Funding approved for DNR’s Program Open Space Local, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, Rural Legacy and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement programs
Located on the northern end of St. Mary’s County, the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area includes 12 miles of Patuxent River shoreline. The Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust will acquire permanent conservation easements on two properties protecting 7,800 feet of mainly forested stream buffers. Maryland DNR photo.
The Board of Public Works today approved more than $7.1 million in grants from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to local governments and land trusts for recreation centers and land conservation in Allegany, Cecil, Dorchester, Frederick, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and St. Mary’s counties.
More than $3.6 million in Program Open Space – Local funding was approved for four projects including two recreation centers. Cecil County will construct the Cecil County Recreation Center at Calvert Regional Park, featuring an indoor track, courts, and common areas. Dorchester County will renovate the Thendara Center in Hurlock, including kitchen and bathroom updates, and replace an outdoor shooting range.
Also approved was $73,000 from the Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program to provided additional funds for two projects: a $19,000 grant towards a pedestrian bridge along the Gateway Trail in Thurmont in Frederick County; and $53,000 to improve the boardwalk and procure benches at Betterton Beach in Kent County. The Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program was funded in FY 2022 and FY 2023 to provide grant funds primarily to local governments for park and recreation projects.
In land conservation, $522,000 was approved to acquire permanent conservation easements through the Rural Legacy program on 262 acres in St. Mary’s County. The Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust will preserve two properties – a 57-acre farm and a 205-acre forest – in the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area, collectively protecting 7,800 feet of mainly forested stream buffers in the Patuxent River and Potomac River watersheds.
The Board also approved nearly $2.9 million in Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) funding for three conservation easement acquisitions totalling 394 acres. Two of these acquisitions, a combined 290 acres in Queen Anne’s County, will protect 2,500 feet of forested stream buffers along tributaries in the Tuckahoe Creek watershed. The third easement, covering 104 acres in Kent County, will be held by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and will buffer over 9,000 feet along Tavern Creek, a tributary of the Chester River.
More detailed information on these items is available in the Board of Public Works February 18, 2026 meeting agenda. The three-member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.
Information about Maryland’s land conservation programs:
Program Open Space – Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, acquisition, and development of recreational land or facilities. Established under the Department of Natural Resources in 1969, Program Open Space (divided into Local and Stateside programs), along with other state land conservation programs, symbolizes Maryland’s long-term commitment to conserving our natural resources while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities for all citizens. The program is funded by a property transfer tax.
The Rural Legacy Program, created in 1997, conserves large working landscapes across 36 locally designated areas throughout Maryland. The Rural Legacy Program, along with the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, have recently earned the State of Maryland national recognition from the American Farmland Trust.
Since 2009, Maryland’s permanent easement option with the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has acquired, from willing landowners, conservation easements that require continued maintenance of Conservation Reserve Program practices after the expiration of the federal contracts.
More news on funding approved for Program Open Space, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, Greenspace Equity, Rural Legacy, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement programs is available on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Land News webpage.
