Organizational Mission:
The mission of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) is to preserve and sustain the vibrant communities of the Eastern Shore and the lands and waters that connect them.(“Eastern Shore Land Conservancy 2010-2015” strategic plan, Board approved 2/1/10.)
Description of organizational structure:
The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable corporation in good standing with the charitable division of the office of the Secretary of State of Maryland. ESLC has a full time staff of twelve that includes an Executive Director, a Deputy Director, two Land Protection Specialists, a Stewardship Manager, a Director of Annual Giving, a Membership Coordinator, a Land Use Planner, a Director of Communications, a Director of Administration,a Volunteer Maryland Coordinator as well as a Program Assistant. A 33-member volunteer Board of Directors manages the ESLC with the following standing committees: Development; Finance; Leadership; Land Protection; and Governance. In addition to the volunteer Board of Directors, 10 other volunteers strengthen ESLC through a Volunteer Monitoring Program, a planned Volunteer Landowner Assistance Program, and through other administrative, clerical, outreach, and special events related duties.
Brief History and Success of Past Projects:
ESLC was founded in 1990 as a result of widespread concern that the Eastern Shore’s important wildlife habitat and prime farmland were being consumed by sprawling development. The decision was made by the founders to preserve land on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in order to keep prime farmland in agriculture, to protect unique natural areas, and to perpetually monitor those lands to ensure that preservation is permanent. ESLC’s Land Protection Program, which helps private landowners explore and implement various preservation options, has been the core function of the Conservancy through its first decade. This toolbox of preservation options includes gift conservation easements, Maryland’s farmland preservation easement program, Maryland’s Rural Legacy easement program, county transferable development rights programs, the family farm preference from federal estate taxes, and other options and combinations.
As a result of these efforts, ESLC has to date:
- Protected more than 52,000 acres of the Eastern Shore’s important natural habitat areas and prime farmland through easements on 251 properties and the creation of three preserves;
- Established a record of preservation that far exceeds any other local land conservancy in Maryland and is one of the most successful in the country;
- Received conservation easement and other property interests on which more than $40 million worth of development rights have been extinguished;
- Rescued six highly threatened priority properties on 1,146 acres and worth over $12 Million using our Land Rescue
- Revolving Fund. In two cases, the properties are key links in trail systems and will allow public access and serve as permanent urban growth boundaries
