Tracing its beginnings to 1868 and the creation of the state Oyster Police, the Natural Resources Police is the oldest state-level law enforcement agency in Maryland. The role of the Natural Resources Police is to see that laws pertaining to conservation, boating and criminal laws are abided by throughout the state of Maryland. The force leads programs on hunting and boating safety and serves as the leading law enforcement agency in state parks and all land owned by The Department of Natural Resources. Colonel George F. Johnson IV serves as the current superintendent of the force, which is made up of almost 300 officers. The Natural Resources Police are headquartered in Annapolis in the Department of Natural Resources Tawes State Office Building.
The invention of the automobile led to the creation of this Bay bridge in 1947. The bridge's two-lane original 4.3 mile long span (which today carries eastbound traffic) cost $45 million and was, at the time, the world's longest continuous over-water steel structure. Construction of the bridge's $148-million second span, which currently carries westbound traffic across the Bay, was completed in 1973. Over 26 million vehicles travel the bridge annually.