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Awarded at Accokeek Foundation Leadership Salute Dinner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Sunday, October 24, 2004
WASHINGTON DC - Congressman Steny Hoyer was honored by the Accokeek Foundation last evening at its Leadership Salute Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC. The nonprofit Accokeek Foundation, based in southern Prince George's County recognized the Congressman's record of achievement in environmental conservation and education issues with its National Conservation Leadership Award.
The Accokeek Foundation's Leadership Salute was designed to recognize excellence and achievement in conservation and education, founding principles of the Accokeek Foundation. Congressman Hoyer has spearheaded Federal support for conservation of the Chesapeake Bay, Patuxent, Potomac, and Anacostia Rivers, as well as historic preservation and cultural heritage tourism programs throughout Southern Maryland.
Following are Congressman Hoyer's remarks as prepared for delivery.
"More than two hundred years ago, George Washington described Mount Vernon by saying, 'no estate in the United States is more pleasantly situated than this.' 49 years ago this month a group of Marylanders got together and sent Robert Ware Straus out to Cleveland to meet with Frances Payne Bolton, the new owner of the bliss farm at Bryan Point on the Potomac.
"Mrs. Bolton, a Republican Member of Congress from Ohio, had just purchased the 500-acre farm in Prince George's County so that future use would not spoil the view from Mount Vernon, which was right across the river in Virginia.
"Bob Straus described a much bigger scheme to Mrs. Bolton - an effort to preserve the 'open and wooded character' of all the land between Fort Washington and Marshall Hall, while maintaining most of it in private ownership as residential and agricultural land. Thus was born the Accokeek Foundation, an educational non-profit organization, established not only to preserve the view shed across the Potomac River from George Washington's Mount Vernon; but also to practice and teach land stewardship and sustainable use of natural resources, and interpret the natural and cultural resources of the tidewater Potomac.
"Through the early work of the Accokeek Foundation and the visionary conservationists in Southern Maryland, Piscataway Park, part of the National Park Service, was established in 1961 as a pilot project in the use of easements to protect parklands from obtrusive urban expansion. Half a century later, after seven acts of Congress, as well as legislation at the state and county levels, Piscataway National Park covers approximately 5,000 acres and protects seven miles of Potomac River shoreline. It also includes more than 200 private residences and several private farms, with horses and cattle. The property owners have given up their development rights but remain on the land, as productive, taxpaying citizens of Prince Georges and Charles Counties.
"Today, the breathtaking view of the Maryland fields and hillsides across the Potomac River look much as they did in Washington's time. The view from Mount Vernon will continue to be protected due to the existence of Piscataway Park and the work of organizations like the Accokeek Foundation.
"I am proud to have been involved in some of the land acquisition efforts for Piscataway Park over the years, and to have been a supporter of the work done by the Accokeek Foundation under the leadership of Wilt Corkern, Jim Potts, Charlie Estes and so many others. It is therefore a distinct honor to be recognized this evening with the national leadership award.
"In Maryland we have been doubly blessed not only to have beautiful open spaces, splendid waterways and precious historical sites, but also a long tradition of leaders committed to preserving these treasures for generations to come. So while I am humbled to receive this award, I stand before you on the shoulders of so many who have come before, and who continue to lead the way. Mac Mathias brought national attention to the plight of the Chesapeake Bay three decades ago; Bernie Fowler has worked tirelessly to save his beloved Patuxent River;
And Paul Sarbanes to this day remains an inspiration to many of us for his commitment to preserving our historical treasures.
"Because of the example set by these men and others, I have long supported initiatives like the Oyster Recovery Project to preserve the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, including the Anacostia, Patuxent and Potomac rivers.
"I have partnered with my colleagues, notably Senator Sarbanes, to preserve tens of thousands of acres of open space at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Douglass Point, and of course Piscataway Park.
"And I have secured federal dollars so that our children and grandchildren can experience our state and national history at sites like St. Mary's City, Thomas Stone House, the Sotterley Plantation and Fort McHenry. The reason we work so hard to save these treasures is that so much is at stake. In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed alone, more than 90,000 acres -- nearly 150 square miles -- of open land are consumed annually by growth. Put another way, each hour, we lose 14 acres of open space.
"Not only is this open space lost forever, but these homes, office buildings, shopping centers and parking lots severely inhibit the absorption of rainwater into the ground, where many of its nutrients, chemicals and other pollutants are extracted before the water reaches the Chesapeake Bay.
"Technology known as low impact development was pioneered in Prince George's County in the mid-1980s, in large part because our dense population and high degree of development in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed required creative, low-cost solutions to stormwater runoff that would take a minimum of space. I note the development and implementation of this technology to highlight that our environment benefits not only from the work of elected officials, but also from the tireless dedication of committed public servants like Bob Stanton, Terry Carlstrom, John Berry, and so many others whose work has been so vital to the community.
"Finally, Maryland and the Capital Region has made such progress in environmental protection and historical preservation because our citizens take an active role in this cause. This is clearly demonstrated by the generosity of each and every one of you here tonight, which will directly impact the Accokeek Foundation's ability to expand educational programs for the school children of the Washington area, instilling in them the same love for the environment and respect for our resources that we all share.
"And in the final analysis, the real reason we put so much of ourselves into the cause of protecting our environment and preserving our history is that we know it is for the benefit of our children, and our children's children.
"As President Theodore Roosevelt said in a message to Congress in December, 1907, 'to waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them.'"
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