Governor Martin O’Malley Wednesday announced Board of Public Works (BPW) approval to preserve 530 acres of Maryland landscape in the Bear Creek, Deer Creek and Patuxent Prince George’s Rural Legacy Areas through the Rural Legacy Program.

 
“By partnering with landowners to preserve Maryland’s heritage and natural beauty, we are creating an actual rural legacy to be enjoyed by our children and theirs,” said Governor O’Malley.
 
For the Patuxent Prince George’s Rural Legacy Area (Prince George’s County), the Jenkins property will permanently protect 136 acres of significant farmland, forest resources and riparian buffers and creates over 760 acres of contiguous land along the Patuxent River that will remain undisturbed from development. Water quality will be improved through the establishment and maintenance of 100 foot forested buffers along a tributary of the Patuxent River. Woodlands on the property will be protected by a Forest Stewardship Plan. The easement, which will extinguish 23 development rights, will be held by Prince George’s County.
 
“This is the first Rural Legacy easement to be purchased in Prince George’s County and is the culmination of years of hard work by the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District,” said Robert “Yates” Clagett Jr. of the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District. “We will continue to work with the Rural Legacy program to help preserve a critical mass of farmland that can provide our citizens with local commodities, scenic vistas and the protection of our sensitive environmental areas.”
 
The Patuxent Prince George’s Rural Legacy Area currently has approximately 13,207 acres, 38 percent of which are now protected.
 
Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program provides funding to preserve large tracts of forestry and agricultural land and natural resources, and for environmental protection while sustaining land for natural resource-based industries. Enacted by the General Assembly in 1997, Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program has to date provided over $267 million to protect 72,384 acres of valuable farmland, forests, and natural areas. The 11-member Rural Legacy Advisory Committee and the Rural Legacy Board, which is comprised of Maryland’s Agriculture, Natural Resources and Planning Secretaries, reviews grant applications annually. For additional information, visit http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/land/rurallegacy/.
 

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