Calvert County Considers Rural Legacy Area Expansion

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. – The Calvert County Department of Planning & Zoning will host a public information meeting on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, to discuss a potential expansion of Maryland’s Rural Legacy Area program in the mid-eastern portion of the county.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Calvert County Administration Building at 150 Main St. in Prince Frederick.

Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program, administered by the Department of Natural Resources, provides funding to local governments and land trusts to purchase conservation easements from willing landowners. The goal is to protect large contiguous blocks of agricultural, forest and natural resource lands from development while keeping properties in private ownership and on county tax rolls.

A proposed expansion would add new territory in mid-eastern Calvert County to the existing Calvert Creeks Rural Legacy Area, which has protected more than 5,000 acres since the program began in the county in 1999. The current Calvert Creeks RLA focuses primarily on watersheds feeding into the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay, including Hunting Creek, Hall Creek, Parker’s Creek and Battle Creek.

County planners say the expansion targets additional farmland, forestland and wetlands that connect to the existing protected corridor, strengthening wildlife habitat and water-quality benefits for the Patuxent River and the bay.

Landowners inside a designated Rural Legacy Area can apply to sell permanent conservation easements through a competitive process. Easement payments are based on appraised fair-market value and typically range from $2,000 to $6,000 per acre depending on development potential and location. Property owners retain full title and may continue farming, forestry or limited residential use as allowed under the easement terms.

In addition to Rural Legacy, county staff will outline other preservation tools available to Calvert landowners, including:

• Maryland Environmental Trust
• Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF)
• Calvert County Purchase of Development Rights Program
• Transferable Development Rights Program
• Federal Wetland Reserve and Conservation Reserve Enhancement programs

Since 1978, Calvert County has permanently protected more than 18,000 acres through a combination of state, county and private programs. That represents roughly 13 percent of the county’s total land area of approximately 138,000 acres.

The Department of Planning & Zoning expects to release an interactive online map in early December showing the proposed expansion boundary. The map will allow property owners to enter an address or tax account number to see whether their land falls inside the potential new Rural Legacy Area.

State law requires local sponsoring agencies to hold at least one public meeting before submitting a Rural Legacy Area boundary amendment to the Maryland Rural Legacy Advisory Committee. The state typically announces new funding awards each spring.

Residents unable to attend the Dec. 11 meeting may submit written comments, questions or statements of support or opposition by email to Jennifer David, natural resource planner, at Jennifer.David@calvertcountymd.gov.

Detailed information about all Calvert County land preservation programs is available on the county’s Land Preservation webpage at www.CalvertCountyMd.gov/LandPreservation.

The Rural Legacy Program, created by the Maryland General Assembly in 1997, has protected more than 107,000 acres statewide across 36 designated areas as of fiscal year 2025. Calvert County has received approximately $18 million in Rural Legacy grants since the program’s inception, leveraging additional county and private matching funds.

County officials emphasize that participation remains voluntary and no landowner is required to sell an easement. Properties not selected in the competitive bidding process may reapply in future funding cycles.

The Dec. 11 meeting is open to all Calvert County residents, landowners and interested parties.