WASHINGTON - The National Park Service has linked about 140 parks, museums and trails through a 64,000-square-mile watershed since 1998 under its Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network.

But that is not enough, according to a park service study released last week.

The study recommends that the park service put up half of the estimated $5 million that would be needed to construct two interpretive centers and seek grants from other organizations to fund the other half. The centers, one to the north and one to the south, would act as bay entry points for visitors.

The study also recommends that the service, whose involvement in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network was scheduled to end in 2008, have a permanent role.

Jonathan Doherty, who directed the study, said the park service had not determined how the centers will be run or even who will run them. And Congress will have to take action before the recommendation can become a reality.

But directors and managers of the sites that now make up the gateways network generally applauded the idea, which they said can help them secure more funds and promote the bay cooperatively.

While the sites are operated independently, officials said that being part of the network helps with grants and marketing materials and gets them on the network's Web site.

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Kennedyville, called a permanent park service presence in the bay network a very positive idea. But he said the agency needs to remember the importance of agriculture to the bay, in addition to the area's recreational, historical, and ecological offerings.

"Without agriculture all that falls apart," said Gilchrest, who thinks Congress will probably take up the proposal within a year or two.

Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen's Association, worried that additional government presence might encroach on seafood harvesting.

"It depends on what it entails," said Simns, who said he was not familiar with the study's recommendation. "It might be a good idea, but we don't appreciate a federal takeover of our waterways."

John Valliant, president of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, said it might do the opposite.

"I would hope that it would do nothing but enhance our ability to perpetuate the culture of the watermen by helping people understand that there's a role for everyone here," he said.

At refuges, parks and museums across the state, managers and directors said the gateway network has helped them finance new trails and exhibits and spread the word about what they offer. The operators said it also gives visitors a better bay experience by pointing them to other sites of interest.

Harriet Stout, curator of the small Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum, said the unity of the network is important.

"One twig does not have very much strength," she said. "But bundle a bunch of twigs together and there's a great deal of strength."

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Copyright © 2004 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism