Funding approved for DNR’s Program Open Space Local, Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure, Community Parks and Playgrounds, and Rural Legacy programs
Located on the northern end of St. Mary’s County, the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area includes 12 miles of Patuxent River. The Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust will acquire an 84-acre easement to protect 2,500 feet of forested stream buffers along tributaries to Little Cat Creek, which flows into the river. Maryland DNR photo.
The Board of Public Works today approved more than $1.4 million in grants to local governments and land trusts from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The funding will be used for a new trail, playground equipment, and the conservation of land in Charles, Frederick, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, and Worcester Counties.
About $180,000 in Program Open Space – Local funding was approved for a Queen Anne’s County project to construct a one-mile extension to the South Island Trail, between Christ Church and Marine Academy Drive in Matapeake. The funding will also provide for signs and benches.
Also approved was $500,000 from the Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program to replace outdated playground equipment, add shade structures, and plant trees at Parklawn Park Building Park in Prince George’s County. This program was funded in FY 2022 and FY 2023 to provide grant funds primarily to local governments for park and recreation projects.
Also approved was $52,000 in Community Parks and Playgrounds funding for a project to replace an outdated playground structure at the Carroll Street Park in the Town of Thurmont in Frederick County. The Community Parks and Playgrounds program provides funding to municipal governments to restore existing and create new park and recreational facilities throughout the state. This program is currently accepting applications through August 20, 2025.
Additionally, the Board approved over $660,000 in in Rural Legacy funding for local sponsors to acquire conservation easements on three properties, totaling 159 acres:
- The Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust will acquire an 84-acre easement in the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area of St. Mary’s County. The easement will protect 2,500 feet of forested stream buffers along tributaries to Little Cat Creek, which flows into the Patuxent River.
- In Worcester County’s Bishopville-Showell Rural Legacy Area, a conservation easement on a 26-acre farm will protect productive agricultural land that contributes to the agricultural economy in an area of small working farms and also protect water quality by limiting impervious surface.
- Charles County government will add 49 acres to the protected lands within the Nanjemoy-Mattawoman Forest Rural Legacy Area with an easement that preserves critical wildlife habitat, as well as woodlands and wetlands that protect water quality.
All projects funded are listed in the Board of Public Works July 16, 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 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 a national recognition from the American Farmland Trust.
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.
