Funding approved for DNR’s Rural Legacy program
Funding approved today will acquire an easement in the Dividing Creek Rural Legacy Area, one of the most pristine and ecologically significant watershed basins on the mid-Atlantic. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.
Maryland 2025 - The Board of Public Works today approved Maryland Department of Natural Resources items totaling $620,000 in Rural Legacy grants to local governments to protect land with perpetual conservation easements. This grant funding was approved for two counties.
Harford County will receive funding to acquire a conservation easement on 41 forested acres within the Deer Creek Rural Legacy Area. This easement will protect 4,500 feet of stream buffer along Rock Run and its tributaries, which are important water sources for the Susquehanna River. Additionally, the easement will protect habitat for forest interior dwelling species of birds, which need large blocks of undisturbed forest in order to successfully nest.
Worcester County will receive funding to acquire an easement on 94 acres of prime agricultural land in the Nassawango Creek and the Pocomoke River watersheds, within the Dividing Creek Rural Legacy Area. The easement will protect this productive farm, which contributes to the local economy, and will also preserve significant scenic views along three public roads.
All projects funded are listed in the Board of Public Works meeting agenda for January 8, 2025. The three-member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.
The department’s Land News webpage lists Board of Public Works’ approvals for the Rural Legacy program, as well as these other DNR grant programs: Program Open Space Local, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement programs.
The Rural Legacy Program, created in 1997, conserves large working landscapes across 35 locally designated areas throughout Maryland.
