Location:  Queenstown

Summary: Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) seeks an administrative professional to manage our day-to-day operations, informational technology, and human resources work. The Office Manager is also responsible for supporting the organization through office reception, database management, bookkeeping support, organizational reporting, and scheduling support. The Office Manager leads all administrative functions of the organization with a spirit of innovation, team-work, professionalism, and efficiency.

The ideal candidate will possess demonstrated abilities in administration, knowledge in human resource management, experience in information technology, and strong communication qualities.  Further desired is a self-motivated individual with effective time management skills and attention to detail who thrives in a team-based, collaborative environment.

Based in our Queenstown office, this position offers great opportunity for growth and professional development.  Salary is commensurate with experience, and includes benefits.

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is a leading regional land trust on Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore responsible for preserving more than 52,000 acres since 1990.  To apply, send resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to: Office Manager Position, ESLC, PO Box 169, Queenstown MD 21658 or info@eslc.org.  For more information about our work, please visit: www.eslc.org

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) was pleased to see a number of its legislative priorities pass during the topsy-turvy 2012 session. Multiple bills were proposed that could have a significant effect on agricultural land use, including an important first step to curb rural sprawl in the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012 (SB 236). This bill helps to classify where septic systems can be built, as a mechanism to help stabilize the proliferation of septic systems.

Another important win was the passing of the Family Farm Preservation Act of 2012 (SB 294). Often the most vulnerable time for a family farm is when it shifts between generations. This bill will make it easier for most agricultural land to be passed down to a relative, without the added burden of an estate tax, as long as the land will stay in agricultural production.

“Overall, this session was a success for those who care about preserving agricultural land and the character of places like the Eastern Shore,” said ESLC Deputy Director Amy Owsley. “ESLC had a much greater presence at the state level this year, including presenting in front of the Eastern Shore Delegation, helping sponsor the ‘Taste of the Eastern Shore’ Legislative Night, and personally visiting more than 60 offices of elected officials.”

In the pursuit of cleaner water and a cleaner environment, several environmental bills passed, including an increase in the Bay Restoration Fund (SB 240) that will help pay for wastewater treatment plant upgrades. The Stormwater Management Watershed Protection and Restoration Program (HB 987) bill required the state’s largest jurisdictions to develop a dedicated fee to reduce polluted stormwater runoff.

The end of session came with disappointment as the budget remained unsettled and the Maryland Offshore Wind Act of 2012 (HB 441) officially died in the Senate Finance Committee.

“In addition to the failure of the Offshore Wind Energy bill, one of the bigger disappointments was the cuts to conservation funding, including Program Open Space and Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation. These programs are vital to helping farm families preserve their family lands.” said Rob Etgen, Executive Director of Eastern Shore Land Conservancy.

“As this session has come to a close, we realize how grateful we are for Chairwoman Conway, Chairman Conway, Senator Pinsky, Chairwoman McIntosh, the administration, and others who have helped pass some great legislation this year. We also realize that our work is not yet finished, but that for the preservation of our rural land and way of life, some wonderful strides have been made this session.”

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy announces our 13^th Annual Planning Conference, to be hosted Friday, June 8, 2012, at the Tidewater Inn in Easton, Maryland. The conference will draw together community leaders, elected officials, planners, designers, entrepreneurs and farmers from around the region to discuss and envision the economic landscape of the Eastern Shore, Delmarva and rural areas throughout the region.

Conference attendees will engage in workshops with their peers and colleagues to learn more about diversification and shifts in the agricultural economy; methods for anchoring towns in working landscapes; and the legislative and regional policy tools needed to enable the economic future that is possible for the region.

Attendees will work together to articulate an agenda for sustainable prosperity for the Eastern Shore.

Please register today.  View the full agenda, speaker biographies, venue details and other resources.

Peepstamatic

To enter:

1. Create a diorama depicting marshmallow Peeps arranged in the theme of your choice. For example, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy might create a diorama with the theme, “ESLC – Peep it Rural!”
2. Take a photo of your diorama and email it by Monday, April 2, to spearce@eslc.org.

All entries will be judged that week, and the winner will receive a basket of Eastern Shore treats! Runners-up will receive certificates, and their dioramas will be featured on our website. The contest is open to any theme, but local themes will be given extra points. (Think – towns, local businesses, pastimes, agriculture, fishing, crabbing, hunting, boating, trapping, hanging out in a big truck on a Saturday night … show us how your Eastern Shore Peeps hang!)
Any entry could be featured on Facebook, Pinterest, or other social media site!

Rules: Anyone of any age can enter. Have fun! Be creative! Please submit it by Monday, April 2, and cross your fingers!

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) seeks an energetic people-person to provide program and administrative support for ESLC’s exciting new environmental education program as Education Programs Manager. The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in environmental education, demonstrated abilities in administration/program support, excellent and versatile computer skills, and strong verbal and written communication skills. Further desired is a self-motivated individual with strong organization, effective time management skills, and attention to detail, who thrives in a team-based, collaborative environment.

Job responsibilities will include assisting with education programs, database management, general program administration, coordinating and scheduling meetings, as well as handling phones and greeting office visitors. Based in historic Knock’s Folly near Kennedyville, Maryland. Salary $10/hour for 40 hours/week with opportunities for advancement based on success of programs.

This is a great opportunity to join an emerging outdoor education center with strong leadership, stable funding, and tremendous potential to make a difference on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is a leading regional land trust responsible for preserving more than 50,000 acres. To apply, send resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to: Nina White, ESLC, PO Box 169, Queenstown, MD 21658, or nwhite@eslc.org. For more information about our work, please visit: www.eslc.org

Dorsey Clarke, Environmental Program Manager, and Jared Parks, Land Protection Specialist, paddle on the Sassafras River the morning of Thursday, March 1, 2012.

This past Wednesday, ESLC testified in support of SB 294- Family Farm Preservation Act; a bill designed to help soften the financial burden for family farms and ensure the next generation inherits agricultural property without excessive costs. This bill would limit the estate (inheritance) tax on agricultural land and support Maryland family farms during a very vulnerable time.

This week ESLC will testify in support of SB 236 – Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012, which could effectively combat one of the most damaging forces facing the Eastern Shore’s landscape and economy: rural sprawl. This bill establishes four tiers of development areas that increasingly limit the type of development that can occur with a goal of reducing the number of acres of land converted to development and the number of polluting septic systems.

ESLC wants you to join the process.   Be an advocate for change and join ESLC in speaking up for a vibrant Eastern Shore. For more information, please contact ESLC Policy Manager Josh Hastings at 410-827-9756 Ext.169 or jhastings@eslc.org.

The Howard Wood Scholarship was established by the family of the Mr. Wood to honor his lifelong commitment to youth, conservation and the Eastern Shore’s rich rural heritage.

ESLC is currently accepting applications for the 2012 scholarship. The scholarship application is open to anyone looking to pursue a career in agriculture, land use planning alternative energy planning or other conservation related field. The competition is open to those who are residents of the six counties ESLC serves – Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot. Applications are available via ESLC’s website.  To apply, applicants should fill out an application, provide a high school or college transcript and submit a 500-word original essay describing their response to the following question:

Consider the Eastern Shore in the next 25 years – what is your vision for the Shore? What will you do to ensure the Eastern Shore remains the rural gem and special place that it is for the future?  Please include your academic plans, career aspirations and future goals when responding to this question.

Scholarship applications are due by March 31, 2012. Applications will be judged by a panel and one scholarship recipient will be selected and announced in May.

Download the application.

About Howard Wood

Howard Wood spent summers at his grandmother’s farm crabbing, sailing and swimming – if the jellyfish weren’t too thick. He helped with chores and learned to drive her Model T pick-up. After college and law school, Howard decided to live year round at Indiantown – the farm next door to his grandmother’s – and opened his law office in Centreville. He soon became aware that the increasing urbanization of the Shore threatened the livelihood of many of his clients – farmers and watermen – as well as the natural and fertile beauty of the area he loved so much.

Howard spent many volunteer hours working with the Maryland Environmental Trust and was a founding board member of ESLC. He helped many neighbors, clients and friends place conservation easements on their land. The Wood family established this scholarship in Howard’s memory and feels that helping a student interested in a career in conservation continue or start his or her education would honor Howard’s legacy.

We are bombarded daily with news of economic volatility, hostile politics, lawsuits, a polluted Chesapeake Bay, our warming climate, and this year even hurricanes and an earthquake. Thankfully, the holiday season is here to remind us of the abundance in our lives of things that really matter.

Here on the Eastern Shore, development is down, but so is sprawl. It was a wild weather year for farming, but good prices and good soybeans may save the day. Although oysters are down due to high rainfall, the rockfish young-of-the-year (YOY) survey indicated the highest reproduction ever. The Frederick Douglass statue was completed this year and stands proudly on the Talbot County Court House green. Chesapeake College enrollment is up, school ratings are up, we have new medical facilities underway, and wind and solar energy projects are springing up everywhere.

Perhaps most importantly, our Eastern Shore communities have pulled together strongly in the most difficult times with new homeless shelters, multiple food pantry drives, and even several new community park projects in our towns. I am confident that the Eastern Shore will emerge from this current recession stronger and more resilient than when we entered it.

A 439.269-acre donated easement in Talbot County on Skipton Creek near the village of Longwoods. The easement covers about 245 acres of active farmland and waterfowl impoundments and about 185 acres of woods. The property is home to a large population of the endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrel that will be protected by the easement with a forest management plan.

The easement also permanently retires all of the development rights on 122 acres of the property zoned Village Center for the village of Longwoods, as well as all but two development rights on the remainder of the property. The easement also protects critical habitat for Forest Interior Dwelling bird species (FIDS) and migrating songbirds, as well as the Few-flowered Tick-trefoil, considered endangered in the state of Maryland, and the Log Fern, considered threatened in the state of Maryland.

The property scored an “excellent” rating on the Maryland Green Infrastructure ranking system. The easement was donated to ESLC and Maryland Environmental Trust by Yorktown Farm, LLC.

Miles Point

The conservation of the 72.003-acre property in the town of St. Michaels was formalized Wednesday by the Board of Public Works. Thanks to the generosity of a conservation buyer, the conservation of this property ended a 12-year series of legal proceedings and lawsuits among developers who wanted to build on the property, the Town of St. Michaels, and those opposed to development. The easement was donated to ESLC and Maryland Environmental Trust by the donor-landowner.

Gray

W. Calvin Gray and Constance Gray donated to ESLC and Maryland Environmental Trust a conservation easement on 318.038 acres in Queen Anne’s County. The property is a mix of agriculture and woodland. The scenic road frontage of the property connects 1,000 feet of protected scenic road frontage to another 4,000 feet of protected scenic road frontage.

The property has 789 linear feet of stream channels, which are protected by a 100-foot buffer strip.  The existing forested buffers maintain water quality along the unnamed tributary of Alder Branch, a tributary of the Corsica River. The property is in the county’s Agricultural Priority Preservation Area, meaning the Property was designated as a priority for agricultural preservation by Queen Anne’s County.

Kinney

Brooke and Lynne Kinney donated to Eastern Shore Land Conservancy an easement on their 29-acre property on the Wye River in Queen Anne’s County.

The property has more than 3,000 feet of shoreline along the Wye, and the conservation of this property will contribute to water quality of the Wye River. The entire property is in the Critical Area and is zoned (CS) Countryside, which means the property was designated to preserve and protect the rural and agricultural areas of Queen Anne’s County.

Within one mile of the property are 510.156 acres of protected land. The property is in close proximity to ESLC, and county easements. It consists of nine acres of tilled Agricultural land, eight acres of marshland and seven acres of wooded yard.  The property is surrounded on three sides by the Wye River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.  The dominant tree species present in the forested yard area include red maple, Osage orange, sassafras, red oak, white oak, and elm. Lynne is extremely conservation minded and continuously plants native species throughout the property. She is nurturing a giant oak which was recently struck by lightning and works with Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage on multiple property projects.

Faulkner Branch

The state Board of Public Works in November approved a CREP Buffer easement a 61.2-acre property owned by Ronald and Linda Christopher. Included in the easement are 30.6 acres of grass buffer and 30.6 acres of mature forest, both of which help to protect the water quality of Faulkner Branch in southern Caroline County. Faulkner Branch is a tributary of the Nanticoke River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The easement is co-held by ESLC and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which also provided funding for the easement.