Conservancy’s manager of external affairs Reed Perry at rperry@chesapeakeconservancy.org.