Maryland Adds 60 Acres to Rural Legacy Area in Carroll County

Photo by John K. Hatley

The State permanently preserved 60 acres of woodland and farmland, eliminating four developmental rights in Carroll County through the Rural Legacy Program. Governor Martin O’Malley and the Board of Public Works approved funding for the easement in the Upper Patapsco Rural Legacy area at today’s meeting in Annapolis.

“Rural Legacy encourages the State and landowners to work together to permanently protect important lands from development, preserving our culture and heritage, our natural resources and our working lands, for our children and theirs,” said Governor O’Malley.

The newly preserved Horner Easement lies adjacent to another conservation easement and near another block of easement properties. The site contains 2,140 linear feet of stream buffers along a tributary to the East Branch of the Patapsco River. Additionally, a management plan was created to help prevent soil erosion, maintain water quality and control agricultural and forestry uses.

With the addition of this easement, 18 percent of the 39,198-acre Upper Patapsco Rural Legacy Area is currently protected.

Enacted by the General Assembly in 1997, Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program provides funding to preserve large tracts of forests, agricultural land and natural resources, while sustaining land for natural resource-based industries. It has to date provided more than $252 million to protect more than 81,000 acres. The 11-member Rural Legacy Advisory Committee and Board is comprised of Maryland’s Agriculture, Natural Resources and Planning Secretaries, who review grant applications annually.

The three member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor O’Malley (chair), Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot. The BPW is authorized by the General Assembly to approve major construction and consultation contracts, equipment purchases, property transactions and other procurement transactions.