Funding approved for DNR’s Program Open Space Local, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, Greenspace Equity, Rural Legacy, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement programs

Funds were approved for Carroll County to replace a boathouse at Piney Run Park. Photo by Mark Bennett, submitted to the 2020 Maryland Department of Natural Resources Photo Contest.

The Board of Public Works today approved more than $3.8 million in grants from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to local governments for outdoor recreational improvements and land conservation in Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Dorchester, Frederick, Howard, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Washington, Wicomico, and Worcester counties.

More than $1.5 million in Program Open Space – Local funding was approved for twelve projects including: 

• Carroll County projects to replace the boathouse and add a new paved parking area at Piney Run Park.

• Multiple park improvements in Howard County parks, including replacing three pedestrian bridges along the Woodland Road pathway in Centennial Park and installing shade structures in four parks: Centennial Park – North, Blandair Park, Huntington Park, and Cypressmede Park.

• Several projects in Worcester County including replacing the pavilion at Stockton Park, new dugouts and a concession stand roof at John Walter Smith Park, a roof replacement at Newtown Park’s concession stand, and new parking lot lights at Northern Worcester Athletic Complex.

Also approved was $640,000 from the Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program for two projects. A Caroline County project will improve safe access to North County Regional Park in Greensboro by installing signs and turn lanes on State Highway 313, and a Wicomico County project in Salisbury will create a park with paved trails and a parking lot on Lake Street. The new park will be called North Prong Park. This program was funded in FY 2022 and FY 2023 to provide grant funds primarily to local governments for park and recreation projects.

Another $350,000 was approved to be spent on a Greenspace Equity Program project in Dorchester County. These funds will be used to construct a new trail on a former railroad line in Cambridge, connecting Washington Street to Woods Road.

Additionally, the Board approved over $830,000 in Rural Legacy funding for Queen Anne’s County to acquire a conservation easement on 151 acres in the Lands End Rural Legacy Area. The easement will preserve productive agricultural land that is adjacent to a block of over 2,000 acres of protected land. This Rural Legacy conservation easement will also be paired with a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) permanent easement using $420,000 of Program Open Space funding to preserve an additional 59 acres, bringing the total protected area to 210 acres. The CREP portion of the easement protects water quality by retaining 6,000 feet of forested land along the wetlands buffering Granny Finley Branch and Island Creek, tributaries of the Chester River.

The Board also approved $73,000 for another CREP project in Washington County. This permanent easement preserves 33 acres of land, of which 20 acres are included by way of landowner donation. This CREP easement will protect water quality by retaining 1,200 feet of forested buffers along Antietam Creek and its tributaries in the Potomac River watershed. 

All projects funded are listed in the Board of Public Works October 22, 2025 meeting agenda. The three-member Board of Public Works is composed of Governor Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman.

Program Open Space – Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, acquisition, and development of recreational land or facilities. Established under the Department of Natural Resources in 1969, Program Open Space (divided into Local and Stateside programs), along with other state land conservation programs, symbolizes Maryland’s long-term commitment to conserving our natural resources while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities for all citizens. The program is funded by a property transfer tax.

The Greenspace Equity Program was established in 2023 through legislation to provide grants to eligible applicants for enhancing the public health and livability of overburdened and underserved communities by implementing projects to preserve, create, and improve public greenspace in overburdened and underserved communities. 

The Rural Legacy Program, created in 1997, conserves large working landscapes across 36 locally designated areas throughout Maryland. The Rural Legacy Program, along with the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, have recently earned the State of Maryland national recognition from the American Farmland Trust.

Since 2009, Maryland’s permanent conservation easement option with the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has acquired, from willing landowners, conservation easements that require continued maintenance of Conservation Reserve Program practices after the expiration of the federal contracts.

More news on grants approved for Program Open Space Local, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, Rural Legacy, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement programs is available on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Land News webpage.