Congressman Sarbanes, President of Chesapeake Bay Foundation Will Baker and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley tours Patuxent Research Refuge with Refuge Manager Brad Knudsen. Photo courtsey of Steve Noyes/USFWS Volunteer

On Earth Day, April 22^nd the House Education and Labor Committee held a Congressional field hearing entitled: Environmental Education: Educating our Children, Preserving our Future. This hearing highlighted the Federal role in supporting environmental education in our nation's schools, in particular the No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Act. Along with highlighting the importance of environmental education and the NCLI Act, this hearing also showcased learning opportunities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, environmental education as a tool to help children lead healthier lives and become environmental stewards and the work of Maryland School System as a leader in environmental education.

Refuge Manager Brad Knudsen says, "This coincides with current U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiatives of "Connecting People with Nature" and a strong emphasis on outdoor environmental education; so we are very pleased to have been selected as the site for this field hearing."

The day's activities included a Press Conference at 10:30a.m. followed by the committee hearing at 11a.m. Before the field hearing, more than one hundred children from Maryland schools took part in on-site environmental activities including aquatic sampling, water quality testing and planting native plants.

Participants included Representatives John Sarbanes, Dale Kildee, Raul Grijalva, Dutch Ruppersberger and Madeleine Bordallo. Also attending the event were Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley; Chesapeake Bay Foundation President William C. Baker; Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nancy Grasmick; MD DNR Secretary John Griffin and many other Maryland educators and special speakers. C-SPAN covered the entire press conference and hearing.