eastern shore maryland farmland conservation

September 2012

September 3, 2012

Abend Hafen

Rick and Kathy Abend, owners of Abend Hafen Farm in Dorchester County, have been members of ESLC since 1992. The German name of their farm translates to “Evening Haven.” The preserved 106-acre sanctuary is well named, as it is certainly a haven for the Abends as well as their dogs, cat and chickens. The Abends grow corn and soybeans, and they steward the forested areas of their property for wildlife habitat and for timber. After a recent harvest, they planted thousands of pine seedlings, among which oak and other hardwoods have sprouted. As the forest grows, the hardwoods will provide mast such as acorns for turkey and deer. A large pond and shallow impoundments are frequented by wood ducks and other waterfowl, while nesting platforms invite osprey and eagles. Rick first learned of ESLC when he was teaching a class about quail. There he met Rob Etgen, Executive Director of ESLC, who was invited to speak about conservation easements. With the rich diversity of habitats he was creating on his farm, Rick was considering how he might preserve the environmental legacy he was creating there and was intrigued by the idea of protecting the land in perpetuity. Rick was pleased that he could write into his conservation plan timber harvest, along with protection of wildlife habitat. The Abends did protect their land, and have been proud ESLC members ever since.

Read More

August 16, 2012

Productive Dialogue with “Let’s Be Shore”

Please enjoy a guest blog from Maryland Humanities Council: Can Productive Dialogue Set the Tone for Solutions? The “Let’s Be Shore” Project Wants to Jumpstart Conversation by Michele Baylin, Maryland Humanities Council Communications Manager How can watching a video create better stewardship of our watershed? The Maryland Humanities Council’s (MHC) Practicing Democracy project, “Let’s Be Shore,” is using the humanities to connect with Eastern Shore residents, inform them about their county watershed implementation plans (WIPs), and bring people with divergent perspectives together for civic discourse. In 2011, MHC’s Practicing Democracy program was honored with the Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize for using the humanities to tackle local critical issues such as hydraulic fracturing, cultural diversity, and land use. In 2012, Practicing Democracy focuses its efforts on the Shore. “Let’s Be Shore” offers a space for dialogue and listening, so that residents may explore issues of land use and sustainability along the Shore. The EPA expects Bay jurisdictions to work with local leaders and partners to identify county Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) to meet interim water quality goals. But as we all know, the Chesapeake Bay watershed is diverse and land use varies widely between Maryland’s upper, mid, and lower shore counties. Residents are keenly aware of their personal relationship to and responsibility for the area’s natural resources, but stakeholders are often at odds about how to move forward. “We seek to be a neutral convener, not to change people’s values or opinions, but rather to foster a respect and understanding, enabling communities to come together for civil dialogue,” says Executive Director Phoebe Stein Davis. Last fall, Beth Barbush, MHC’s “Let’s Be Shore” Project Manager, teamed up with award-winning documentary filmmaker Doug Sadler (“Swimmers”), conducting audio interviews on the subject of water quality along the Bay. Audio transcripts were reviewed by a panel of Shore residents, who helped

Read More

August 9, 2012

Announcing Fall Bird Walks

Queenstown, Maryland – August 9, 2012 – Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) will offer two bird walks this fall highlighting preserved, publicly accessible properties in Caroline and Dorchester counties. The first walk will be held at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at ESLC’s Lynch Preserve, near Preston. The property was donated to ESLC by Mary Lynch in 1998 and recently was enhanced with a welcome kiosk, improved trails, trail signs and benches. This 206-acre property is located at the confluence of Robins Creek and the Choptank River. The walk will take us through mixed upland forest and along riparian and forested wetland habitats where we will be looking for a variety of warblers, vireos, thrushes, flycatchers and other fall migrants. The middle of September promises a great variety of birds, often in great quantities. With luck, a nice northwesterly breeze will bring in many birds. The second walk will be held at 8 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 13, at a property preserved by ESLC in 2008. The 392-acre property is owned by Dorchester County, is preserved with an ESLC/MET easement and is managed in partnership with the adjacent Henson Boy Scout Reserve. The property rests on the banks of Marshyhope Creek and is best known for being home to a globally rare wetland complex known as Wade’s Savannah. Our walk will begin in mixed upland forest and will wind through old sand and gravel borrow pits, along riparian wetland forest, through dry forest associated with an ancient dune complex, and finally to Wade’s Savannah. The walk will be held right in the middle of the late fall migration period, when anything is possible -- from interesting local birds, such as the brown-headed nuthatch, to migrating warblers, thrushes, sparrows and hawks. The cost for each walk is $15 for non-members, $10 for members, and $5 for children

Read More

August 3, 2012

MAPP defeated

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, along with the Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, successfully fought and won against the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway project. This transmission line requires a 200 foot right-of-way for the 140-150 foot high towers and would transect 27 miles of Dorchester County (27 miles) with large transmission towers. The rights-of-way required for these lines would consume 650 acres of Dorchester’s agriculture, forest and rural lands. There are many unanswered questions on the impacts to Dorchester’s economy, environment, and the possible alternatives and the MAPP Action Center was designed to provide visitors with resource information, the latest project news and links to ways you can make your voice heard on this project.

Read More

July 30, 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

Read More

September 2012

Abend Hafen

Productive Dialogue with “Let’s Be Shore”

Announcing Fall Bird Walks

MAPP defeated

ESLC Celebrates Land Conservation Successes

Recent Posts

Site Directory