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Mission Statement
Conserve, steward, and advocate for the unique rural landscape of the Eastern Shore.

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ESLC

September 15, 2010

Place Work[s]hop Named Semi-Finalist in National Strong Communities Competition

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) announced today that Place Work[s]hop, a community project led by ESLC, Urban Dialogues and the town of East New Market has been selected as a semifinalist in the national competition "Strong Communities: Engaging Citizens, Strengthening Place, Inspiring Change." The national competition, held by CommunityMatters and Ashoka¡'s Changemakers features Place Work[s]hop as one of 24 semi-finalists in the competition.  The Strong Communities competition was designed to address problems and threats that face the vitality and quality of life in small towns and urban neighborhoods ¨C including one-size-fits-all development, decreasing social capital and disconnections between neighbors, struggling local economies, and rampant or sluggish growth. Place Work[s]hop was selected from among 260 entrants in the competition for the unique way it is helping to create positive change, address community challenges and build a more vibrant future.  Place Work[s]hop is a collaborative community design initiative founded by ESLC and Urban Dialogues, Inc. Designed for the specific needs of the Eastern Shore's small towns, Place Work[s]hop uses a process combining the local knowledge of the community with the design and planning knowledge of local architects, planners, preservationists, policy-makers and more. The entire community of East New Market gathered last fall to create a vision for their community which includes numerous drawings, input and ideas about the best strategies for helping East New Market become a vibrant small town once again. One result of the progress made from Place Work[s]hop is a community wide fundraising effort to purchase an historic home and park area Friendship Hall in the center of town.  "This is very exciting for an Eastern Shore project to be selected and we are so pleased to see East New Market's efforts to create a vision for the future of the town and the Shore get the recognition it deserves,"

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September 15, 2010

ESLC and Queen Anne’s County Partner to Protect 486 Acres of farmland

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) recently announced the permanent protection of 486 acres of farm, forest, and marshland in Queen Anne's County with the purchase of conservation easements on Brown's Branch Farm and Home Farm. Brown's Branch Farm is located on the northwest side of Church Hill and has a half of a mile of frontage along Route 213, which is the main spine of Chesapeake Country national scenic byway. The 218-acre farm consists of approximately 134 acres of tillable ground, 36 acres of wetlands, 43 forested acres, and a 5-acre farmstead area. The conservation easement permanently eliminates the possibility of 24 building lots on this productive farm. The easement will provide a forested stream buffer to protect the water quality of the adjoining Brown's Branch stream, which is home to an endangered freshwater mussel. Funding for this project came from a mutli-million dollar allocation from a federal transportation bill spearheaded by former Congressman Wayne Gilchrest for ESLC to protect the rural landscape along the Chesapeake Country byway corridor. Maryland State Highway Administration administers the federal funds and will reimburse Queen Anne's County for settlement of both easements. The landowner sold the conservation easement for 20 percent less than the appraised value, which was necessary to complete the easement. "This was a great opportunity for us to partner with Queen Anne's County to expand a protected greenbelt around Church Hill and ensure that important scenic areas along Chesapeake Country remain as open space for the continued enjoyment of byway travelers.," said Sandra Edwards, ESLC's Land Protection Specialist. "We are very grateful to both the landowner and Queen Anne's County for making this happen." The second protected property - Home Farm - is located near Kingstown in Queen Anne's County. The farm consists of 267 acres of which 238 acres are considered prime farmland. Situated

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September 15, 2010

Owsley Named ESLC Deputy Director

ESLC is pleased to announce the promotion of Amy Owsley to Deputy Director of the organization.  Owsley, who joined ESLC as its Director of Community Planning in 2001, has a Masters in Forest Science from Yale University, a Bachelor's in Earth Sciences from Pennsylvania State University, and was a Knauss Seagrant Fellow, Morris K Udall Congressional Scholar, and is a recent graduate of the National Conservation Leadership Program. She left ESLC in 2005 for a two year project with the Land Trust Alliance, where she led a coastwide conservation collaborative called the Maine Coast Protection Initiative. In Amy's time with ESLC before working in Maine, she created and led the original Eastern Shore 2010 initiative and launched a land use planning educational forum for the Shore.  "I am so pleased that Amy has accepted this new position within our organization," said Rob Etgen, ESLC’s Executive Director. "Amy knows our issues and institution, she has well established relationships with the ESLC staff, Board and the community, and she is especially well equipped to handle the new issues we will be facing as we head into our new strategic plan."  ESLC recently kicked off its new strategic plan – which runs from 2010-2015 –and will focus on towns, access to land and inviting a much broader segment of Eastern Shore residents, friends, and supporters into ESLC’s mission and work.  Amy, who splits her time between ESLC’s Queenstown and Cambridge offices. resides in Easton with her husband, Ryan Ewing and their infant son, Liam.

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September 1, 2010

Nearly 2,900 acres in Kent County protected forever

Donated easement protects important waterfront, farmland and wooded areas  Eastern Shore Land Conservancy announced today that nearly 2,900 acres of Kent County farmland and waterfront have been protected forever from development, thanks to a donated conservation easement. The easement on the Andelot property near Worton - which  features 1,087 acres of woodland, 9.2 miles of waterfront and 1,692 acres of tillable ground  - will be jointly held by Eastern Shore Conservancy (ESLC) and the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET). Of the 2,894.2 acres, 1,303 acres are located in the Critical Area. Current zoning would allow for 175 residences to be built on the property so this easement - which allows a maximum of 14 residences - reduces the property’s development potential by 92%. The forest also supports FIDS (Forest Interior Dwelling Species) - a diverse population of bird species that need large forest areas to breed successfully and maintain viable populations. FIDS include songbirds, warblers, woodpeckers, hawks and owls.  This easement was originally approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works in 1991 as a bequest - which would take effect upon the landowner's passing. Today’s approval by the state makes the easement effective immediately.  Located partially in the Sassafras Rural Legacy Focus Area, Andelot is considered a high priority project because of its size, location, amount of waterfront and the presence of rare, threatened or endangered species. There are five known bald eagle nests on the property as well as Delmarva fox squirrel. In addition to nearly 1,700 tillable acres and 1,087 acres of woodland, this property also boasts scenic public views of the Chesapeake Bay, Worton Creek, Tims Creek, Still Pond and Churn Creek. It is located adjacent to several other protected properties held in easement by ESLC and MET including the 632 acre Copeland-Biddle site. There are 3,577 acres of permanently protected lands within

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October 9, 2009

ESLC Hosts Successful Town Planning Event

Nearly 200 elected officials and representatives of dozens of planning agencies, environmental groups, design firms, developers and community stakeholder groups convened recently for one of the first Eastern Shore based conferences dedicated to town planning. The conference, titled "About Town: A Gathering to Uplift and Invest in our Eastern Shore Towns" was hosted by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC).  ESLC hosts a planning conference annually and this year’s About Town conference gathered experts, opinion leaders and citizens to discuss strategies, success stories, models and tools for investing in and revitalizing our beloved Eastern Shore towns. Featuring talks and information sharing from both national experts and local opinion leaders, About Town provided attendees a variety of educational opportunities ranging from informative keynotes, panel discussions and interactive workshop sessions. Speakers included nationally recognized experts Jess Zimbabwe, Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute's Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use and Ken Snyder, CEO of PlaceMatters. Maryland Secretary of Planning Richard Hall and various local leaders rounded out the roster of speakers.  "This year’s About Town conference represents a new approach to planning for a better Eastern Shore and as ESLC looks to expand its focus to towns and municipalities we are excited about the energy behind this approach from our local planners and decision makers," said Jake Day, ESLC’s Town Planning Manager. "We really wanted our attendees to walk away with an understanding of how we achieve sustainable, safe walkable town design and planning and engage our local communities in achieving this kind of desirable growth. We are grateful to everyone who attended – they made it a great conference!"  The winners of ESLC’s Eastern Shore 2010 awards were also honored at a special ceremony during the conference. This year’s award recipients include Muskrat Park, the Mid-Shore Regional Council, Habitat for

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Recent Posts

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  • From the President: The Eastern Shore’s Most Urgent Conservation Need in 2024
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