is a relatively inexpensive way for a whole family to enjoy the pleas-
ures of the outdoors. In traveling through the State, it is not at all
unusual to see families camping, with the children helping the par-
ents prepare a meal. This is good family living, and we should do
our part to assist any family which chooses to spend its vacation in
the out-of-doors.

It was a great pleasure to me, in the preparation of the first bud-
get to the General Assembly, to recommend the appropriation of ad-
ditional funds for the operation of the State's program of parks and
recreation. This additional money will be used for the first stages of
land acquisition for sites extending from Assateague Island on the
Atlantic Ocean to the mountains of Garrett County. I was pleased
that my first budget contained an item to purchase property for the
development of a State Park in the magnificent Gunpowder River Val-
ley. Many improvements, I know, are needed to satisfy the public
demand, and it is my aim to go as far as we can in providing the
funds for the purchase and improvement of park and recreational
areas.

It is a source of satisfaction to me to know that Maryland is co-
operating with the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commis-
sion, recently created by the Congress, in studying the expanding
problems of outdoor recreation which confront every part of the na-
tion. I believe we may expect a great deal from this study, although,
to be sure, it will require many years to obtain the data that is needed
for the preservation and development of our outdoor recreational
resources.

Collaterally, we in the State likewise will be studying and evalua-
ting our own outdoor opportunities. A new agency which we created
at the recent session of the General Assembly, the Department of
Economic Development, will be expected to make a report on this
at the 1960 session of the General Assembly....

I sincerely hope that the meeting will be a pleasant one for all of
you, and that you will come away from it with renewed inspiration
to continue your good work to improve the quantity and quality of
outdoor resources to the spiritual, cultural and physical benefit of all
of us.

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