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

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ESLC Announces New Conservation Easements

QUEENSTOWN – Eastern Shore Land Conservancy today announces the preservation of 919.51 acres on five properties on the Mid-Shore. Each property is unique and adds to the beauty, health and productivity of the Mid-Shore.
“Today, we are thrilled to announce the preservation of nearly 1,000 acres in Talbot, Caroline and Queen Anne’s counties,” said ESLC Executive Director Robert J. Etgen. “The gift of conservation benefits the entire community. By preserving these properties, the landowners have helped to improve our water quality, provided habitat for wildlife, and protected these properties from costly sprawl. We are grateful for the generosity of these landowners and all who seek to preserve our beautiful Eastern Shore.”
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is committed to preserving and sustaining the vibrant communities of the Eastern Shore and the lands and waters that connect them.
Our vision in 2050 is an Eastern Shore where towns are vibrant and well defined; farms, forests, and fisheries are thriving and scenic; historic, natural, and riverine landscapes are maintained.
ESLC helps save land and promote sound land use planning from the C&D Canal in Cecil County all the way to the Nanticoke River in Dorchester County. We work in Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester Counties.

Yorktown Farm

A 439.269-acre donated easement in Talbot County on Skipton Creek near the village of Longwoods. The easement covers about 245 acres of active farmland and waterfowl impoundments and about 185 acres of woods. The property is home to a large population of the endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrel that will be protected by the easement with a forest management plan.

The easement also permanently retires all of the development rights on 122 acres of the property zoned Village Center for the village of Longwoods, as well as all but two development rights on the remainder of the property. The easement also protects critical habitat for Forest Interior Dwelling bird species (FIDS) and migrating songbirds, as well as the Few-flowered Tick-trefoil, considered endangered in the state of Maryland, and the Log Fern, considered threatened in the state of Maryland.

The property scored an “excellent” rating on the Maryland Green Infrastructure ranking system. The easement was donated to ESLC and Maryland Environmental Trust by Yorktown Farm, LLC.

Miles Point

The conservation of the 72.003-acre property in the town of St. Michaels was formalized Wednesday by the Board of Public Works. Thanks to the generosity of a conservation buyer, the conservation of this property ended a 12-year series of legal proceedings and lawsuits among developers who wanted to build on the property, the Town of St. Michaels, and those opposed to development. The easement was donated to ESLC and Maryland Environmental Trust by the donor-landowner.

Gray

W. Calvin Gray and Constance Gray donated to ESLC and Maryland Environmental Trust a conservation easement on 318.038 acres in Queen Anne’s County. The property is a mix of agriculture and woodland. The scenic road frontage of the property connects 1,000 feet of protected scenic road frontage to another 4,000 feet of protected scenic road frontage.

The property has 789 linear feet of stream channels, which are protected by a 100-foot buffer strip.  The existing forested buffers maintain water quality along the unnamed tributary of Alder Branch, a tributary of the Corsica River. The property is in the county’s Agricultural Priority Preservation Area, meaning the Property was designated as a priority for agricultural preservation by Queen Anne’s County.

Kinney

Brooke and Lynne Kinney donated to Eastern Shore Land Conservancy an easement on their 29-acre property on the Wye River in Queen Anne’s County.

The property has more than 3,000 feet of shoreline along the Wye, and the conservation of this property will contribute to water quality of the Wye River. The entire property is in the Critical Area and is zoned (CS) Countryside, which means the property was designated to preserve and protect the rural and agricultural areas of Queen Anne’s County.

Within one mile of the property are 510.156 acres of protected land. The property is in close proximity to ESLC, and county easements. It consists of nine acres of tilled Agricultural land, eight acres of marshland and seven acres of wooded yard.  The property is surrounded on three sides by the Wye River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.  The dominant tree species present in the forested yard area include red maple, Osage orange, sassafras, red oak, white oak, and elm. Lynne is extremely conservation minded and continuously plants native species throughout the property. She is nurturing a giant oak which was recently struck by lightning and works with Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage on multiple property projects.

Faulkner Branch

The state Board of Public Works in November approved a CREP Buffer easement a 61.2-acre property owned by Ronald and Linda Christopher. Included in the easement are 30.6 acres of grass buffer and 30.6 acres of mature forest, both of which help to protect the water quality of Faulkner Branch in southern Caroline County. Faulkner Branch is a tributary of the Nanticoke River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The easement is co-held by ESLC and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which also provided funding for the easement.

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