Eastern Shore Land Conservancy

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Mission Statement
Conserve, steward, and advocate for the unique rural landscape of the Eastern Shore.

ExcellenceITAC Accreditation
eastern shore maryland farmland conservation

July 2012

ESLC Celebrates Land Conservation Successes

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC)  announces a successful 2012 fiscal year for land preservation, during which more than 2,250 acres were preserved from northern Kent County to southern Dorchester County, including two easements each in Dorchester, Queen Anne’s and Talbot Counties, three in Kent County, and one in Caroline County.  Five of these easements were donated to ESLC. The two easements donated by Queen Anne’s County landowners helped add to a block of contiguous preserved lands that now totals over 1,700 acres.  The donated easement in Kent County helped a young farmer acquire a beautiful farm to continue the family farming tradition. In addition to preserving a 440-acre historic farm in Talbot County, ESLC partnered with the community of St. Michaels and the Maryland Environmental Trust on the preservation of a property that put to bed an immense housing development that had been looming unwanted over the community for years. ESLC also completed five purchased easements in FY2012; two Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program easements, 2 Rural Legacy easements and one easement to preserve habitat for the federally listed, endangered Delmarva Fox squirrel. The CREP easements preserved farms in Caroline and Dorchester Counties in order to protect the water quality in the Nanticoke and Choptank watersheds. Two Kent County Rural Legacy easements added more than 370 acres to a large, contiguous area of preserved land in the Sassafras Rural Legacy focus area. ESLC also partnered with The Nature Conservancy to purchase an easement that permanently protected a 725-acre farm in Dorchester County that is critical habitat for the Delmarva Fox Squirrel, a species listed as federally endangered. More than $2.5 million dollars were paid to local farmers and landowners to preserve forever more than 1,245 acres of farmland and forest on the mid- and Upper shore. ESLC has been preserving farmland, forest and open

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Lynch Preserve Now Open to Public

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s (ESLC) Lynch Preserve trails are open to the public and ready to use, thanks to the work of 20 Chesapeake Conservation Corps Members and staff members from ESLC, who gathered Wednesday, July 18, for a work day at the Lynch Preserve. ESLC won $1,500 from “All Hands on Deck,” a contest run by Chesapeake Bay Trust, for the materials. The day was a great success, and the Conservancy is thankful for the funding that was provided by the Chesapeake Bay Trust and educational materials from the Chestory Virtual Archive and associated Chesapeake Conservation Corps Volunteers. Also, the Baltimore Tool Bank was an excellent resource for the project, as ESLC was able to rent the necessary tools at three percent of the retail cost. Wayne Gilchrest, former U.S. Congressman and current ESLC Program Director for the Sassafras Environmental Education Center at Turner’s Creek, Kent County, kicked off the day with an inspiring talk. “Never forget why you are doing the work you do,” he told the Chesapeake Conservation Corps volunteers, who engage in environmental education and restoration work during their one-year terms. Volunteers then worked in groups to clear trails, build a kiosk, and install benches and trail signage. The Lynch Preserve is a 206-acre natural area donated to the Conservancy in 1999 by Mary Lynch in loving memory of her husband Jim Lynch Sr. The Preserve contains three trails that wind through a forested canopy along the Choptank River and Robins Creek. ESLC invites the public to visit the Lynch Preserve. Limited parking is available where the trails begin, at the end of Robins Creek Road, Preston. Since its inception in 1990, ESLC has helped landowners to protect more than 53,000 acres of farmland and important habitat on 283 Eastern Shore properties.

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ESLC Hopes to Establish Eastern Shore Conservation Center

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy will host a public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 25, at the Talbot County Historical Society Auditorium in Easton, to discuss plans to purchase the McCord Building on Washington Street. In the coming year ESLC hopes to transform this vacant Easton warehouse into a charismatic green building that brings new vitality to both the neighborhood and the town. Called the Eastern Shore Conservation Center, this facility will create a working home for our employees and for other organizations and businesses. This hub of activity will spark collaboration and innovation around conservation at a new scale for the Eastern Shore. At the meeting, staff members will give an introduction to Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and a description of the McCord Building site, and will ask community members to express what they would like to see on the site. The Conservancy also invites the public to attend an Open House from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, July 26, at the McCord Building.

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Recent Posts

  • Roots Monthly Giving Spotlight: Amanda Thornley
  • Big Changes on the Horizon for the CREP Easement Program
  • Trails Get a Boost Across the Shore
  • Seven Legislative Efforts That Could Impact Eastern Shore Land Use and Preservation
  • Land Protection for All
  • Board Spotlight: Jules Hendrix
  • New Regional Trail Map Shows Existing and Potential Trails for a Growing Network
  • Saving Maryland’s Tidal Salt Marshes
  • From the President: The Eastern Shore’s Most Urgent Conservation Need in 2024
  • Review: ESLC Forests and Forestry Workshop
  • Volunteer Spotlight: Roger Bollman
  • Where the Wood Drake Rests: Wetland Restoration & Conservation on the Eastern Shore
  • ESLC Partners with Urban 3 to Study Eastern Shore Land Use
  • 106 Acres Protected Forever in Quaker Neck, Kent County
  • An Autumn Stroll at Bohemia River State Park