SNOW HILL, Md. – The Bishopville-Showell area of Maryland has been designated as a Rural Legacy Area, that means that farmland and forests in the northern Coastal Bays watershed will be protected.
The Worcester County Environmental Programs partnered with the Maryland Board of Public Works to make this happen.
The 11,753-acre RLA aims to curb fragmentation from residential development and other non-compatible uses. It allows landowners to sell easements to protect farmland and woodland.
According to WCEP Planning Manager Katherine Munson, "There are a number of family farms under 50 acres that do not meet the minimum lot requirement to participate in the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, so this new RLA area opens new doors of opportunity for them to protect their farms in perpetuity. This may be our last chance to preserve the farmland and woodland in this area."
The WCEP says, more than one-third of the land is prime farmland, and local agricultural and forestry industries depend on the area's continued viability. The group claims preserving this land will also support water quality in the Isle of Wight and Assawoman Bays.
The new RLA is the third in Worcester County, which has protected 13,200 acres of farmland and forests since 1999. Over the next decade, the county hopes to protect an additional 2,000 acres in the Bishopville-Showell RLA.
The program is funded by Maryland’s Program Open Space and state bonds, with no county match required.
