{"id":43822,"date":"2025-01-14T12:44:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T17:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=43822"},"modified":"2025-06-04T10:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T14:53:08","slug":"dnr-seeks-community-organizers-and-environmental-restoration-leaders-for-admiral-of-the-chesapeake-bay-nominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/01\/14\/dnr-seeks-community-organizers-and-environmental-restoration-leaders-for-admiral-of-the-chesapeake-bay-nominations\/","title":{"rendered":"DNR Seeks Community Organizers and Environmental Restoration Leaders for Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay Nominations"},"content":{"rendered":"

New public nomination process created for one of Maryland\u2019s most prestigious environmental achievement awards<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Vincent Leggett, longtime leader of the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation who died in November, was named an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay in 2003 by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening. A new public nomination process for the prestigious award is being created in his honor. Maryland DNR photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is creating a new public nomination process for the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay award to try to solicit a broad range of nominations for individuals who have organized communities, led restoration efforts, and helped improve the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instituted by Governor J. Millard Tawes in 1959, <\/span>the <\/span>Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay<\/span><\/a> is a lifetime achievement award bestowed by the governor upon <\/span>individuals who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to the conservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.<\/span><\/p>\n

The department is updating the process to try to solicit more nominations as a way to honor former historian and community organizer, Vincent Leggett, who died in November. Leggett was honored as an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay in 2003 by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening. Leggett worked throughout his career to highlight the often undertold stories about African-American maritime life and Black watermen on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2022, Leggett partnered with the Governor\u2019s Office and the Department of Natural Resources to secure about $5 million in state funding to<\/span> purchase Carr\u2019s Beach in Annapolis<\/span><\/a>\u2013a Bay-front property that once hosted concerts by Chuck Berry, the Temptations, and Little Richard\u2013to turn it into a public park.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leggett served as the longtime leader of the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation. In his two books and frequent public appearances, Leggett sought to reveal the history of hardworking African American men and women who made their livings on or around the Chesapeake Bay by crabbing, oystering, fishing, guiding, and through other maritime pursuits. Without Leggett\u2019s pioneering efforts and prolific storytelling, many of these important stories would have been lost to history or forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>new public nomination form<\/span><\/a> for Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay will help ensure the Department and Governor is more aware of individuals whose work may not be well publicized, but have significantly benefited the Bay and Maryland\u2019s environment. The nomination period will close March 31. The nominations will be reviewed by a new committee of staff volunteers at the Department of Natural Resources who will make a recommendation to the Secretary. Award winners will be announced publicly when chosen, as has occurred previously. The Governor and Department plan to announce this year\u2019s award winners during the summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Ann Swanson, former executive director of Chesapeake Bay Commission, was named an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay by Gov. Martin O’Malley in 2015. Maryland Governor’s Office photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Previously, nominations for the award were made directly to the Governor and Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and then chosen based on internal discussions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay is among the most important awards we bestow in Maryland and we want to make sure we\u2019re receiving nominations from every part of the state that encompass the diversity of people and activities that improve the Chesapeake Bay,\u201d said Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. \u201cWe\u2019re reforming the nomination process to make it more accessible to all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous Admirals of the Chesapeake Bay\u2013there are now more than 100\u2013include <\/span>Captain Eldridge Meredith<\/span><\/a>, a waterman and charter boat captain who worked in and around the Bay for 80 years; <\/span>Tom Horton<\/span><\/a>, a news reporter and photographer who has written about the Bay for more than 40 years; and <\/span>John Page Williams<\/span><\/a>, a master naturalist and environmental educator who worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for 46 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

This month, the Department also <\/span>published a new website<\/span><\/a> featuring the names of previous Admirals of the Chesapeake Bay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: This article has been updated to correct the time frame for announcing a winner.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New public nomination process created for one of Maryland\u2019s most prestigious environmental achievement awards The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is creating a new public nomination process for the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay award to try to solicit a broad range of nominations for individuals who have organized communities, led restoration efforts, and helped  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,3171,11,1965,23,12,33,13],"tags":[3061,5352,4952],"class_list":["post-43822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-boating","category-fisheries","category-maryland-forest-service","category-land","category-parks","category-the-bay","category-wildlife","tag-admiral-of-the-chesapeake-bay","tag-josh-kurtz","tag-secretary"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43822"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44753,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43822\/revisions\/44753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}