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Maryland Environmental Trust Preserves 181 Acres In Cecil County Though Conservation Easement Donations
CECIL COUNTY, MD – The Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) and the Cecil Land Trust recently preserved 181 acres of productive farmland and woodlands in northern Cecil County through conservation easement donations by two families.
“The conservation easement donations ensure that these scenic properties remain protected from future subdivision or development, and continue to provide agriculture products for Maryland residents,” said Joan R. Lally, MET Monitoring and Stewardship Specialist.
“As family farmers, we were happy to preserve our 117-acre farm through a conservation easement donation. The easement ensures that this acreage will be available for our family to farm and we feel that we completed our duty to future generations,” said Bill and Phyllis Kilby, landowners.
The 117-acre Kilby property located south of Rising Sun, is comprised of 86 acres of farmland and 22 acres of woodlands. In addition to productive pasture and cropland, the farm also produces ice cream and dairy products. Preservation of the property protects valuable wildlife habitat, riparian buffers for the headwaters of Principio Creek, and recent tree-plantings completed through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The woodland protects water quality of the Creek and Chesapeake Bay by filtering nutrients and toxins and preventing erosion at the headwaters. It also protects and enhances habitat for the bog turtle, a state and federally-listed threatened species.
Preservation of the two sites provides scenic benefits by protecting Cecil County’s working rural landscape. The 64-acre Hubis Farm owned by Lea Reynolds and Lyn Rector and located southeast of Rising Sun, sits adjacent to Route 273, a Maryland Scenic Byway. The property’s preservation benefits travelers along the road with views of agricultural structures and seasonal crops. Comprised primarily of agricultural land, with some woodland and seasonally wet areas, the Hubis farm is located within the ecologically sensitive Calvert Wetlands Area that provides wildlife habitat and watershed health benefits. The Hubis Farm is near other protected properties in the rural historic Village of Calvert and provides the scenic background for two historic homes, in keeping with the tenor of the area.
“The farm has been in our family for 150 years, and we are so pleased that its beauty will never be lost due to the great people of the Maryland Environmental Trust and the Cecil Land Trust. It is a great feeling to know that there will always be someone who will preserve our wishes to keep the farm in its present state,” said Lea Reynolds and Lyn Rector, sisters and owners of the Hubis Farm. “We also feel very good about giving back to the Village of Calvert, where we grew up many years ago. We hope more Marylanders will think about preserving their farms.”
To date, the Maryland Environmental Trust has protected more than 950 properties resulting in more than 120,000 acres statewide via conservation easements. MET accepts tax deductible donations of interests in real estate, money or other property. In giving conservation easements, landowners donate the development rights on their property while retaining all other rights of ownership. For more information on MET land easements visit www.dnr.maryland.gov/met/.
March 13, 2008 Contact: Olivia Campbell
410-260-8016 office I 410-507-7525 cell
ocampbell@dnr.state.md.usMaryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 449,000 acres of public lands and 17,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 12 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov.