Check donations can be mailed to:
PTLT
P.O. Box 1955
Leonardtown, MD 20650
or donate online:
Hellen Creek Kayak trip
The month of August turned out to be a pleasant respite from the roller coaster environment of the early summer. No weeks of 90-degree temperatures, no nasty windstorms and short violent rain events. You know, almost like a normal season.
So, it was fitting that August 16th was a cool overcast calm day with periodic glimpses of the sun. Hellen Creek was perfectly flat and once the earlier trot liner had cleared out, we had the creek to ourselves. Well, if you don’t count the jellyfish, jumping fish (none of which were caught), lurking green herons, a flying great blue heron, and a soaring bald eagle.
Eleven of us launched at 9:30 and proceeded to paddle upstream towards Mill Bridge. Spread out across the creek you could observe a general sense of quiet. The north side of Hellen Creek is mostly farm fields while the south side has a sprinkling of houses and piers occupying its shore.
This trip was jointly sponsored by Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust and Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust. CPNHT provided access to the creek through use of a private launch ramp. These two land trusts worked together to obtain the Nature Conservancy’s Hemlock Preserve, adjacent to CPNHT’s preserve, so a trip to that location was very appropriate.
Cooperation between local land trusts is essential to their success. We plan on following up this effort with an Owl Prowl on the CPNHT preserve in October. Plans are for an outing on October 25thstarting at 7 p.m. Please contact Bob Boxwell (robertboxwell1@outlook.com) for details and to register.
maryland state wildlife action plan (swap)
On July 12th, two members of PTLT went to Watkins Nature Center in Upper Marlboro for an all day regional planning meeting to help draft the 2025 update of the Maryland State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP). This plan identifies conservation priorities for wildlife and their habitats across the state. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), lead agency, hosted the event. Work groups at the meeting identified risks and adaptation strategies to address those risks, including encroachment, climate change, erosion, flooding/droughts, and pollution/toxins for coasts and cliffs, wetlands, fields and woodlands. PTLT inputs focused on land protection strategies. DNR will incorporate inputs from this meeting and others around the state in their updated plan.
PTLT Completes 56th Easement in St. Mary’s County
The transaction brings county total to more than 7,000 acres conserved
Leonardtown, Maryland—Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust has acquired its 56th conservation easement in St. Mary’s County with the addition of 136 acres on Flora Corner Rd. in Mechanicsville.
The property is owned by Joseph Carrico and has been in his family for more than 100 years. It’s used primarily for row-crop farming and recreational hunting. “The funds from the easement have allowed us to keep it as farmland and in the family,” Joseph said. “I’m happy with the outcome.”
“We are particularly happy with completion of this easement in these tumultuous times when funding is scarce,” says PTLT executive director Abby Greenwell. “We are getting it done where it counts and saving land from development forever.” Read more…
Abby Greenwell, PTLT Executive Director and Joseph Carrico (right)
Frank Allen Named 2024 Recipient of the Aileen Hughes Award
Maryland Environmental Trust Spotlight
The Aileen Hughes Grant, part of the Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program, is awarded annually to an individual representing a Maryland land trust who demonstrates outstanding leadership, partnership and innovation in land conservation. This year's recipient of the Aileen Hughes Grant is Frank Allen, Executive Director of the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust. Congratulations, Frank!
Visit Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust's website to learn more about Frank, the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust team and their work to conserve land, remove invasive species, and support environmental stewardship in southern Maryland.
Frank Allen and Senator Todd Morgan
A new type of easement for ptlt
Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust acquired a new type of conservation easement – a forest conservation easement. Southern Maryland Rowing Center and Sailing Center Chesapeake moved their programs over to Chancellor’s Point. To make this possible, they had to cut some trees along the waterfront. Tree removal within the critical zone is subject to stringent regulations. This means that a grove of trees must be planted – and maintained – nearby on the waterfront as mitigation. A neighbor generously offered to plant such a grove, and to maintain it. PTLT is responsible to ensure that the grove planting meets regulations and is preserved forever.
PTLT Awarded $2,217,053.00 to Acquire Conservation Easements
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.
attractive Heavy-duty Aluminum SIGNS FOR CONSERVED LAND!
Thanks to David Moulton, for taking the lead and developing and obtaining signs.
Contact abby@ptlt.org to get your sign installed on your conserved land
How to preserve your land for future generations
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.
