Land conservation groups like the Scenic Rivers Land Trust work tirelessly to protect large tracts of farmland, forests and marshes in the Bay watershed from future development.
These privately owned properties are important habitats for all kinds of Bay wildlife and they’re worth permanently protecting. Usually, such properties are located in rural areas. But the newest conservation easement is in an already-built-up region of Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Along the water in Anne Arundel County, homes and businesses are densely developed as everyone wishes to have their own piece of waterfront. Those properties can fetch impressive sums. That makes it especially notable that Scenic Rivers Land Trust has successfully conserved 47 acres of forested land and wetlands in Pasadena—land that was slated to become luxury homes.
The property, whose exact location isn’t being disclosed, is in the Bodkin Creek watershed, just south of Rock Creek between the larger Magothy and Patapsco rivers. Its owner, the Belle Grove Corporation, had planned to develop two luxury homes on the site, but instead granted a conservation easement and sold the land to a dedicated couple who live in the community. Scenic Rivers Land Trust says that the couple, who wishes to remain anonymous, “are passionate about conserving this ecologically important area and championed the project over several years.”
Scenic Rivers was able to secure the conservation easement with $250,000 in grant funding from the Anne Arundel County Forestry and Forested Land Protection Grant Program, funded by the county and administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
While the tract of land’s easement does not include public access, it’s a valuable ecological resource. It has over 800 linear feet of streams, three acres of forested wetlands and it is home to a pignut hickory tree that meets criteria for the county-level and state-level Champion Tree programs. That means it could be the largest pig nut hickory in Anne Arundel County and would have to be at least 70 percent of the size of Maryland’s current state champion (the current champion is in Owings Mills, Baltimore County).
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Biodiversity Conservation Network (BioNet) recognizes the property as significant and Scenic Rivers flagged it back in 2021 as one of the “Top 100 Most Important Properties to Conserve” in Anne Arundel County.
“This is an outstanding conservation success because of our community partnerships,” said Scenic Rivers Executive Director Sarah Knebel. “This project became a reality because passionate community members saw the beauty and importance of this unique forest and were ready to invest in its protection. We’re eager to take on more projects like this and are deeply thankful for the incredible culture of collaboration that makes them possible.”
The grand funding goes not only towards the conservation easement, but also to support removal of invasive plants over a 3.5-acre stretch, replacing those invasives with native tree and shrub plantings. Some of this will be carried out by volunteers, some handled by restoration experts with Scenic Rivers’ Healthy Forests program.
“We are proud to help administer this grant program that empowers local groups to undertake the on-the-ground greening work for their own communities,” says Dr. Jana Davis, president of the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
