Carol West Named Executive Director of Agricultural Land Preservation Program

ANNAPOLIS, MD (Feb. 14, 2012) – Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance has appointed Carol West as the Executive Director of the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF). Ms. West, who has been with MALPF since 2004, has been serving as acting director since the Foundation’s previous director Jim Conrad retired last year. MALPF is a program within the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

“I am pleased to announce Carol’s appointment. She has been instrumental in keeping MALPF productive and moving forward during some very difficult economic times,” said Secretary Hance. “As a result, MALPF remains a national model for farmland preservation programs.”

Ms. West, who was born and raised in Annapolis, joined state government in 1977. Prior to joining the staff at MALPF, she worked as a secretary first with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and then with the Anne Arundel Soil Conservation District and MDA’s Fiscal Services. In 2002 she left MDA to work with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Rural Legacy Program but returned in 2004.

Currently, 279,896 total acres have been permanently preserved by Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) on more than 2,000 Maryland farms. Additionally, 5006 acres have been approved by the BPW and are awaiting settlement.

Created by the General Assembly in 1977, MALPF purchases agricultural preservation easements that forever restrict development on prime farmland and woodland and has permanently preserved land in each of Maryland’s 23 counties, representing a public investment of over $588 million. With county and other state preservation programs, approximately 564,000 acres of farmland are protected in Maryland. This is the greatest ratio of farmland preserved to total landmass of any state.

According to a survey conducted by the Schaefer Center for Public Policy last year, public opinion supports this investment. A full 97 percent of respondents believe that it is important that the state preserve farmland for farming. Marylanders believe that farms and the products they produce should remain a part of the State’s culture and economy.