{"id":41336,"date":"2024-04-17T11:53:37","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T15:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=41336"},"modified":"2024-04-17T13:52:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T17:52:01","slug":"board-of-public-works-approves-14-8-million-to-preserve-outdoor-space-for-marylanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2024\/04\/17\/board-of-public-works-approves-14-8-million-to-preserve-outdoor-space-for-marylanders\/","title":{"rendered":"Board of Public Works Approves $14.8 Million to Preserve Outdoor Space for Marylanders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Program Open Space, Rural Legacy among programs funded<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 443px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/1912\/43243964390_f0f91fa267.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of wooded trail\" width=\"433\" height=\"289\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oregon Ridge Park in Baltimore County will receive funds for new trails. Photo by Brittini Adams, submitted to the 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Pages\/photocontest.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maryland DNR Photo Contest<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Board of Public Works today approved Maryland Department of Natural Resources items including more than $14.8 million in grants to local governments and land trusts to preserve and protect land, and provide recreation opportunities for Marylanders.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe Moore-Miller administration remains committed that all Marylanders have access to nature and outdoor recreational opportunities,\u201d<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. \u201cWith the support of the Board of Public Works, we continue to partner with land trusts and local communities to expand access to these important natural areas, now and for future generations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A total of $11 million in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/land\/pages\/programopenspace\/home.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Program Open Space &#8211; Local<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> funding was approved for 10 projects. Program Open Space &#8211; Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, purchase and development of recreational land or facilities. Highlights from today&#8217;s approval include $4 million for the design and development of trails in Oregon Ridge Park in Baltimore County, and $100,000 for renovations to the concession and changing facilities at the Dorchester County Public Pool.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additional approvals included:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">More than $2 million for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/land\/Pages\/RuralLegacy\/home.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rural Legacy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> funding to permanently conserve 328 acres in Baltimore, Queen Anne\u2019s, Harford, and Washington counties. Rural Legacy, created in 1997, conserves large working landscapes across 35 locally designated areas throughout Maryland.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0$1.7 million from the Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program to install playgrounds at the Hillcrest Heights Community Center in Prince George\u2019s County.\u00a0 The Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program was funded in FY 2022 and FY 2023 to provide grant funds primarily to local governments for park and recreation projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All projects funded are listed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/bpw.maryland.gov\/Pages\/meetingDocuments_year.aspx?year=2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Board of Public Works April 17 meeting agenda<\/a>. The three-member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor Wes Moore (represented in today\u2019s meeting by Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller), Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Established under the Department of Natural Resources in 1969, Program Open Space (divided into Local and Stateside programs), along with other state land conservation and recreation programs, symbolizes Maryland&#8217;s long term commitment to conserving our natural resources while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities for all citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Program Open Space, Rural Legacy among programs funded The Board of Public Works today approved Maryland Department of Natural Resources items including more than $14.8 million in grants to local governments and land trusts to preserve and protect land, and provide recreation opportunities for Marylanders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,23],"tags":[2955,5352,5000,3003,3123],"class_list":["post-41336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-land","tag-board-of-public-works","tag-josh-kurtz","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-program-open-space","tag-rural-legacy-program"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41336"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41350,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41336\/revisions\/41350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}