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November 2, 2012

ESLC seeks your ideas for a Rural Jobs Agenda

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy has drafted a Rural Jobs Agenda to take to Annapolis for this next Maryland General Assembly session. We would love your great ideas and thoughts about ensuring the Eastern Shore is thriving and vibrant. Our Vision for Rural Maryland: Rural areas like our Eastern Shore of Maryland will be places of innovation and opportunity, with vibrant towns, thriving farms and forests, and economies built from rural strengths. Our Rural Regions Are Places of Opportunity Rural regions are Maryland treasures. Their natural resources and landscapes serve food, fiber and fun, and are living connections to the stories and lifestyles that founded our State. Our rural places, however, will not stay special by accident. The need for economic opportunity is distinct, and the choices feel limited. Needed now is a clear vision, regional collaboration, and smart investments to ensure that economic vibrancy emerges from our rural region, not despite it. Collective actions in the following areas are essential future economic innovations and opportunity: Strengthen our Towns as Economic Hubs – Towns are the commerce center for our rural communities. For the sustainability of our rural lands and industry, it is essential these are healthy, attractive places to live and work. Capacity and support for the WIP work should be built and investment in transit and telecommuting centers should be encouraged. - Support creation of the Eastern Shore Conservation Center. This regional conservation center in the heart of Chesapeake country would share costs, increase collaboration, and promote the best of the region’s rural heritage. It would house many outdoors and conservation oriented non-profits that would be dedicated to sustaining the rural legacy of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and beyond. This project would also rehabilitate a historic building and be a part of a major downtown revitalization for Easton, MD. - Reinstitute the MDE’s Loan Forgiveness Program for minor WWTPs, and ensure future

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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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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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BLOG

ESLC seeks your ideas for a Rural Jobs Agenda

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

Abend Hafen

Productive Dialogue with “Let’s Be Shore”

Announcing Fall Bird Walks

MAPP defeated

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