Washington County preserves 100-acre farm in Big Pool

A 100.05-acre farm, nearby historic Fort Frederick, was preserved on May 9 with funding from Washington County and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF), according to Washington County Division of Planning & Zoning.

This farm adds to the more than 40,000 acres of permanently preserved land in the county.

The easement was procured through a Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program (MALPP) easement that was sold on a farm on Gehr Road in Big Pool.

The procurement of this easement has added to a block of thousands of acres of permanently preserved land in the area and will aide neighboring properties in their pursuit of permanent easements.

MALPP is the county's most prolific land preservation program, accounting for more than 16,000 acres and 40% of the permanent easements in the county. It is funded and administered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture's (MDA's) Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) and locally by the Land Preservation Office of the Washington County Department of Planning & Zoning.

Each year, farm owners in the county have the ability to apply for this program which concentrates on preserving productive agricultural land in the county. This easement was part of the fiscal year 2023 cycle and was the fourth property of that cycle to settle an easement.

Easement applications are submitted before July 1 of each year and offers are usually extended the following March.

MALPP is one of many programs that make up the Washington County Land Preservation strategy. Other programs include the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Rural Legacy, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and Project Open Space Stateside programs, the county's Installment Purchase Program (IPP), local forest conservation easements, the federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) and Federal Scenic Easements, as well as easements through agencies like MARBIDCO, Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), Antietam Battlefield Trust (ABT), Mid-Maryland Land Trust (MMLT) and others. While the majority of funding is generally earmarked through state funding sources, in recent years, the county itself has taken significant additional financial steps to bolster its programs.

For more information regarding the land preservation programs in Washington County, contact Rural Preservation Administrator Chris Boggs at 240-313-2447 or cboggs@washco-md.net.