Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust has announced the November 29, 2022, closing of its latest conservation easement: 133.5 acres of forests and wetland east of Leonardtown.
Aaron Leroy and Judith Fay Mast own the property, which is located off of Leonardtown-Hollywood Road. This easement protects forever a particularly sensitive landscape in the McIntosh Run watershed. It is also the first transaction between PTLT and members of the county’s Mennonite community.
The property consists of narrow, forested plateaus topping steep forested hillsides draining south toward 40.87 acres of forested bottomland on either side of Brooks Run, a tributary of McIntosh Run which feeds into Breton Bay, a tidal tributary of the Potomac River. The easement provides permanent forested stream buffer to 8,242 linear feet of stream channels, including smaller streams located in steep swales draining through areas of highly erodible soils and occupying the wooded slope and main stem of Brooks Run.
“We’re very pleased with this transaction because it involves extremely sensitive environmental conditions,” PTLT President Frank Allen said.” The entire property has been identified by Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources as likely habitat for state-designated Forest Interior Dwelling Species. Simply put, the Mast property is significant for biodiversity conservation. A large portion of the site is in the state’s Sensitive Species Project Review Area established for rare, threatened, and endangered species within the watersheds of the McIntosh Run and its tributaries, including Brooks Run.”
When Aaron Mast bought the property, the seller told him she wanted it to be kept undeveloped. With the sale of this conservation easement, the Masts have been able to comply with those wishes and still be able to manage the property for agriculture, forestry, and hunting, and have a place for their children to play.
The Mast property easement brings PTLT’s total protected land in Southern Maryland to over 6,250 acres.
The mission of the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust is to sustain the region’s biodiversity and water resources through a network of protected landscapes. The organization recognizes that forest and farmland and the region’s unique historic and scenic character are vital to a healthy economy and citizens’ sense of well-being.
PTLT acquires land and conservation easements by purchase or donation. It has conserved more than 6,250 acres of land in perpetuity.
