GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY PRESS RELEASES

GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY PARTICIPATES IN AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS LISTENING SESSION

Maryland well-positioned to partner in national conservation movement

ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 25, 2010) — Governor Martin O’Malley today joined U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other senior representatives of the Obama Administration for a public listening session and discussion on land conservation, recreation and reconnecting people to the outdoors. The second such session under President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative was attended by approximately 300 land and recreation managers, outdoor educators, sportsmen, landowners and conservationists from across the 64,000-square mile Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“I want to thank President Obama, Secretary Salazar and the other members of the President’s “green” cabinet for their leadership on this important issue and for bringing this public discussion to the great State of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay region,” said Governor O’Malley. “We are also pleased that the President has selected the Chesapeake as one of America’s first Treasured Landscapes, and believe Maryland is especially well poised to partner with the Administration and public and private sectors in conserving our great rivers and related landscapes as our legacy for future generations.”

President Obama established the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative in April to develop a conservation and recreation agenda worthy of the 21st century and to reconnect Americans with our great outdoors.

“Governor O’Malley and the citizens of Maryland have set a high standard in their efforts to conserve and restore the Chesapeake Bay,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Their strong commitment to the health of the Bay and to opening up more opportunities for outdoor recreation for people who have not in the past had the opportunity to enjoy its wonders embody the spirit and purpose of the President’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative.”

During his remarks Governor O’Malley offered his own recommendations on the process for preserving the Bay region’s treasured landscapes, defined as targeted conservation areas – important ecosystems, working and recreation lands, historic, cultural and scenic resources, water access and trails -- that connect people to rivers or the main stem of the Bay. These included:

§ a request for full funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCS) -- the principal means by which land conservation is achieved at the federal level;

§ a funding formula that would direct at least 40% of revenues to State and local governments;

§ a refocus of state share funding priorities to support, in addition to land acquisition, green projects such as trail development, passive recreation amenities, natural play areas, nature centers, water access, resource restoration on public lands and youth conservation corps;

§ the creation of a Federal-State GIS Land Conservation Map for the Bay Region based on concepts used in Maryland’s GreenPrint; and

§ a bottom-up process for designating conservation lands through a federally-sponsored competition to States in partnership with their local governments and private organizations.

“Wherever possible the federal agencies and their State and local government counterparts need to work together to conserve, manage and operate lands within these targeted areas,” said Governor O’Malley, citing the the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park as an example. “On the Harriet Tubman Project, we are jointly acquiring land, jointly developing the project and will jointly manage it. This is the new model for the future -- one that taxpayers deserve and should expect – a more efficient way of combing resources to get the job done.”

Prior to the public break out sessions, during which federal leaders had an opportunity to hear from people across the region, Salazar facilitated a panel discussion on Sharing Examples of Innovative Land Conservation, Recreation & Citizen Stewardship. The panel included: Jacqueline M. Carrera, President & CEO, Parks & People Foundation; Robert Etgen, Executive Director, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy; Chris Miller, President, Piedmont Environmental Council/Treasurer, Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership; and Annette Gantt, President and CEO, Earth Conservation Corps.

"Maryland has a strong and long-standing track record in land conservation, including protecting farms, forests, environmentally sensitive areas, and culturally and historically significant lands," said David O'Neill, president, Chesapeake Conservancy. "Governor O'Malley has built on this tradition and strengthened the state's conservation initiatives with the creation of Maryland Greenprint, a land conservation targeting tool that has quickly become a national model. The President's America’s Great Outdoors Initiative will build on the fine work of Maryland the GreenPrint program."

Earlier in the day, federal representatives held a special listening session for about 50 young people, aged 16-20, to receive their in put on the issues.

Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and Harris Sherman, Under Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture also participated in the event.

“As we seek to preserve our national treasures and provide meaningful outdoor opportunities and connections for all of our citizens, we must remember that all of these investments and bear heavily on sustainable economies,” added the Governor. “Nature based recreation such as hunting, birding, ecotourism, and boating are vital economic drivers for Maryland, and every dollar spent on land preservation has a multiplier effect, supporting jobs, and increased property values.”

According to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, tourism accounts for $14.5 billion in sales and more than 146,000 jobs in Maryland. The total impact on the Maryland economy from recreational boating alone is estimated to be about $2.03 billion by the University of Maryland.

Under the leadership of Governor O’Malley, Maryland has maintained land conservation as a top priority, fully funding our premier land conservation program for the 4th year in a row, and made land conservation programs work smarter through the advent GreenPrint, a cutting edge GIS tracking and targeting tool. Governor O’Malley also the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature, which developed one of the nation’s first comprehensive plans for expanding outdoor opportunities for young people and bringing environmental literacy to the classroom. The State Board of Education is currently considering a proposal to require Maryland young people to be environmentally literate in order to graduate from high school. This summer 500 at risk young people will have paid jobs performing conservation work in our State Parks through the Civic Justice Corps – a program inspired by the Maryland Conservation Corps that has nearly tripled since it was launched three years ago.


GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ANNOUNCES DHR SECRETARY BRENDA DONALD TO STEP DOWN, ACCEPTS LEADERSHIP ROLE AT ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION

ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 25, 2010) – Governor Martin O'Malley announced today that Department of Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald has accepted a new senior position at the Annie E. Casey Foundation after three years of reforms at the historically troubled agency. Together, Governor Martin O’Malley and DHR Secretary Brenda Donald endeavored to radically reform Maryland’s child welfare system, resulting in drastic reductions in foster care and group home placements, reforms to Maryland’s outdated child support system, and increases in family setting placements for foster children.

“I want to thank Brenda Donald for her service to the people of Maryland over the past three years. Her professionalism and reform-minded approach to leading DHR has benefited children and adults throughout our state,” said Governor O’Malley. “Brenda was appointed to lead one of our largest and most complicated state agencies. Her steady leadership will be missed.”

Donald will step down as Secretary of Human Resources effective July 23, 2010. She has accepted the role of Vice President for the Center for Effective Family Services and Systems at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States.

“It has been my distinct honor to help the O’Malley/Brown Administration achieve notable outcomes for foster children, improve the way we process benefit applications and work to strengthen our child support collections,” said Donald. “I am excited to move onto the next phase of my career and help other states implement some of Maryland’s successful strategies.”

Under Secretary Donald’s leadership, the Department of Human Resources implemented Place Matters, an ambitious initiative that promotes safety, family strengthening, permanency, and community based services for children and families in child welfare. As a result:

Nearly 20 percent fewer children have been placed in foster care.
More than 50 percent fewer foster children are placed in group homes.
77 percent of children placed in the foster system are now placed into family settings, a 10 percent increase from four years ago.
More than 2,225 foster families have been recruited under the O’Malley-Brown Administration.
Nearly 2,000 adoptions have been finalized under the O’Malley-Brown Administration.

The reforms implemented by Governor O’Malley and Secretary Donald aimed to improve the lives of children who find themselves within the social work system, include:

Fought for legislation to update the state’s child support guidelines for the first time in 22 years.
Provided all front-line social welfare and child welfare workers with cell phones, improving efficiency and communications.
Improved compliance rates for benefit applications such as food stamps and cash assistance.
Reformed the Baltimore City Department of Social Services and strengthened its management.
Collected $1.5 billion in child support payments and redistributed to custodial parents, continuing the upward trend in collections, even in a tough economy.
Invested federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to create 100 full time jobs for previous Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) customers.
Restricted new group homes from opening unnecessarily, allowing new group homes to open only if there is a specific need in an area, focusing resources on family-setting placements instead.

Donald will serve as Vice President for the Center for Effective Family Services and Systems at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In her new position as a member of the Foundation’s senior leadership team, Donald will be leading the Center’s work of improving outcomes for children living in the country’s most fragile families. The focus of the Center is to promote policies and identify best practices that support family-strengthening interventions, provide data-driven accountability for public systems, and bring evidence-based interventions to scale.

“Brenda Donald is a recognized leader who has dedicated her career to improving children and family services and leading governmental reform efforts,” said Patrick McCarthy, president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “We are confident that her extensive knowledge and experience will help build on our work for years to come.”

Prior to being appointed DHR Secretary in February of 2007, Donald was Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders for the District of Columbia. She directed nine agencies that provided an array of social services to more than 200,000 residents. She was also the director of the District's Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), with 950 employees serving 6,000 abused and neglected children.

Governor O’Malley announced that Brian Wilbon will serve as Acting Secretary of DHR while a national search takes place for a new secretary. Wilbon currently serves as Deputy Secretary of the agency.

GOVERNOR MARTIN O'MALLEY'S PUBLIC SCHEDULE

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

8:20 a.m. Governor O’Malley to appear on WICO, 92.5 FM, Salisbury-Ocean City

Location: 92.5 FM, Salisbury-Ocean City

8:35 a.m. Governor O’Malley to appear on WSCL, 89.5 FM, Salisbury-Ocean City Public Radio

Location: 89.5 FM, Salisbury-Ocean City Public Radio

9:30 a.m. Governor O’Malley to hold roundtable discussion on potential impact of Gulf Oil Spill on Maryland waters and businesses

Location: Fish Tales, 2207 Herring Way, Ocean City

11:30 a.m. Governor O’Malley to walk through floor displays at Maryland Municipal League Convention

Location: Ocean City Convention Center, Exhibit Hall C, 4001 Coastal Highway, Ocean City

5:30 p.m. First Lady Katie O’Malley will join Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to formally dedicate the newest attraction at the Maryland Zoo, The Jones Falls Zephyr

Location: The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore

Note: Reception begins at 4:30pm, Dedication is at 5:30pm

7:00 p.m. Governor O’Malley to deliver keynote address at Maryland Municipal League Convention

Location: Ocean City Convention Center, Grand Ballroom, 4001 Coastal Highway, Ocean City