[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 3, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF THE BATTLE CREEK NATURE EDUCATION SOCIETY'S RECEIPT OF A 
               2003 CHESAPEAKE BAY GATEWAYS NETWORK GRANT

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 3, 2003

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Battle Creek 
Nature Education Society. The Battle Creek Nature Education Society 
received a 2003 Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network Grant for a project 
designed to enhance the Flag Ponds Nature Park and King's Landing Park 
in Calvert County, Maryland.
  The Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, which includes more than 120 
museums, state parks, wildlife refugees and other sites in five states 
and the District of Columbia, was created to enhance the experience of 
visitors to the Chesapeake Bay and its many roads, rivers and trails. 
Authorized by the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998, the Gateway 
Network is coordinated by the National Park Service in partnership with 
the Chesapeake Bay Program.
  During the past four years, Gateways Network Grants have funded new 
maps, improved signs, and expanded trails that have made visits to 
parks, wildlife refuges and water trails even more exciting and 
enjoyable than they had previously been. These grants help enhance the 
public's ability to learn and enjoy the Chesapeake's stories and 
significance, explore its natural and cultural resources, and become 
involved in helping conserve and restore the Bay and its watershed. 
Through these projects and other Gateways Network efforts more and more 
people recognize the Chesapeake as a true national treasure.
  In 2003, the National Park Service is awarding $1,387,309 in grant 
funding, matched by over $2 million in partner contributions. Thirty-
two grants are being made to Gateways throughout the Bay watershed in 
Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Battle Creek Nature 
Education Society is receiving a grant of $32,050 and $62,762 in 
partner contributions.
  The project proposed by the Battle Creek Nature Education Society 
will create an overall plan for guiding interpretation at Flag Ponds 
Nature Park and King's Landing Park, as well as an extensive series of 
outdoor exhibits at each park. Up to twenty way-side panels will be 
developed to help visitors enjoy and learn about these two sites and 
their relationship to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A short sampling of 
anticipated stories to be told includes: the geology behind the ever-
changing sand bars that shape habitats at Flag Ponds; early 20th 
century uses of the area; and the importance of the swamps and 
freshwater pond habitats that have been naturally formed over hundreds 
of years.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with the assistance and vision of organizations 
such as the Battle Creek Nature Education Society that the Chesapeake 
Bay and the entire region has become the treasure that we know it to be 
today. Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating the Battle Creek 
Nature Education Society on receiving this grant and wishing them the 
best of luck in completing their project.

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