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PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor
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Ch. 648
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Annotated Code of Maryland
(1997 Replacement Volume and 1999 Supplement)
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
Article - Natural Resources
5-9A-01.
(a) The General Assembly declares that:
(1) Sprawl development and other modifications to the landscape in
Maryland continue at an alarming rate, consuming land rich in natural resource,
agricultural, and forestry value, adversely affecting water quality, wetlands and
habitat, threatening resource-based economies and cultural assets, and rending the
fabric of rural life;
(2) Current State, county, and local land conservation programs help to
limit the effect of sprawl development but lack sufficient funding and focus to
preserve key areas before escalating land values make their protection impossible or
the land is lost to development; and
(3) A grant program that leverages available funding, focuses on
preservation of strategic resources, including those resources threatened by sprawl
development, streamlines real property acquisition procedures to expedite land
preservation, TAKES ADVANTAGE OF INNOVATIVE PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES
SUCH AS TRANSFERABLE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS AND THE PURCHASE OF
DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS, and promotes a greater level of natural and environmental
resources protection than is provided by existing efforts, will establish a rural legacy
for future generations.
(b) (1) A Rural Legacy Program is established to enhance natural resource,
agricultural, forestry, and environmental protection as provided in subsection (a) of
this section while maintaining the viability of resource-based land usage and proper
management of tillable and wooded areas through accepted agricultural and
silvicultural practices for farm production and timber harvests.
(2) The Program provides funds to the local governments and land trusts
to purchase interests in real property from willing sellers, including easements,
TRANSFERABLE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS, and fee estates, focused in designated Rural
Legacy Areas.
(3) The Program shall encourage partnerships among the federal, State,
and local governments, and nonprofit land trust organizations and encourage local
land conservation initiatives.
(4) The Program is administered by a Rural Legacy Board in the
Department of Natural Resources, an advisory committee, and existing State staff.
(c) The Program is funded:
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- 3333 -
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