On March 5, the Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) approved 11 land preservation easements for the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) comprising 1,175 acres. Easements pay landowners to preserve their tracts in perpetuity.
The first statewide farmland preservation program in the nation, MALPF has preserved close to 300,000 acres of farm and forestland. It is considered to be at the forefront of national land preservation programs.
Development in growth areas is one side of the smart growth coin; land preservation is the other. Through their support for MALPF and other easement programs, Marylanders show that rural land does not exist just to be developed; it is important in its own right, for the businesses that depend on it and the environmental benefits it provides. The cost of land preservation is less than the cost of schools, roads, and other infrastructure and services to support development.
In this round of funding, Charles County will receive eight of the MALPF easements on more than 920 acres, including the largest farm: 222 acres. The three other easements are located in Anne Arundel, St. Mary’s, and Somerset counties.
Approved Charles County farm (in brown hatch) relative to existing easements. Click to enlarge.
Since January 1, more than 2,100 acres of MALPF easements have been approved by the BPW. When easements from Rural Legacy and other programs are considered, along with the purchase of land by Program Open Space, the BPW has approved more than 2,800 acres of land preservation in two months.
Some may believe that easement acquisition is no longer necessary now that the 2012 Septics Law limits major subdivisions on certain rural lands, those voluntarily designated as Tier IV by counties. However, that is misguided. The Septics Law is subject to change, but easements are permanent. Furthermore, the state and some local governments have long purchased easements in places where protective zoning already restricted development more than the Septics Law.
Because of the (low) possibility that a landowner may change his or her mind at the last minute, MALPF will consider these transactions final after the easements are settled.
Related Article
Board of Public Works Approves Easement Purchases (Southern Maaryland News Net, March 11, 2014)
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