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Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies

The Chesapeake Bay Center research program includes all aspects of watershed estuarine investigation with emphasis on land-water relationships and the effects of human use and development.  The Center was established in 1965 on the Rhode River, a subestuary of the Chesapeake Bay, seven miles south of Annapolis.  The Bay is recognized as one of the most valuable water resource areas in the nation.  The site's various features are suited ideally to the Center's purposes, and form a mosaic of land usage including forests, fourteen miles of shoreline, marshes, fields, and agricultural areas.  Poplar and Jefferson Islands, off the eastern shore of the Bay, complete the Smithsonian's holdings operated by the Center.

[[table - 5 columns]]
[[underlined]]
 | | [[span - columns 3-5]]ACQUISITION[[/span]]
LOCATION | SIZE | DATE | TYPE | COST
[[/underlined]]
Edgewater, | 368 acres | 1963 | Donation | None
Maryland | 1,363 acres | to date | Purchase | $1,632,000 [[underlined]]1/[[/underlined]] nonappropriated trust funds
 | Laboratory 11,000 sq.ft. | 1969 | Construction | See below
 | Office 5,000 sq.ft. | to date | |
 | Support & Storage [[underlined]]5,000 sq.ft[[/underlined]] | | |
 | 21,000 sq.ft. | | |

Poplar Island | 70 acres | 1966 & | Donation | None
 | "Lodge" | 1971-72 | Donation | None
[[/table]]

[[underlined]]Major Repairs, Renovations, or Improvements[[/underlined]]
At Edgewater, a dairy building was renovated between 1969-71 with private funds to provide office and laboratory space, and in 1974, private support was used to construct an education building to provide dormitory, workshop, conference and seminar space.

At Poplar Island, approximately $196,000 has been used for erosion control (bulkheading) and pier repair.  Additional funds will be needed for those purposes; however, it seems unlikely that large-scale erosion control will be economically feasible.

Currently, the Bay Center has developed a phased facilities renovation and improvement plan to provide (in modular fashion) added space for research, education, administration, and services as required.  Phase I of this program was constructed in FY 1978 and FY 1979 with approximately $511,000 of nonappropriated trust funds, and provides 5,000 square feet for chemical laboratory needs.  Phase II, a maintenance/shop building, will be constructed using about $265,000 of appropriated funds provided in FY 1979 and 1980.  Remaining phases provide about 13,000 sq.ft. of space and include an administration/research facility (Phase III, estimated $1,275,000) and a dormitory (Phase IV, estimated $336,000).  In FY 1981, $250,000 will be requested to upgrade the water supply and distribution systems.

[[line]]
[[underlined]]1/[[/underlined]] Purchase costs include restrictive land use covenants protecting an additional 732 acres not owned by the Institution.

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