Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust

Mission

Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of southern Maryland's agricultural, forested and open space land in the five tidal counties of the Patuxent River watershed (Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St Mary's). (See map of our service area.) The Trust accomplishes this mission through the acquisition (by purchase or donation) of conservation easements, land, and development rights. Land trusts are committed to the protection of land in perpetuity, for the benefit of current and future generations. Every site and every situation is unique. The Trust works with landowners, communities and funders to address needs and circumstances of the present while also seeking to protect the interest of future generations in a vital agricultural economy and a life-sustaining environment.

History

Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust was formed in 1996.

Under the Rural Legacy Program the state of Maryland makes funding available to local governments and land trusts to preserve large contiguous tracts of land through conservation easements and fee simple purchase. In 1998 the Trust successfully applied for Rural Legacy designation for the Huntersville area in St Mary's County (map). Over 2,600 acres in the Huntersville area have been protected through the Rural Legacy Program. An additional 603 acres are protected by the Maryland Agriculture Land Preservation Foundation, Maryland Environmental Trust and the County’s transfer of development rights program in the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area. Approximately 65% of the Rural Legacy area is under conservation easements. The area was expanded in January 2006.

In January 2006 the state designated and granted funding for the Mattapany Rural Legacy area, also in St Mary's County (map), which encompasses 13,703 acres from south of Hermanville Road along the Chesapeake Bay and Route 5 down to St. Jerome’s Creek. St. Mary’s County recently purchased 159 acres referred to as the Fenwick Property. This property is the cornerstone of the Mattapany Rural Legacy Area.

In addition to the two Rural Legacy Areas, the Trust holds conservation easements on properties with important conservation values. The Trust will continue to seek opportunities to preserve land and the rural landscape throughout the five-county southern Maryland region.

Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust
P.O. Box 1955
Leonardtown, MD 20650
info@patuxent-tidewater.org
© Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust 1996-2011