eastern shore maryland farmland conservation

ESLC

March 14, 2012

Eastern Shore Peeps! Show some style!

ESLC is hosting a Peeps design contest. Show us your Eastern Shore Peeps! To enter: 1. Create a diorama depicting marshmallow Peeps arranged in the theme of your choice. For example, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy might create a diorama with the theme, “ESLC – Peep it Rural!” 2. Take a photo of your diorama and email it by Monday, April 2, to spearce@eslc.org. All entries will be judged that week, and the winner will receive a basket of Eastern Shore treats! Runners-up will receive certificates, and their dioramas will be featured on our website. The contest is open to any theme, but local themes will be given extra points. (Think – towns, local businesses, pastimes, agriculture, fishing, crabbing, hunting, boating, trapping, hanging out in a big truck on a Saturday night … show us how your Eastern Shore Peeps hang!) Any entry could be featured on Facebook, Pinterest, or other social media site! Rules: Anyone of any age can enter. Have fun! Be creative! Please submit it by Monday, April 2, and cross your fingers!

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March 6, 2012

Morning canoeing on the Sassafras

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February 14, 2012

ESLC goes to Annapolis

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is at the forefront of Maryland state policy decisions. Last week alone, ESLC testified in front of the Maryland Senate Budget and Tax Committee, and served as a host for the "Taste of the Eastern Shore" legislative reception, interacting with hundreds of leaders from across the state. Join the ESLC policy advocates weekly email group and stay informed with our weekly policy update. This past Wednesday, ESLC testified in support of SB 294- Family Farm Preservation Act; a bill designed to help soften the financial burden for family farms and ensure the next generation inherits agricultural property without excessive costs. This bill would limit the estate (inheritance) tax on agricultural land and support Maryland family farms during a very vulnerable time. This week ESLC will testify in support of SB 236 - Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012, which could effectively combat one of the most damaging forces facing the Eastern Shore's landscape and economy: rural sprawl. This bill establishes four tiers of development areas that increasingly limit the type of development that can occur with a goal of reducing the number of acres of land converted to development and the number of polluting septic systems. ESLC wants you to join the process. Be an advocate for change and join ESLC in speaking up for a vibrant Eastern Shore. For more information, please contact ESLC Policy Manager Josh Hastings at 410-827-9756 Ext.169 or jhastings@eslc.org.

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February 3, 2012

ESLC Invites Applications for Howard Wood Scholarship

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is accepting applications for the Howard Wood Memorial Scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship honoring a founding board member of ESLC – Howard Wood – who was committed to maintaining the Eastern Shore’s rich rural and agricultural legacy. The Howard Wood Scholarship was established by the family of the Mr. Wood to honor his lifelong commitment to youth, conservation and the Eastern Shore’s rich rural heritage. ESLC is currently accepting applications for the 2012 scholarship. The scholarship application is open to anyone looking to pursue a career in agriculture, land use planning alternative energy planning or other conservation related field. The competition is open to those who are residents of the six counties ESLC serves – Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot. Applications are available via ESLC’s website. To apply, applicants should fill out an application, provide a high school or college transcript and submit a 500-word original essay describing their response to the following question: Consider the Eastern Shore in the next 25 years – what is your vision for the Shore? What will you do to ensure the Eastern Shore remains the rural gem and special place that it is for the future? Please include your academic plans, career aspirations and future goals when responding to this question. Scholarship applications are due by March 31, 2012. Applications will be judged by a panel and one scholarship recipient will be selected and announced in May. Download the application. About Howard Wood Howard Wood spent summers at his grandmother’s farm crabbing, sailing and swimming – if the jellyfish weren’t too thick. He helped with chores and learned to drive her Model T pick-up. After college and law school, Howard decided to live year round at Indiantown – the farm next door to his grandmother’s – and opened his law office in Centreville. He soon

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January 1, 2012

A New Year message from the Executive Director

The following letter to the editor was published December 24, 2011, in The Star Democrat, and December 28, 2011, in The Record Observer. We are bombarded daily with news of economic volatility, hostile politics, lawsuits, a polluted Chesapeake Bay, our warming climate, and this year even hurricanes and an earthquake. Thankfully, the holiday season is here to remind us of the abundance in our lives of things that really matter. Here on the Eastern Shore, development is down, but so is sprawl. It was a wild weather year for farming, but good prices and good soybeans may save the day. Although oysters are down due to high rainfall, the rockfish young-of-the-year (YOY) survey indicated the highest reproduction ever. The Frederick Douglass statue was completed this year and stands proudly on the Talbot County Court House green. Chesapeake College enrollment is up, school ratings are up, we have new medical facilities underway, and wind and solar energy projects are springing up everywhere. Perhaps most importantly, our Eastern Shore communities have pulled together strongly in the most difficult times with new homeless shelters, multiple food pantry drives, and even several new community park projects in our towns. I am confident that the Eastern Shore will emerge from this current recession stronger and more resilient than when we entered it. Enjoy your family and friends, be thankful for the great abundance we have here on the Eastern Shore, and remain hopeful that the future is bright for this region and this nation. ROB ETGEN Executive Director Eastern Shore Land Conservancy

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ESLC

Eastern Shore Peeps! Show some style!

Morning canoeing on the Sassafras

ESLC goes to Annapolis

ESLC Invites Applications for Howard Wood Scholarship

A New Year message from the Executive Director

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