PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. – On May 10th, the American Chestnut Land Trust purchased the 78-acre Governors Run Development Corp. (GRDC) tract, another parcel in the Governors Run watershed. Concurrently, we recorded a Maryland Rural Legacy easement to permanently protect the property, with the goal of establishing and maintaining an old growth forest ecosystem onsite. The secondary goal is to provide public trails and for education, scientific, and cultural purposes.

The mission of the Maryland Rural Legacy Program is to provide funding to preserve large, contiguous tracts of land and to enhance natural resource, agricultural, forestry and environmental protection while supporting a sustainable land base for natural resource-based industries in designated Rural Legacy Areas. The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners applied for the grant to fund the easement purchase. We are grateful to the Board, its staff, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources for facilitating this purchase. We are also grateful for the owners who maintained land in pristine condition for decades and for GRDC President John Bailey and Treasurer Kitty Bailey who so capably negotiated the sale of the property.

According to Executive Director Greg Bowen, “It is wonderful to be preserving another property, particularly one which is adjacent to ACLT’s first purchase, the 436-acre Gravatt property, almost 35 years ago.” This purchase furthers the Trust’s long-standing mission to protect the Parkers Creek and Governors Run watersheds. It also provides a nearly five-mile belt of preserved properties running from Kenwood Beach to Dares Beach Road.

Ecologically speaking, the GRDC parcel is significant. According to an Ecosystem Service Assessment by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the property provides almost $200,000 per year in services such as stormwater attenuation, carbon sequestration, nutrient uptake, ozone removal, groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat and biodiversity potential.

In 2008, the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program described the West Governors Run Watershed (which includes the GRDC property) this way: “West Governors Run Watershed contains a mature hardwood forest, many portions of which have not been logged for 70 years or more. Large tracts of older forest such as this are uncommon in the region, due to the clearing of forests for timber management, agriculture, and residential and commercial development.
Old maps show that this site was one of the largest forested sites in the area in the mid-1800s.” Three large tracts make up the West Governors Run Watershed. East Gravatt is the most northerly tract and was part of ACLT’s first land purchase. The Kenwood Tract was ACLT’s third land purchase (1990) and is mostly on the south side of Governors Run Road. That left the GRDC property as the largest remaining unprotected forested property in the West Governor Run Watershed.

Over the next year, ACLT will develop a management plan for the property, including a forest stewardship plan and a plan for public access trails. When the trails are completed, they will be open to the public. Meanwhile, we will need to replenish the land preservation funds for our next big acquisition and stewardship of our properties. To learn more, go to:


http://ACLTweb.org  | info@acltweb.org | 410-414-3400


ACLT Mission Statement
We promote land conservation and preservation throughout Southern Maryland.  We preserve and conserve the natural and cultural resources of the Parkers Creek and Governors Run watersheds for the benefit of this and future generations. We provide environmentally sustainable public access to managed properties for educational, scientific, recreational, and cultural purposes.