Chesapeake National Recreation Area Act of 2025
The Chesapeake National Recreation Area Act of 2025 would create the Chesapeake National Recreation Area (CNRA) as a unit of the National Park System, spanning Maryland and Virginia, to protect and interpret the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding natural, cultural, historic, and recreational resources. Establishment hinges on the acquisition of a sufficient amount of land to form a manageable park unit, with public notice required after that determination. The bill emphasizes coordination with existing Bay-focused programs (the Chesapeake Bay Program and the Chesapeake Gateways) and directs the preparation of a management plan within three years of funding availability. It also reorganizes future growth and governance by creating a 19-member Advisory Commission (with representation from both states, tribes, fisheries, agriculture, youth, and the Chesapeake Bay Commission) to guide plan development and consider potential additional properties for addition to the CNRA. Key administrative and boundary provisions include potential transfer of Fort Monroe National Monument land into the CNRA once remediated and included in the CNRA boundary, while ensuring existing administrative arrangements remain in place until transfer. The bill sets out methods for acquiring land (donation, willing-seller purchases, exchange, or transfers from other federal agencies), prohibits condemnation, and limits acquisitions of state or local land to donations. It also directs coordination with state and local governments to minimize traffic impacts and to integrate planning with Bay-area needs.
Key Points
- 1Establishment and boundaries: Creates the Chesapeake National Recreation Area in Maryland and Virginia as a National Park System unit to protect and provide access to Chesapeake Bay resources; the unit is established only after a sufficient land base is acquired to make it manageable, with boundary determined by the Map and published public notice.
- 2Fort Monroe boundary revision: When remediation completes on land within the Fort Monroe National Monument boundary, administrative jurisdiction over that land transfers to the Secretary of the Interior for inclusion in the CNRA, and the Fort Monroe boundary is revised to exclude North Beach lands as depicted on the Map; interim administration remains with the Army under a 2016 MOA until transfer.
- 3Land acquisition and growth: The Secretary may acquire land or interests through donation, willing-seller purchases, exchanges, or transfers from another federal agency; may identify and study adjacent sites for potential addition, subject to appropriations and National Park Service criteria; land owned by a state or political subdivision can only be acquired by donation; no condemnation allowed.
- 4Administration and coordination: The CNRA shall be administered under general National Park System laws, with possible location of the CNRA headquarters at the Chesapeake Bay Office for better coordination with the Chesapeake Gateways and Bay Program; up to 10 acres outside the boundary may be acquired for administrative/interpretive/visitor services.
- 5Management planning: A management plan must be prepared within three years after funds are first available for planning, in consultation with the Chesapeake Executive Council and the Advisory Commission, and must address facilities, transportation planning, and minimizing park-related traffic impacts on nearby communities.
- 6Advisory Commission: Establishes a 19-member Chesapeake National Recreation Area Advisory Commission (within 180 days of enactment) to advise on the management plan and potential additions to the CNRA; includes balanced representation from Maryland and Virginia (environmental, recreational, cultural, fishing, agriculture, youth, tribal representatives), plus the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; operates under applicable federal advisory committee rules.
- 7Chesapeake Gateways: Permanently authorizes funding for the Chesapeake Gateways program at levels determined necessary to carry out the program’s purposes, in line with the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act, but subject to appropriations.