Please note the sad passing of former Senator FitzGerald Bemiss who wrote on November 1, 1965 in the introduction to the first Virginia Outdoors Plan titled Virginia’s Common Wealth the following:
“The rich and varied resources of the Virginia Outdoors are indeed our Common Wealth, and every Virginian justly expects to enjoy its benefits. Furthermore, million of other Americans are willing and able to spend in our state tens of millions of dollars annually to share these benefits.
The opportunities for enjoyment are severely limited by inadequate facilities and by a threatened and diminishing supply of enjoyable lands and waters. Especially urgent is the need for a program of land acquisition for major enlargement of our State Park System, which now falls so far short of meeting the demand of our own citizens and of visitors to Virginia.
The case for prompt action for proper conservation and development of the Common Wealth is, in our opinion, overwhelming.”
—FitzGerald Bemiss, Chairman of the Virginia Outdoors Recreation Study Commission.
Senator Bemiss was a visionary and one of Virginia’s great conservation leaders. He was a supporter of President Eisenhower and supported the establishment of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to provide federal funding for local, state and federal programs to acquire and develop outdoor recreation resources to enhance the quality of life for Americans.