Board of Public Works Approves $8.9 Million for Recreational Improvements and Land Conservation in Baltimore City and Six Maryland Counties; The Board also approved a temporary, six-month lease for the Days Cove rubble fill in Baltimore County
Funds were approved for Wicomico County in partnership with the Lower Shore Land Trust to survey a potential Rural Legacy easement comprising multiple parcels in the Quantico Creek Rural Legacy Area. Maryland DNR photo
Maryland 2026 - The Board of Public Works today approved $8.9 million in grants from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to local governments and land trusts for recreational improvements and land conservation in Baltimore City, and Calvert, Howard, Kent, St. Mary’s, Washington, and Wicomico counties.
The Board also approved a short-term lease for the Days Cove rubble fill in Baltimore County that operates on land owned by DNR. The new lease enables the rubble fill to continue operations for six months while Maryland Department of the Environment finalizes a discharge permit for the facility and DNR works to address remaining community concerns. Once that work is complete, DNR plans to seek approval of a new lease with the rubble fill’s operator that will cap and close the landfill and return the land to public use in eight years or less. DNR plans on re-submitting the updated lease for BPW’s approval sometime in the spring.
More than $7.5 million in Program Open Space – Local funding was approved for nine projects including six in Baltimore City. The city will use the funds to implement improvements to the pool, restrooms and field house at City Spring Park; renovate the Howard Rawlings Conservatory; install a walking loop, fitness equipment and a basketball court at Easterwood Park; construct the replacement Carroll F. Cook Recreation Center in the Armistead Gardens neighborhood; restore and enhance the lake at Patterson Park; and create walking paths, a community garden, and expand the playground at Northwest Park.
Other projects approved for Program Open Space – Local funding were: a Howard County project to replace a playground at Centennial Park West Area; a Washington County acquisition of an access easement to the Antietam Creek Waterway Trail; and fencing, signage and landscaping at East Wicomico Little League fields in Wicomico County.
Additionally, the Board approved almost $1.4 million in Rural Legacy funding for three conservation easement acquisitions as well as expenses for a survey that is necessary for another easement acquisition:
- Forested land on Wash Hance Road in Calvert County will be conserved by a 90-acre easement that will be acquired by the Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development Board in the Calvert Creeks Rural Legacy Area. In addition to protecting scenic viewsheds, the easement will protect approximately 1,700 feet of forested stream buffers along tributaries of Parkers Creek, which flows directly into the Chesapeake Bay.
- The Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development Board will also acquire an easement on 57 acres in the Mattapany Rural Legacy Area in St. Mary’s County. The easement will protect valuable forest and agricultural lands, as well as 2,800 feet of buffers along the shoreline of McKay’s Cove, a tributary of the Potomac River.
- The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy will acquire an easement on 62 acres in the Agricultural Security Corridor – Harvest Crescent Rural Legacy Area. This conservation easement in Kent County will protect grasslands, forests, and scenic views, including more than 2,200 feet of forested buffer along a pond and tributary to Still Pond Creek, which empties directly into the Chesapeake Bay.
- Wicomico County in partnership with the Lower Shore Land Trust is negotiating a Rural Legacy easement for a waterfront property that is approximately 700 acres and comprises multiple parcels in the Quantico Creek Rural Legacy Area. This property needs to be surveyed as part of the process. After successful negotiations, the conservation easement acquisition will be presented to the Board of Public Works for funding approval, and, if acquired, the easement will protect woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and buffers along the Nanticoke River.
All projects funded are listed in the Board of Public Works January 7, 2026 meeting agenda. The three-member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.
Program Open Space – Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, acquisition, and development of recreational land or facilities. 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. The program is funded by a property transfer tax.
The Rural Legacy Program, created in 1997, conserves large working landscapes across 36 locally designated areas throughout Maryland. The Rural Legacy Program, along with the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, have recently earned the State of Maryland national recognition from the American Farmland Trust.
More news on grants approved for Program Open Space Local, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, Greenspace Equity, Rural Legacy, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement programs is available on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Land News webpage.
