This fall, the Maryland Park Service is working with the State Highway Administration to design another greening project at Gunpowder, through which $200,000 in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds will be used to reforest and landscape 35 acres along the Chesapeake.  The project will be completed by the Maryland Conservation Corps and Civic Justice Corps members next summer.

I want to commend the Maryland Department of Natural Resources staff and their many partners who have committed to making the Civic Justice Corps a continuing success.  Working together as One Maryland, we are achieving our collective vision in which children from all walks of life are inspired by nature to develop to their fullest potential, enabling them to become informed and responsible stewards of our environment.

These young people are proof that it is never too late to connect with nature, to develop new skills, to learn to work as a team and to understand that each of us can make a valuable contribution.  It is my hope that they will find new strength and resolve gained from this summer's experience, the successes they've enjoyed, the lessons they've learned, the friends they've made... and the contributions they've made to Maryland's State Parks and the Chesapeake Bay.