Easton Council Approves Purchase of 197 Acre Woodland Park
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy applauds the Easton Town Council’s approval of the purchase of a 197-acre parcel on Oxford Road for a new forested community park. The town envisions the proposed park being a key future component of an impressive trails network, ensuring folks from Easton and the surrounding area have access to hiking, wildlife watching, and other types of passive recreation.
Acquisition of the property is still contingent on the town receiving the vast majority of the funding required for the purchase from the Department of Natural Resources’ Program Open Space. The town of Easton and Talbot County will also contribute their own portion of local-side Program Open Space funding to complete the sale. The town of Easton will retain ownership and management of the park.
Parks bring many benefits to a community. Access to nature enhances the mental and physical health of residents and visitors. Preservation of this land will contribute to the health of the Tred Avon River and protect wildlife habitat. Trails throughout the park will add to the town’s expanding trail network that would connect residents to an expansive passive recreation park. Access to protected open space and trails has also been shown to demonstrably increase property values.
“This property adds value to the Town of Easton in multiple ways,” said Council President Megan Cook. “Adding almost 200 acres of parkland to the town is a wonderful opportunity we couldn’t pass up. Not only would it add a wooded passive park for residents but it also helps the town with our MS4 [storm water management] requirements.”
Talbot County is one of just two counties in the state that does not currently boast a state park, and has some of the fewest publicly-accessible open space acres in the state. The addition of the Easton forest park represents welcome progress toward meeting the needs of the community.
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy will be submitting a formal letter of support for the project to DNR in the weeks ahead, and applauds both Talbot County and Easton decision makers for the valuable leadership.
Owen Bailey
Director of Land Use and Policy