eastern shore maryland farmland conservation

October 2012

October 19, 2012

Land Ho! Celebrating Eastern Shore Treasures

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is pleased to announce its Annual Gala and Silent Auction, Land Ho! Celebrating Eastern Shore Treasures, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at River House, Aspen Institute. The Gala supports Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s Annual Fund, which helps us to continue our work saving land in six counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. ESLC is a private, nonprofit land conservation organization dedicated to the preservation of farmland and habitat on the Eastern Shore. Funded by member contributions, ESLC helps landowners to discover, evaluate and implement any of the voluntary land preservation options available. 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. River House is a Georgian plantation house overlooking the Wye River on Aspen Institute’s 1,100-acre campus in Queenstown. The Queenstown Conference Center site was donated to Aspen Institute in 1979 by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Auction items this year will include artwork by Marc Castelli, a one-week stay in a Jackson Hole, Wyoming guest home, and sculpture by Judge John C. North. Past auction items have included exciting vacation packages, art, combine rides, bird walks, and dinners on gorgeous, preserved properties. You may order tickets or become a sponsor of Land Ho! Celebrating Eastern Shore Treasures by visiting us online and choosing your sponsorship level (Jack Tar through Landlubber!) from the dropdown menu, or by contacting Jennifer Pollard, Director of Planned Giving, at jpollard@eslc.org, or 410-827-9756, ext. 155.

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September 20, 2012

Come play in traffic on PARK(ing) Day!

ESLC's Center for Towns Hosts PARK(ing) Day in Easton Come visit and play with us Friday in our temporary parklet, which Eastern Shore Land Conservancy's Center for Towns staff and volunteers will install in a parking space on Harrison Street in front of Easton Town Hall! (Please note location change.) Please enjoy the benefits of our parklet, to include: fishing in our urban wetland parking space; discounts to area businesses; talking about exciting ESLC projects! Then, come visit us from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Thompson Park in Easton for Chesapeake Film Festival to become an Eastern Shore star.

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September 18, 2012

Russell E. Train, 92, Conservationist

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy's Board of Directors and staff today were saddened to learn of the passing of Russell E. Train, a true leader of conservation, internationally and locally. He was a longtime friend of the organization. "He served on our advisory board, placed a conservation easement on his own property, and was a passionate advocate for conservation in the region and beyond," said ESLC Executive Director Robert J. Etgen. "His leadership and spirit will be missed. Please join us as we remember his legacy." For a compete obituary, please see The New York Times.

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September 10, 2012

Meet Jared Parks, ESLC’s resident birder

Since he was a little boy, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) Land Protection Specialist Jared Parks has been a birder, and now he brings his gift for birding to those wishing to join him Saturday, Oct. 13, for a bird walk on a preserved property. “When I was young, my dad was a bird watcher, and he taught himself – and he taught us, as well,” Parks said. “We’d go out with him. He’d give my mom a break and take a little time off being a lawyer and take us out bird watching. I just kind of got hooked with being able to see them and be around birds – and they’re everywhere. Well, there’s less of them around now than there ever where, but they’re still a great teaching tool, because they’re always outside when you’re outside. So, it drew me to it, and I haven’t waivered from that path.” Parks remembers helping with banding birds at the Kent County banding station as a boy, and up until accepting his role as land preservation specialist at ESLC, was banding frequently and regularly – almost every year. Participating annually in Christmas and Easter counts, Parks can watch the population trends. He started participating in the National Audubon Society bird count in lower Kent County when he was about seven years old. Such counts require sitting still and focusing, practices that (along with fishing) taught Parks to have patience and to be able to stick with something – even through rain, when he can’t see much – and to enjoy what he does see. Seems as though Parks’ time in nature has given him a special connection with animals. He has had some close encounters with deer, but his favorite encounter was with a bird. Once, he was sitting on the bench of a

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September 7, 2012

ESLC’s Center for Towns Hosts Park(ing) Day in Easton

Easton, Maryland – September 7, 2012 – Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s Center for Towns will participate Friday, Sept. 21, in PARK(ing) Day, an annual event held in cities around the world in which artists, activists and community members temporarily transform metered parking spaces into public parks and other social spaces. ESLC staff and volunteers will create a park in a parking space across from the Talbot County Courthouse. A workshop to design the temporary parklet will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, at Rise Up Coffee Roasters on Dover Street. Originally invented in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. “In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution,” says Rebar’s Matthew Passmore. “The planning strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant human habitat. PARK(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the urban landscape.” PARK(ing) Day is an “open-source” user-generated invention created by independent groups around the globe who adapt the project to champion creative, social or political causes that are relevant to their local urban conditions. A global map of all participating cities are available on the PARK(ing) Day website, at parkingday.org.

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October 2012

Land Ho! Celebrating Eastern Shore Treasures

Come play in traffic on PARK(ing) Day!

Russell E. Train, 92, Conservationist

Meet Jared Parks, ESLC’s resident birder

ESLC’s Center for Towns Hosts Park(ing) Day in Easton

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