Politics & Government

Carroll Receives $650,000 Grant to Preserve County's Ag Land

Carroll County has preserved more than 63,000 acres of farmland using county and state funds since 1980.

The Carroll County Agricultural Land Preservation Program has been awarded $650,000 in state grant funds to preserve farm or natural lands in Carroll County, according to a county news release.

The grant is through the state Rural Legacy Program administered by the Department of Natural Resources. Carroll County has preserved more than 63,000 acres of farmland using county and state funds since 1980, according to the release.

The first Rural Legacy Program grant was received in 1999, and to date, the Carroll County Agricultural Land Preservation Program has been awarded $15.1 million in grants.

The Program’s objective is to protect rural lands for their agricultural, scenic, cultural, natural or environmental attributes through the use of permanent conservation easements which prohibit development of the land in perpetuity. 

Property owners with land meeting certain criteria within designated Rural Legacy Areas (RLA) are eligible to apply for sale of an easement. Carroll County has two Rural Legacy Areas. The Little Pipe Creek RLA includes lands southwest of Westminster and along the county’s western boundary and continuing along the northern boundary to its center and the Upper Patapsco RLA includes lands north and east of Manchester, and lands surrounding Hampstead.

“We are pleased with the grant and have landowners who are interested in preserving their properties in both of our Rural Legacy Areas,” said Deborah Bowers, Preservation Specialist for Carroll County. “We recently closed on four easements using prior Rural Legacy grant funding, and are currently working with four additional landowners who have applied for sale of an easement from this new grant,” she said. 

Information in this article taken from a Carroll County government news release.


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