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The Friends of Chesapeake Gateways is a 501c3 nonprofit organization created to enhance the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network (CBGN).

CBGN is a partnership system of national, state and local parks, refuges, museums, historic communities and water trails throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Managed by many different entities, and representing diverse facets of the Chesapeake Bay experience, each of these 169 Gateways Watertrails  tells a unique part of the Bay story. Together, as the Network, they provide a way for visitors and residents to experience and understand the Chesapeake as a whole – a key step in conserving the Bay.

The Friends aims to provide resources to the sites that comprise the Network as well as support the growth, sustainability and vitality of the Network as a whole.

Friends of Chesapeake Gateways is led by a board of directors that includes representation from the business, nonprofit and public sectors. Members include:

Chair Lloyd L. Beatty, Jr (Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Shore Bancshares)

Vice Chair Ellie Altman (Executive Director, Adkins Arboretum)

Secretary/Treasurer Claudia Schechter (FMR Chief Financial Officer, National Park Foundation)

Robert Carter (Director, Community Services Division, Virginia Department of Historic Resources)

Page Hayhurst (Executive Director, Virginia Living Museum)

Charles A. Stek (President, Environmental Stewardship Strategies, Fmr Projects Director to Senator Paul Sarbanes and Senator Ben Cardin)

Annual Report

See what Friends of Chesapeake Gateways was up to in 2009!

Press Releases

Star-Spangled Banner Geotrail Launches February 27, 2010

Friends Launches Weekend Planner – September 10, 2009

Gateways Newsletter – “News and Notes”

March 2010

January 2010

December 2009

November 2009

Quick Facts:

First Gateway Designated in June 2000

Spring 2010 – 169 designated Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Water trails

Over 10 million in combined visitation

Over 1,500 miles of developing or complete water trails

$1.55 generated for every $1.00 in federal investment



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