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April 2022 | Land Trust eNews
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Maryland Environmental Trust Spotlight |
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Thanks to Our Easement Co-holding Partners!
Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) relies on its partnership with landowners, land trusts, conservation partners and volunteers to accomplish its land conservation goals and to steward the 1,117 conservation easements MET holds across Maryland.
In 2021 MET's co-holding partners, including with 20 local land trusts and governmental agencies, monitored more than 436 easements through in-person visits to easement properties, as well as review of up-to-date aerial imagery of easements. Thank you for your hard work, dedication and stewardship of these protected lands!
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MET Seeks Volunteer Coordinator
The Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), a unit of the state’s Department of Natural Resources, is recruiting for an 11-month, full-time (40 hours/week) Volunteer Coordinator in conjunction with Volunteer Maryland AmeriCorps.
The Volunteer Maryland AmeriCorps Member, will primarily recruit, manage, coordinate, and train volunteers and will also host and schedule educational seminars for volunteers and landowners on enhanced stewardship of conserved land. Assistance will also be provided to Local Land Trust (LLT) partners for recruitment and joint training of volunteers.
The service year will begin on September 14, 2022 and conclude on August 1, 2023; members must complete 1,700 service hours during the term. For more information or to submit resume email Josette.Markline@maryland.gov.
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 Kristin Kirkwood Named 2022 Recipient of the Aileen Hughes Award
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 Kirstin Kirkwood, Executive Director of the Harford Land Trust. Congratulations, Kristin!
Visit Harford Land Trust's website to learn more about Kristin, the Harford Land Trust team and their great work to conserve land and protect its natural resources, scenic beauty, rural character, and promote a healthy quality of life in Harford County.
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Regional Chesapeake Bay Webinar Series
Multiple Dates | Free
The Maryland Department of Planning and the MPCA invite you to join the webinar series and learn more about how Mid-Atlantic planners as well as community leaders are striving to preserve the Chesapeake Bay. The next session, Leveraging Conservation, Open Space and Parks Funding to Maximize Multiple Benefits, takes place online on April 21, 2022. Learn more.
Transactions – How to Save Land.
April 25 | Free
This workshop from Forever Maryland will provide new and less-involved land trust board members with an overview of land conservation – easements, fee acquisitions, and everything in between. Learn more.
Gunpowder Watershed Forum
June 15 | Free
The Gunpowder Valley Conservancy announces its inaugural forum that will bring together organizations that are working for clean water in the Gunpowder watershed as well as those who want to get involved with this effort. Registration is FREE and includes dinner. The event is capped at 75 participants. Each organization can bring up to 2 representatives. Learn more.
2022 Maryland Land Conservation Conference
June 1-2, 2022 | Registration Fee
Forever Maryland invites you to attend the 2022 Maryland Land Conservation Conference, Celebrating Success. Planning for Change. This two-day, in-person, conference will examine the current state of Chesapeake Bay restoration, smart growth, and conservation successes, while discussing how to plan for climate change, fiscal uncertainty, and emerging environmental challenges. This event will include multiple education tracks, facilitated discussions, demonstrations, networking opportunities, and nearly 50 local, regional and national speakers. Learn more.
Effective Conservation: Parks, Rewilding, and Local Development
Webinar Recording | Free
Ignacio Jiménez has managed conservation projects on three continents over 30 years, pioneering an approach to conservation he calls “Full Nature” that seeks to integrate the ecological health of a region with the health of human communities. Jiménez explained how rewilding techniques can preserve endangered species and protect communities by promoting fully functional natural landscapes. Learn more.
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Tools, Tech and Tutorials |
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 New Interactive Guide to Learn About Oak Wilt
The U.S. Forest Service provides an interactive way to learn about Oak wilt via its new online guide. Oak wilt is complex, with a high degree of variability in distribution, severity, and associated management options. This publication provides a detailed overview of oak wilt and is intended to help natural resource managers in the Northeast and Midwest choose the most appropriate tools for a given situation.
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 Advancing Stormwater Resiliency in Maryland
The Maryland Department of the Environment is taking action through collecting relevant data sets, developing tools and web applications, targeting funding opportunities, developing outreach and education, and updating existing stormwater regulations. Step one is performing a statewide comprehensive urban flood management assessment. Phase I begins in the Spring of 2022. Register online to be part of the process.
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 Tools of the Trade: Remote Monitoring
In MET’s first pilot with Upstream Tech’s Lens system, conducted between November 2020 and February 2021, staff and a handful of volunteers reviewed 145 properties and generated reports of their observations using the Lens system. And this was all accomplished while saving travel time and fuel to visit properties and conduct an on-the-ground visit, and best of all, seeing more area of each property in less time.
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Share Your News
If you would like to share relevant conservation news, success stories, announcements or events with Maryland's land trusts and conservation partners through this publication, please contact Michelle Grafton by the first of each month at michelle.grafton@maryland.gov.
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