Saving farms, forests, and land in Southern MD

 As 2024 draws to a close on another year at PTLT, I’m reminded of something the great conservationist David Brower said, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

This is so true.

I can think of few better ways to honor our children and their children than preserving land in perpetuity. With each easement we acquire in Southern Maryland, we bequeath them pristine farmland, woodlands, and waterways – and the fish and wildlife that inhabit them. That’s our mission and, thanks to your generous support, we’ve gotten good at it.

Before I ask for new and continued support of our mission, let’s revisit some of PTLT’s more significant achievements in 2024.

Easements

We’ve added a new conservation easement, Greenwell Catholic Trust (413 acres), and expect to add another, 104-acre property by the end of the year. This brings our conservation total to 6,894 acres of Southern Maryland saved.

Next year, we’ll be working on the completion of easements on four additional properties totaling 374 acres. Commitments are coming from landowners that will carry us well into 2026.

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On December 1st the Maryland Board of Public Works approved an award of $2,217,053.00 to the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust (PTLT) to acquire conservation easements in the Huntersville Rural Legacy Area in Northern St. Mary’s County. PTLT plans to apply this funding toward acquiring conservation easements on several important properties including a 437-acre waterfront parcel that will significantly help protect the environment and wildlife habitat in St. Mary’s County.

PTLT asks any property owners in the Huntersville Rural Area who may be interested in the conservation easement purchase program, or have questions, to contact us at saveland@ptlt.org or call 301-862-3421.

Benefits of a Conservation Easement

(Excerpt from www.mylandplan.org, American Forest Foundation)

Every conservation easement is a unique legal agreement, written specifically to fit your needs and goals. You can set up a conservation easement to:

• Protect open space or critical habitat on your land– whether it’s a family farm or ranch, wetland, pasture or forest—from encroaching development
• Preserve the agricultural value and traditional uses of your land by allowing for continued farming, ranching and timber harvesting
• Safeguard a historically or culturally important structure or area on your property
• Conserve land that has significant scenic, biodiversity or other value for the outdoor recreation or education of the public

Whether you place all or only part of your property into a conservation easement, you can expect to benefit from the agreement in several ways.

Estate tax benefits. A conservation easement that removes your land’s development potential typically lowers its market value—and that means lower taxes for the landowner. That can significantly reduce estate taxes when you pass on your property to the next generation, making it easier to keep the land in the family and intact.

Property tax benefits. By lowering your land’s value, a conservation easement can also lower your property taxes.

State and federal tax benefits. If your conservation easement is permanent, was donated—not sold—to a land trust for conservation purposes, and meets certain other IRS conditions, it can qualify as a tax-deductible charitable donation that can reduce your state and federal income taxes. The easement is treated as a donation of the development rights to your land. That means the value of the donation (and the amount of the deduction you can claim) would be the difference between the property’s market value if its development were not restricted in any way, and its value with the easement’s restrictions in place.

Permanency and control. Most easements are permanent and crafted specifically to meet your goals. Their restrictions remain in force even when the land changes hands. With the right easement terms in place, you can have the peace of mind of knowing your land will be protected as you wish well beyond your lifetime.

Although conservation easements offer significant benefits, they are not for every landowner. There are some important points to keep in mind when you consider a conservation easement.  

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Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust holds conservation easement on properties in Southern Maryland where we purchase or accept donations of development rights on properties and impose other conservation-related restrictions on the land. We work closely with the landowner to make sure that easement terms are what the owner wishes – the conditions in the easement apply to all future landowners so this is the only way that landowners can be certain that the land will be kept the way that they want. It is very difficult to alter or terminate the easement, so this type of land protection is the best that exists. Other than restrictions that apply to the easement, the landowner still owns the property.