Board of Public Works Approves Nearly $2.9 Million for Park Improvements and Land Conservation in Anne Arundel, St. Mary’s, and Elsewhere

Funding from DNR’s Program Open Space Local and Rural Legacy programs will support new Edgewater Recreation Center and conservation easements in Southern Maryland

Located on the northern end of St. Mary’s County, the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area includes 12 miles of Patuxent River shoreline. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.

The Board of Public Works today approved Maryland Department of Natural Resources items totaling about $2.9 million in grants to local governments and land trusts to improve parks and protect land with perpetual conservation easements.

Nearly $2.3 million in Program Open Space – Local funds were approved for six projects including a grant to Anne Arundel County for the development of the new Edgewater Recreation Center. The county will use the funds to renovate an existing building to provide indoor recreational opportunities such as fitness classes, basketball courts, pickleball courts, and an indoor playground. Program Open Space – Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, acquisition, and development of recreational land or facilities.

Nearly $600,000 in Rural Legacy funding was approved for local sponsors to acquire conservation easements on two St. Mary’s County properties totaling 249 acres:

• The Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development Board will preserve a 145-acre property in the Mattapany Rural Legacy Area. The tract consists of valuable agricultural and forested land as well as 3,800 feet of riparian stream buffers along Carthagena Creek and tributaries to St. George’s Creek, all of which flow to the Potomac River. The easement is also funded by the U.S. Department of the Navy and St. Mary’s County, to maintain the rural character of the lands below the restricted air space designated for the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and Webster Outlying Field. 
• In the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area, the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust will preserve a 104-acre farm. The easement will protect 5,500 feet of forested stream buffers along tributaries to the Locks Swamp Creek in the Trent Hall Creek watershed, and Persimmon Creek, before their confluence offsite with the Patuxent River. Additionally, the easement will also protect habitat for forest interior dwelling species of birds that need large blocks of undisturbed forest in order for the birds to successfully nest.

All projects funded are listed in the Board of Public Works October 16, 2024 meeting agenda. The three-member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.

The Rural Legacy Program, created in 1997, conserves large working landscapes across 36 locally designated areas throughout Maryland. 

Established under the Department of Natural Resources in 1969, Program Open Space (divided into Local and Stateside programs), along with other state land conservation programs, symbolizes Maryland’s long-term commitment to conserving our natural resources while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities for all citizens.