MARYLAND’S SMART GROWTH

and

LAND CONSERVATION PROGRAMS/PARTNERSHIPS

State of Maryland

Parris N. Glendening, Governor

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Lt. Governor

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

J. Charles Fox, Secretary

Karen White, Deputy Secretary

Loss of Farmland

• Losing 15,000–25,000 acres/year

The Problems

RoadsideSprawl

conflicts with farming and

costs taxpayers

Large-lot development

consumes forests & natural

resources

Waterfront DevelopmentDamages Fragile Coastlines

The Solutions

A PROUD TRADITION OF LAND CONSERVATION

• Maryland Environmental Trust 1967• Program Open Space 1969• Maryland Agricultural Land

Preservation Foundation 1974• Rural Legacy Program 1997• GreenPrint Program 2001• Community Parks & Playgrounds 2001

The Solutions

Governor Parris N. Glendening’s Smart Growth Initiatives

Nationally recognized land acquisition and conservation programs

•Maryland GreenPrint ProgramFunds the purchase or protection of large tracts of

ecologically sensitive lands within Maryland’s Green Infrastructure

•Community Parks and PlaygroundsProvides funding to local governments and municipalities for

the development of new parks/playgrounds as well as the renovation of older parks

•Rural Legacy ProgramFunds the purchase or protection farmland within designated

Rural Legacy Areas within each Maryland county

Glendening Land Conservation Accomplishments

• $780 million for land preservation, parks and recreation since 1995

• $176.2 million for FY2002, the largest annual budget for land preservation, parks and recreation

• Protected more land than any prior administration – more than 279,334 acres to date (25.8% of all protected lands)

• Protected more open space than lost to development for last 3 years

• 6.2 million acres of land in Maryland• 4.6 million acres of private farm & forest lands• 400,000 acres under easement (6.47%)• 657,150 acres of fed, state and local parks (10.5%)• 25,650 acres private conservation land (0.4%)• 1,081,962 acres total protected lands (17.4%)• 1,227,000 acres developed (19.7%)• Losing 15,000 – 25,000 acres/year to development

Private Farm

Private Forest

Parks

Developed

Maryland’s Lands

• Total Area of State 6,208,025 ac• Total Protected Land 1,081,962 ac

– 17.43%

• Amount of State in watershed 5,822,538 ac– 93.8%

• Bay Agreement Protection needed for 20% of State – 2.57% 159,643 ac

The Challenge

Meet Chesapeake Bay Agreement Goals

Federal PartnershipsAdditional funds and support to further land

conservation goals

• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

- Both State and Federal Allocations

• Direct Grants (Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife, Forest Service)

• Transportation Enhancement Funds (TEA21)

• Administered through the National Park Service via annual allocations to all 50 states

• Also provides direct appropriations for specific projects via Federal allocations

• $75 million awarded in Maryland since 1967 via 357 projects

• Provides funding to both Local and State government for open space and recreation areas

• Funds both Land acquisition and development• Important fund source to “stretch” State dollars

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Successful LWCF Partnership

HOLLY BEACH FARM Anne Arundel County

Conserving

Maryland’s

Waterfront

•Waterfront acreage located along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

•Development potential included subdivision for up to 20 waterfront estate lots w/potential water access

•Protection of tidal marshes, hardwood swamps, and woodlands

•Recently named the “Best Real Estate Deal of 2001” by the Washington Business Journal

•Critical resting and feeding ground for many imperiled waterfowl species

•Important winter cover and migratory staging area for waterfowl

Holly Beach FarmProtecting waterfront lands threatened with development

Holly Beach Farm

Partnerships for Conservation

Partners include:

LWCF/National Park Service

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

The Conservation Fund

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Fish and Wildlife Service

Holly Beach Farm Funding Partners

Land and Water Conservation Fund State Allocation for FY2000 $992,023

TEA21 $2,875,000

National Park Service Direct Grant Federal LWCF Allocation $1,496,700

Maryland’s Program Open Space $1,886,277

Total Project Cost $7,250,000

Maryland’s GreenPrint Program

Based on DNR’s Green Infrastructure Program

• A network of sensitive resources• Patterns of protected lands• Hubs of multiple resources• GIS capability• Identifies protection & management

opportunities

Features IncludeUnique Wetlands•Large, Unmodified Wetlands•Interior Forest•Colonial Waterbird Nesting Sites•Waterfowl Concentration Areas•Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species•Natural Heritage Areas•Habitat Protection Areas•Slopes > 10%•Streams and 268’ Buffer•Close Proximity to Existing Protected Lands

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Douglas PointDouglas Point Charles County

GreenPrint

Lower Potomac River Protection Strategy

at Douglas Point

•One of the last remaining true wilderness areas in Maryland

•5,500 Acres targeted for acquisition or permanent protection

•9.5 Miles of shoreline along the Potomac

•Area threatened with sand/gravel mining

Maryland’s goals at Douglas Point include:

- Protection of mature interior upland forest

- Protection of tidal and non-tidal wetlands

- Protection of several stream valley corridors

- Water quality protection for both the Potomac River

and the Chesapeake Bay

- Establishment of significant wildlife habitat/open space

- Protection of threatened and endangered species of

plant and animal

- Protection of significant cultural resources – shipwrecks at Mallows Bay, Native American Sites, and Civil War Sites

Douglas Point links protected lands over an ecological “corridor” to include:

•Federal Lands Piscataway National Park

U.S. Naval Ordinance Station at Indian Head

Naval Facility at Nanjemoy

•State Lands Purse State Park

Smallwood State Park/Chapmans Forest

Chapel Point State Park

Doncaster State Forest

Mattawoman Natural Environmental Area

•County Lands Ruth B. Swan County Park

Friendship Landing County Park

•Protected Lands The Nature Conservancy Heron Rookery

PEPCO PROPERTY AT DOUGLAS POINTCharles County

1,263 Acres – Fee Simple

• 1.8 miles of shoreline along the Potomac River, the Nation’s River, along with mature interior forest, tidal/non-tidal wetlands, stream valleys, and wildlife habitat

• Links protected lands

• Land threatened with large commercial sand/gravel mining

PEPCO Property at Douglas Point Funding Partners

Bureau of Land Management Federal LWCF Allocation

$2,700,000

Maryland’s GreenPrint Program $3,550,000

Total Project Cost$6,250,000

Fiscal 2002 LWCF State allocation dedicated to future land acquisition at Douglas Point

Awards for Land Conservation

• Maryland 1st in the Nation in Land Conservation The Sierra Club, 1999

• National Preservation Award to Governor and DNR for Program Open Space and Rural Legacy National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1999

• American Government Award for Smart Growth initiatives including Rural Legacy

Ford Foundation and Harvard University, 2000• Best Real Estate Deal of 2001, Holly Beach Farm

Washington Business Journal

Maryland’s ranking with other states for Land

Conservation

• 1st in nation for amount of agricultural land preserved

• 2nd in nation for $ spent for agricultural land preservation

• 3rd in nation in $ spent relative to state’s size (per acre of state’s total land area)

• 5th in nation in total $ spent for open space

Source: University of Wisconsin Extension Service

Preserving the Best of Maryland