25 years – The Piney Run Rural Legacy Area
The Piney Run Rural Legacy Area comprises a total 43,561 acres with approximately 60 percent secured with a suite of preservation easements and conservation protection measures. With over 22,000 contiguous acres, the Piney Run Rural Legacy Area (PRRLA), sponsored by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), is one of the most successful in the State.
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The Rural Legacy program was not the first to conserve farms in this area. Many, including several farms on the hike, are conserved by The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF), a Department of Agriculture program. Its purpose is to preserve productive prime soils for farming for generations to come. Rural Legacy easements are evaluated on a matrix of conservation measures, the first among being to protect slopes, forest cover, and buffers which help to protect the streams which supply the reservoirs and eventually flow to the Chesapeake Bay. Through an elegant process of matching, farms in the Rural Legacy Area could can be protected by several conservation easements to protect the productive farmland, the slopes, forest cover, buffers, and watershed or wetlands. In addition to MALPF and PRRLA, farms and open space in the area are conserved by two County programs, The Maryland Environmental Trust(MET) and The Land Preservation Trust(LPT).
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Valleys Planning Council is to be thanked for their part is creating the Piney Run Rural Legacy Area and for its diligent stewardship of the county zoning which adds a further layer of protection. LPT administers the PRRLA by facilitating new easements and monitoring the integrity of the easements over the years.
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The PRRLA is a special place where rural pursuits area way of life and history abounds. A drive or bicycle ride on the scenic byways, a visit to a local vineyard, an eatery, a pick your own farm or farmstand, or a walk through nearby Gunpowder State Park or Prettyboy Reservoir all are ways the PRRLA and its neighbors contribute to the lives of those who may not lead a rural life, but who can appreciate how critical farms, farmers, and conserved open space are to the lives of everyone in Baltimore County.
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