Marshyhope Rural Legacy Focus Area

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The Marshyhope RLFA is a partnership between Caroline and Dorchester Counties and Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. The Caroline County portion of the RLFA mirrors the Idylwild Wildlife Management Area in shape, located on the west side of Marshyhope Creek. Together with vast MALPF easements in the area, the protection of properties through conservation easements will significantly expand the amount of preserved land immediately north of Federalsburg and enhance the quality of the Idylwild WMA.

South of Federalsburg, the Marshyhope RLFA extends into Dorchester County bounded by the Marshyhope Creek, MD-577 and MD-392. Approximately 1700 acres of the former Chesapeake Forest Products parcels are located along the Marshyhope Creek, which were purchased by the state of Maryland and The Conservation Fund in 1998.

The most striking characteristic of the Marshyhope Creek is its pristine and undeveloped nature. This corridor includes steep wooded banks, extensive wetlands, marshes and meandering tributaries. An extensive variety of forested and non-forested non-tidal wetlands are contiguous with tidal marshes along the Creek and its tributaries. The culmination of these natural attributes provides important habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife as well as fish spawning and nursery habitat. Further, the Creek has been identified as a potential water trail by the Maryland Greenways Commission.

Soils in the Marshyhope RLFA are some of the best in Caroline and Dorchester Counties. This wide band of coarse-textured soil produces high yields, especially when irrigated and is ideally suited for truck farming. Commercial vegetable production is concentrated in this area because of prime soils and the underlying Columbia Aquifer, which supplies water for irrigation.