[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21053-21054]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




IN HONOR OF POINT LOOKOUT STATE PARK'S RECEIPT OF A 2003 CHESAPEAKE BAY 
                         GATEWAYS NETWORK GRANT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 3, 2003

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Point Lookout State 
Park and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Point Lookout 
State Park received a 2003 Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network Grant for a 
project designed to enhance key sites and resources at the park. The 
Maryland Department of Natural Resources will match the grant.
  The Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, which includes more than 120 
museums, State parks, wildlife refuges 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 Gateways 
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. Point Lookout State Park 
is receiving a grant of $39,320 and $39,415 in partner contributions.

[[Page 21054]]

  The project proposed by Point Lookout State Park and the Maryland 
Department of Natural Resources will develop a series of up to 14 
outdoor interpretive exhibits, or waysides, highlighting key sites and 
resources at the park. A number of exhibits will focus on Civil War era 
stories showing how the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River played 
important roles in the war. Additional exhibits will highlight the 
Point Lookout lighthouse and the lives of lighthouse keepers. With 
nearly a half million visitors annually, Point Lookout provides a real 
Bay experience for many people. The new exhibits will greatly expand 
interpretive information for visitors and share more of the Bay story.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with the assistance and vision of organizations 
such as Point Lookout State Park and the Maryland Department of Natural 
Resources 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 Point Lookout State Park and the Maryland Department of 
Natural Resources on receiving this grant and wishing them the best of 
luck in completing their project.

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