This book explores the cultural and natural heritages of the Chesapeake Bay heartland, a region that extends through parts of south-central Pennsylvania, eastern Maryland and Virginia, and all of the District of Columbia. The area forms a large portion of the mid- Atlantic region of the United States. Today, one of America's densest concentrations of people lives there, side by side with thousands of plant and animal species. This study focuses on the unique relationships between people, plants, animals, and place that have emerged at various times in the region's history.