St. Mary’s Wins Nearly $600,000 for Rural Legacy

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.

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

The St. Mary’s awards were among $2.9 million in grants to local governments and land trusts to improve parks and protect land with perpetual conservation easements approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works for the the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Nearly $2.3 million was awarded through Program Open Space  for six projects including a grant to Anne Arundel County for the development of the new Edgewater Recreation Center.

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.

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 Gov. Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis, and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.