The Center has administrative offices and facili-
ties at the Horn Point Environmental Labor-
atories on a 720-acre site on the Choptank River
near Cambridge. This property was originally giv-
en to the City of Cambridge by the late Francis
P. DuPont and was conveyed by Cambridge to
the State of Maryland for use by the University
in 1971. The Center also includes the Natural Re-
sources Institute (Chapter 776, Acts of 1961),
which conducts a comprehensive program of re-
search and education related to the resources of
Maryland. Institute facilities include the Chesa-
peake Biological Laboratory at Solomons Island
on the Patuxent River, the Marine Products Lab-
oratory at Crisfield (formerly the Seafood Pro-
cessing Laboratory), the College Park Station at
College Park (now under the direction of the Ap-
palachian Environmental Laboratory), and the
Appalachian Environmental Laboratory on the
Frostburg State College Campus. Specialized fa-
cilities include research vessels up to sixty-five
feet in length, the Reginald V. Truitt Environ-
mental Laboratory located at the Chesapeake Bi-
ological Laboratory at Solomons, and hatcheries
at Horn Point for shellfish of the Bay Region.

The research programs of the Center presently
involve studies of the Chesapeake Bay and its
best uses; forests, fish, and wildlife of the land
areas of the State; waste management; energy
conservation; noise control and abatement; and
investigations directed toward basic comprehen-
sion of the Maryland environment. Educational
emphasis includes estuarine ecology, resource
analysis, the process of public decision making in
matters that affect environmental quality, and en-
vironmental education in cooperation with other
public agencies and groups.

MARYLAND VETERANS
COMMISSION

Chairperson: Claude L. Callegary, 1984

Meyer Sokolow, 1981; William T. Eady, Sr., 1982;
T. Leo Sullivan, 1983; Robert T. O'Leary, 1985;
Paul L. Thompson, 1985; David L. Brigham,
1986; Herbert Gordon, 1987; William R.
McCartin, 1987; Robert W. Neal, 1987; Calvin
E. Patton, 1987; Lewis Powell, 1987; Charles E.
Reeder, 1987; William F. Thomas, 1987; Nor-
man L. Vicarini, 1987; Genevieve T. Wenski,
1987; John F. McNulty, ex officio.

Independent Agencies/3 63

John H. Eaton, Executive Director

Federal Building, Room 110A
31 Hopkins Plaza
Baltimore 21201 Telephone: 383-3550

The Maryland Veterans Commission was first
established by Chapter 344, Acts of 1924. It was
reorganized by Chapter 803, Acts of 1945, Chap-
ter 310, Acts of 1966, and Chapters 370 and 617,
Acts of 1971. In 1977 it was removed from the
jurisdiction of the Department of Human Re-
sources, formerly the Department of Employment
and Social Services, and made an independent
agency (Chapter 895, Acts of 1977). The mem-
bership was altered and the number of members
increased by Chapter 859, Acts of 1980. It is
composed of seventeen Maryland veterans ap-
pointed by the Governor for seven-year terms.
The chairperson of the Maryland Veterans Home
Commission serves as a member, each congressio-
nal district is represented by one member, one
member serves at large, and of the remaining
members one each is appointed from the Ameri-
can Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the
Catholic War Veterans, the AMVETS, the Jewish
War Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and
the Veterans of World War I. One of the mem-
bers is designated by the Governor as the Chair-
person. The Commission appoints the State Ser-
vice and Executive Officer, who serves as admin-
istrative director of the agency. The department
commanders of the Marine Corps League, the
Polish-American Veterans, the president of the
Maryland Retired Officers Association, a designee
of the Fleet Reserve Association as determined
by its Board of Directors of Branch 6, the desig-
nee of the Order of the Purple Heart, and the
designee of the Maryland Chapter of the Ameri-
can Ex-Prisoners of War, Inc., serve as an adviso-
ry committee to the Commission.

The Commission provides for the establish-
ment of veterans' cemeteries in Maryland, the
acquisition, supervision and control of veterans'
cemeteries, and the requirements for eligibility
for burial in veterans' cemeteries in Maryland, as
well as other matters relating to veterans' ceme-
teries in Maryland. The agency also assists veter-
ans and their dependents in securing federal,
State, or local aid to which they may be entitled.
The Commission maintains a permanent registry
of graves of all persons who served in the mili-
tary or naval forces of the country in time of
war and who are buried in Maryland (Code
1957, Art. 96-1/2, secs. 3-7). In addition to its
main office, it has information centers located in
the following cities: