Nominees Sought for DNR Environment Award

Vincent Leggett, longtime leader of the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation who died in November, was named an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay in 2003 by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening. A new public nomination process for the award is being created in his honor. (Photo courtesy of Maryland Department of Natural Resources)

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is creating a new public nomination process for the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay award to try to solicit nominations for individuals who have organized communities, led restoration efforts, and helped improve the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

Instituted by Gov. J. Millard Tawes in 1959, the Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay is a lifetime achievement award bestowed by the governor upon individuals who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to the conservation and restoration of the bay.

The department is updating the process to try to solicit more nominations as a way to honor former historian and community organizer, Vincent Leggett, who died in November.

Mr. Leggett was honored as an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay in 2003 by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening. Mr. Leggett worked throughout his career to highlight the often undertold stories about African American maritime life and Black watermen on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2022, Mr. Leggett partnered with the Governor’s Office and the Department of Natural Resources to secure about $5 million in state funding to purchase Carr’s Beach in Annapolis – a bay-front property that once hosted concerts by Chuck Berry, the Temptations, and Little Richard – to turn it into a public park.

The new public nomination form for Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay will help ensure the department and governor is more aware of individuals whose work may not be well publicized but have significantly benefited the bay and Maryland’s environment.

The nomination period will close March 31.