The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation is seeking applications for the current easement cycle. Recent cycles have combined funding for two years. If this occurs again this year, the next application will be in 2016. Furthermore, the easement sale process can take 18 months. For these reasons, staff encourages landowners who may be thinking about an easement sale to apply now. Baltimore County staff is ready to assist landowners with their applications. The application period is open and the deadline is May 1, 2014. The State requires that applications be mailed directly to the County to be processed and then submitted to the State by July 1, 2014.
To be eligible the land must meet minimum soil criteria and be at least 50 acres in size or adjacent to an already preserved farm. Funding is extremely limited so selection will be based upon the quality of the farm land, development potential, discounted asking price, and other factors.
Information and application forms for the State program can be found at www.malpf.info/forms with specific County information at www.baltimorecountymd.gov/agencies/environment/landpreservation/index
The application materials are to be sent to the attention of Wally Lippincott, Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability, 111 W. Chesapeake Avenue, Room 319,Towson, MD 21204 by May 1, 2014. For any questions, please contact Wally Lippincott or Carmela Iacovelli at (410) 887-3854 or email at ciacovelli@baltimorecountymd.gov.
