Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and the Galt Family have permanently conserved more than 231 acres in Kent County on the East Fork of Langford Creek. The easement was made possible through the United States Department of Defense’s Army Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI). “With the addition of the Galts’ farm, ESLC has now completed 347 conservation easements, covering more than 60,178 acres of land on Maryland’s Eastern Shore,” commented ESLC President and CEO Steve Kline. “From the abundant working woodlands to productive agricultural land, livestock pastures, wetlands, and creek buffers—this farm is a prime example of the working lands that we protect across our entire six-county area.”

 

 

The conservation easement at Heaven’s View covers 162 acres of cropland and pasture, historic waterfowl habitat, and scenic frontage both by land on Langford Road, and 9,300 feet of scenic frontage along the East Fork of Langford Creek. 54 acres of mixed hardwood forest provide select timber harvests of poplar and oak, as well as critical habitat for forest interior dwelling species of birds, and shade and protection for the farm’s small herd of Hereford cattle. Brothers Jeff and Doug Galt grow corn, beans, wheat, barley, hay, and straw, in rotation with regular cover crops.

 

 

“A lot of people don’t realize the beauty. It’s peaceful when you get out there when you’re working the ground,” reflected Jeff Galt. “When we moved here our road was full of farmers. Now there’s only two farmers left. Every farm used to milk cows in the 1970s. We were the last dairy farm south of Chestertown and we stopped dairy eight years ago. We were getting older so we started doing hay and straw. There’s not many of us left.”

 

Raised on his family’s farm, Jeff’s grandson Blake Kohl has been working the land with his grandfather and great uncle his whole life. “It makes me feel amazing that this will never be turned into a development,” said Blake, “and that it will always be protected.”