410 /Department of Natural Resources Maryland Manual 1994-1995

WATERFOWL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Contact: Joshua L. Sandt
.......... (410) 974-3195

Vacancy, Chairperson

Appointed by Governor: Carol Jane
Baker; Lee A. Brohawn; Alonzo G.
Decker, Jr.; John N. Fisher; E. Hugh
Galbreath; B. Larry Jenkins;
Matthew C. Perry; Ronald Webster;
Michael H. Weir; J. D. Williams;
John Zouck; one vacancy.

WILDLIFE ADVISORY COMMISSION
Contact: Joshua L. Sandt
............ (410) 974-3195

C. A. Porter Hopkins, Chairperson,
1993

Appointed by Governor: Edwin F.
Hale, 1992; Robert Scrimgeour,
1992; Michael J. Sprague, 1992;
Raymond F. Schoenke, Jr., 1993; J.
Allen Swan, 1995; Fife Symington,

WILD TURKEY ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
(appointed by Secretary of Natural
. Resources)
Contact: Edward J. Golden
............ (410) 777-2136
Dr. James Gilford, Chairperson

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS &
WORK CENTERS

CENTRAL REGION
Marilyn Mause, Regional Manager
............ (410) 836-4557

ORIGIN & FUNCTIONS

Created in 1969, the Department of Natural Resources works to ensure the preservation, development,
wise use, and enjoyment of Maryland's natural resources for the greatest benefit to the State and its citizens.
The Department coordinates all natural resources activities within the State and reviews and evaluates all
natural resources policies, plans, programs, and practices of county, State, regional and federal agencies
and institutions.

The natural resources of Maryland were described early. In 1634, Father Andrew White wrote of
Chesapeake Bay as "the most delightful water I ever saw, between two sweet landes." Seventeenth-century
settlers were impressed by woodlands, wildlife, and waters teeming with fish. When the abundance later
ebbed, the General Assembly enacted a multitude of laws to protect natural resources, particularly those
of Chesapeake Bay. Indeed, for the past two centuries, much of Maryland's concern with natural resources
has focused on the Bay.

America's first formal interstate agreement concerned the Bay and other waters, boundaries, fisheries,
and navigational rights. The Compact of 1785 between Maryland and Virginia set a precedent for
negotiating interstate differences over Bay matters. The Compact was ratified by the Maryland Legislature
in 1785 (Chapter 1, Acts of 1785).

Thereafter, in the nineteenth century, the General Assembly acted to safeguard Bay oysters, clams,
and fish, and during the twentieth century, crabs. Inspectors of salted fish were appointed to improve
the quality of exports (Chapter 114, Acts of 1817). Measurers of oysters were licensed to gauge the
size of oysters in the shell and the tubs from which they were sold (Chapter 406, Acts of 1868). When
New England watermen raided Chesapeake oyster beds in the early 1800s, the legislature passed "An
Act to prevent the destruction of Oysters in this State" and sounded the alarm that "well grounded
apprehensions are entertained of the utter extinction of oysters in the state" (Chapter 24, Acts of
1820).

Fisheries also required protection. In 1820, the Legislature sought to stop vessels from anchoring in
the fisheries of the Susquehanna River and at the head of Chesapeake Bay (Chapter 199, Acts of 1820).
Following an address by conservation pioneer, Robert B. Roosevelt (uncle of Teddy Roosevelt), the
General Assembly authorized commissioners to inspect and report on the "bay, marine and river fisheries
of the State" (Chapter 297, Acts of 1870; Resolution 2, Acts of 1870).