Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR)

Contact the MET Conservation Easement Program team to find out whether your property is eligible; MET often works with land trust partners. Follow the Conservation Easement Processing Steps.

Deadline text on the page: Maryland Environmental Trust accepts offers of conservation easements on a case-by-case basis (no deadline).

Daniel Skalos

Conservation Easement Program Manager

Matthew Ludington

Conservation Easement Planner

General office

Maryland landowners can donate a perpetual conservation easement to the Maryland Environmental Trust, sometimes held jointly with a local land trust, while they keep farming, living on, selling or passing on the land. The easement is a charitable gift. In return the owner may get federal and state income tax deductions, a state income tax credit, lower estate taxes, and a 15-year state and local property tax exemption on the unimproved land.



- Significant rural properties that contain agricultural, historic, natural, scenic, scientific, open space, or recreational values
- Exceptional urban properties, especially those providing public access
- Accepted case by case under MET's Conservation Easement Program Policy

Payment per unit of land to do or avoid certain practices related to land management.

Easement

Perpetual Deed of Conservation Easement recorded in county land records; a qualified appraisal establishes the value used for tax benefits; MET monitors the property long term.

Published amounts: Donated easement (no purchase price). Benefits listed: Potential Federal and State income tax deductions for the appraised value of the easement as a charitable gift; Lower estate and inheritance taxes; A 15-year state and local property tax exemption on the unimproved land; a credit for state income taxes.

Contact your local Maryland Forest Service office; forestry staff prepare or review the forest management plan and guide enrollment.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published; contact your local Maryland Forest Service office to begin the application process.

A property-tax incentive for Maryland forest owners. Owners of five or more contiguous wooded acres sign a Forest Conservation and Management Agreement (FCMA) with DNR and follow a forest management plan for at least 15 years. In return, the enrolled forestland is assessed at a reduced rate, generally the agricultural rate, frozen for the life of the agreement. Breaking the agreement triggers back taxes.



- Any property owner with five or more contiguous acres of forestland
- Eligible land includes forested tracts, newly reforested land once it has completed one growing season, and Christmas tree plantations if the trees are harvested at maturity
- House sites, crop fields, and other non-forest open land are not eligible

A reduction or waiving of fees for meeting a certain criteria.

Discount

Minimum agreement term 15 years; recorded in county land records; can be amended or transferred to a buyer who accepts the management plan. If the agreement is broken, back taxes are assessed retroactively to the beginning of the agreement.

Published amounts: During this period, the forestland included in the agreement receives a reduced property tax assessment—generally at the agricultural rate—which remains frozen for the life of the agreement.

Download the Landowner Application (PDF) and submit it to the MFS Forest Legacy Program Coordinator. Confirm with the coordinator that your property falls within a designated Forest Legacy Area before applying.

Deadline text on the page: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and evaluated annually.

Daniel L. Root

Forest Legacy Program Coordinator

Buys perpetual conservation easements on privately owned forestland in Maryland's designated Forest Legacy Areas to keep it from being converted to other uses. Owners keep the land and sell the development rights at market value. Applications are ranked each year and the best ones compete for national funding. Nine easements covering 2,014 acres have been completed.



- Private forestland within a designated Forest Legacy Area
- At least 75% of the area placed under easement must be forested; the remaining 25% must be in a compatible use such as agriculture
- Willing seller

Perpetual easement purchased at appraised market value; up to 75% federal, 25% non-federal or landowner bargain-sale donation. If not funded in a given year, the landowner may reapply.

Published amounts: Easements are purchased at market value. The federal government provides up to 75% of the purchase price. The remaining 25% comes from state, local, or nonprofit sources, or may be donated by the landowner as a bargain sale.

Sponsors use the Rural Legacy Program Grants Manual (Full Application for new areas; Abbreviated Application plus Property List Form for established areas) and meet with the RLP program administrator. Landowners contact the sponsor or the area administrator for their Rural Legacy Area.

Deadline text on the page: Local Sponsors must apply annually to the Rural Legacy Board for participation in the Program and to receive funding. (Landowner sales to sponsors are ongoing within designated areas.)

Katrina Tucker

Conservation Easement Supervisor

Shawn Clotworthy

Rural Legacy Area Administrator

Diane Chasse

Kat Midas

Rural Legacy Area Administrator; Stewardship/Monitoring Coordinator

State funding that lets land trusts and local governments buy conservation easements on large, contiguous blocks of working farms, forests and natural areas inside designated Rural Legacy Areas. There is at least one Rural Legacy Area in every county, covering more than 1.3 million acres. Landowners in those areas sell easements to the local sponsor.



- Sponsors: local governments and private land trusts that designate a Rural Legacy Area and apply annually
- Landowners: property inside a designated Rural Legacy Area, working with the area's sponsor

Perpetual conservation easements acquired by sponsors under a Grant Agreement with the Rural Legacy Board after Board of Public Works approval.

Contact your local Maryland Forest Service office. Landowners complete approved practices, pay for goods and services, and submit documentation to their local MFS forester. Upon approval, a reimbursement check is issued.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published. To apply, contact your local Maryland Forest Service office. The page says rates and funding levels change from year to year, so landowners should confirm enrollment status with their local forester.

Shane Brennan

Stewardship Planner

Maryland's main state cost-share for private woodland management. It reimburses up to 65 percent of approved silvicultural practices: thinning, pruning, prescribed burning, crop tree release, invasive species control, site preparation, and seedling purchase and planting. Owners of 5 to 1,000 acres of private non-industrial forestland apply through their local Maryland Forest Service forester.



- Owners of 5 to 1,000 acres of private non-industrial forestland
- Property must not have received WIP assistance for the same practice within the previous 15 years

A payment that requires some percentage of matching contributions by the recipient.

Cost Share

Reimbursement of up to 65% of approved practice cost after the work is done and paid for. The same practice can't be funded on the same property twice within 15 years.

Published amounts: It reimburses eligible landowners for up to 65 percent of the cost of approved silvicultural practices. The program distributes approximately $100,000 annually to 75 to 100 landowners across 1,500 to 2,000 acres statewide.

List of Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR) Funding Opportunities