MARYLAND - 38 new easements have been approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works, permanently preserving over 4,000 acres of farmland with over 1,300 of those acres in Eastern Shore counties.
The easements totaled more than $19 million in acquisition costs and were requested by the Maryland Preservation Foundation, according to the Department of Agriculture. .
“Maryland’s beauty and heritage are woven into its 2 million acres of farmland and preserving this precious land is crucial to sustaining the state’s agriculture industry," said Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks. “I am grateful for and thank all the farmers who volunteered to sell preservation easements through the preservation program.”
Total acres by Eastern Shore counties are as follows:
Caroline - 358.76
Dorchester: 63.02
Somerset - 141.45
Talbot - 167.8
Wicomico - 204.87
Worcester - 374.46
All in all, the total investment on the Eastern Shore easements neared $4 million.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture says the new easements will help the state “meet its Chesapeake Bay goal of conserving and preserving over 1 million acres of productive agricultural land by 2030.”
