Maryland Focused on Future of Our Planet
On June 25, I was privileged to join Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, senior federal officials, citizens and stakeholders from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed for an important discussion about land conservation, recreation and connecting people to nature in the 21st century.
Maryland leads the pack in blazing new trails for smart and efficient conservation of the land and water resources that support our economy, weave together our cultural and historic heritage and provide access and opportunity for families to enjoy nature. We've maintained full funding of Program Open Space for four years in a row and developed GreenPrint, a cutting edge GIS mapping tool that allows us to focus our limited resources on our most ecologically significant lands.
We launched one of the nation's first comprehensive efforts to engage young people in experiencing the outdoors and learning about their environment, the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature. Through this effort, the State Board of Education is now considering a proposal to require environmental literacy for Maryland high school graduates. More than 500 at-risk youth are working at state parks learning green jobs skills. And 550 Maryland families are participating in our exciting Park Quest program.
With models like these that can be replicated across the country, Maryland is especially well poised to partner with federal agencies to protect the great rivers and treasured landscapes that are America's great outdoors. These treasured landscapes are the best examples of ecological connectivity, working resource lands, historic and cultural resources that also create access to our waterways, trails and open spaces for all children and families, including urban Marylanders.
To move forward, we must secure full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund -- the principal means by which land conservation is achieved at the federal level -- with a fair share directed to state and local governments. In addition to land conservation, these funds should be directed to the best green and passive recreation projects including trail development, natural play areas, nature centers, water access, resource restoration and youth conservation corps.
A federally sponsored competition among states, in partnership with local governments and private organizations, would allow for an all-important bottom-up process for designating conservation lands. To that end, Maryland is pleased to offer its GreenPrint mapping model for development of a Federal- State GIS land conservation map of the Chesapeake Bay region.
Finally, we need to work collaboratively -- state, federal and local governments together with our nongovernment partners -- to conserve, manage and restore these natural treasures. One outstanding example is the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park. This partnership is a model that taxpayers should expect, one that gets the job done efficiently with a variety of resources.
Of course, all of these investments bear heavily on our sustainable economies. Nature-based activities, such as hunting, birding, ecotourism and boating, are vital economic drivers for Maryland. Every dollar spent on land preservation has a multiplier effect, supporting jobs and increasing property values.
Last week, through the America's Great Outdoors Chesapeake Bay Listening Session, Marylanders were part of an important discussion on the future of our planet, public access to land and water, and broader opportunities for connecting families and young people with nature. On behalf of all of us, I want to thank President Obama, Secretary Salazar and our other federal leaders for listening.
Martin O'Malley is governor of Maryland.
From www.delmarvanow.com
Published: 06/26/2010
