Board of Public Works Approves $900,000 for Park Improvement and Rural Land Conservation in Charles, Frederick, Worcester, and Other Counties

Funding approved for DNR’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement, Rural Legacy, and Program Open Space Local programs

Zekiah Rural Legacy Area in Charles County follows the watershed boundaries of  Zekiah Swamp Run and is abundant with farms, forests, wetlands of special concern, and historic and archeological sites. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.

The Board of Public Works today approved Maryland Department of Natural Resources items totaling $900,000 in grants to local governments and land trusts to improve parks and protect land with perpetual conservation easements.

Among the approvals was a $470,000 grant for a permanent easement through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) on a 75-acre property in Frederick County. This conservation easement will protect water quality in the Israel Creek and Lower Monocacy River watersheds by retaining forested and grassed buffers on the property in perpetuity. Israel Creek is designated by the Maryland Department of the Environment for use as recreational trout waters and public water supply.

In addition, more than $380,000 in Rural Legacy funding was approved for local sponsors to acquire conservation easements on two Charles County properties totaling 103 acres:

• The Charles County Commissioners, with assistance from the Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development Board, will preserve a 50-acre property in the Nanjemoy-Mattawoman Rural Legacy Area. The majority of the land is forested, and the easement also protects more than 5,000 feet of riparian stream buffers along tributaries to Mattawoman Creek. 
• In the Zekiah Rural Legacy Area, Charles County will preserve a 53-acre ecologically significant forest. The easement will protect habitat for forest interior dwelling species of birds that need large blocks of undisturbed forest to successfully nest. Additionally, the easement will protect 3,500 feet of riparian stream buffers along a tributary to Zekiah Swamp Run, which flows into the Potomac River. 

A total of $45,000 in Program Open Space – Local funds were approved for a grant to Worcester County for beach sand and rip rap maintenance at Homer Gudelsky Park. The work will improve public access and use of the beach. Program Open Space – Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, acquisition, and development of recreational land or facilities.

All projects funded are listed in the Board of Public Works October 30, 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.

Since 2009, Maryland’s permanent easement option with the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has acquired, from willing landowners, conservation easements that require continued maintenance of Conservation Reserve Program practices after the expiration of the federal contracts.

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.