Land Conservation
Whether you live on a farm or in the city, are a history lover or a hiker, 或者只是想直接从水龙头喝纯净水, 你所居住的土地和周围的环境塑造了你的生活. Land can be as essential as your source of income or as profound as your place for peace and tranquility. 这两者——以及两者之间的一切——都将你的生活质量与你居住的地方联系起来.
The lands of the Chesapeake hold the key to the environmental health and economic well-being of our region. The Bay’s land-to-water ratio — 2,800 square meters of land to every one cubic meter of water — is the largest of any coastal body in the world. How we use and protect these lands is the single most profound factor affecting the Bay’s water quality, the 110,000英里的小溪和河流流入这里, 无数赖以生存的生物资源, 以及生活在它周围的1800万居民的生活质量.
Gunpowder River
Photo by Emily Myron
We believe that land conservation has tangible and critical benefits for the Bay restoration and conservation movement — filtering water, recharging aquifers, sequestering carbon, eating nitrogen, 停止淤积——这是对开放空间的补充, wildlife habitat and access for recreation. Our research shows that protected forests and wetlands are the hardest working silent partners in the restoration effort that we have and that there is incredible benefit – and immense potential – to be gained from the water quality benefits conservation provides.
1800万人以海湾流域为家. That means we have 18 million reasons to protect this landscape so that future generations will have the same opportunities we enjoy—and incidentally, 到2050年，我们将有额外的400万个理由.
We would want Rachel Carson to confirm to our grandchildren that spring is just as boisterous as we remember it being when we were children. 我们希望奥尔多·利奥波德确认“猛烈的绿色之火”并未熄灭. We would want Teddy Roosevelt to tell us that we have been fierce stewards of the most glorious heritage a people ever received. We need to adopt the American Indian philosophy of thinking seven generations into the future—and plan and act for them. In the face of global catastrophe, it’s time to do things wildly differently and to think and plan at previously unimaginable spatial scales.
Noted conservationist E.O. Wilson [请参阅2022年2月23日发布的声明. Wilson’s support of scientific racism], author of Half-Earth, 提出了一个大胆的计划来拯救我们危险的生物圈:保护地球表面的一半, both land and ocean, to maintain nature. It’s time to put serious consideration into setting a goal of maintaining half of the Chesapeake Bay watershed by conserving and restoring working lands and natural lands and the places that matter for the future of our region. Something like this can and should only be done with willing landowners and using precision conservation techniques, 所以它是在社区的方向上，在景观的正确位置上完成的.
目前，切萨皮克流域大约22%的土地面积受到保护. This includes important working lands, rich farmlands, and productive forests, as well as our natural lands, 包括国家公园和州立公园以及野生动物保护区. 相比之下，大约11%的流域得到了开发. A distant goal of protecting 50 percent of the watershed’s working lands and natural lands would still leave around 39 percent available for future growth and development and other needs of society.
The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement committed to protecting 2 million acres of additional land by 2025, along with 300 new public access sites. It’s now 2024, 我们离200万英亩的目标和向公众开放的目标都只有一半了, which is certainly something to celebrate. 但我们需要开始确定2025年以后的目标. 是时候考虑一下这些想法如何应用到切萨皮克湾和流域了. 是时候考虑大局了，因为我们的切萨皮克是我们共同拥有的最大资产. With careful stewardship, we can pass on something we are proud of to our children and grandchildren. This is the goal of a lifetime.
Conserving 30% of the Chesapeake by 2030
Learn about our data-driven campaign to protect30% of the Chesapeake’s lands by 2030 as some of the world’s leading scientists are calling for dramatic increases in conservation efforts and habitat protection at a global scale. Renowned biologist E.O. 威尔逊呼吁将地球上一半的土地和水域献给大自然. Dr. Thomas Lovejoy of George Mason University has called for the protection of 30 percent of the earth by 2030. [Read More]
Land and Water Conservation Fund
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is America’s most important program to conserve irreplaceable lands and improve outdoor recreation opportunities throughout the nation. 该项目与联邦政府合作, 州和地方努力保护我们国家公园的土地, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national trails, and other public lands; to preserve working forests and ranchlands; to support state and local parks and playgrounds; to preserve battlefields and other historic and cultural sites; and to provide the tools that communities need to meet their diverse conservation and recreation needs.
We are a member of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition 并倡导为这一重要项目和我们地区每年提供资金.
Maryland Program Open Space
开放空间项目是马里兰州领先的土地保护项目. In 1969, the Maryland General Assembly created Program Open Space through the institution of a transfer tax of 0.该州每笔房地产交易的5%. 于是，保护土地的非凡历史开始了, 并建造了公园和游乐场，使这个州成为一个有吸引力的居住地, work and play.
“开放空间计划”为州和地方公园的收购和开发提供资金, 保护拥有珍稀和濒危物种的独特自然区域, 保护农田和保护当地已确定的资源土地(农场), forest, 具有保护地役权的历史/文化.
This revenue is intended to keep pace with rising land costs and the pace of development and with the loss of open space and farmland. Also, 通过与非营利组织和公共机构合作, POS利用资源并提高效率, 用更少的钱为马里兰州纳税人做更多的事.
The Chesapeake Conservancy advocates for full funding for this vital program in the Maryland State Legislature and is a member of the Partners for Open Space.
Virginia Land Preservation Tax Credit
弗吉尼亚联邦为土地保护创造了强有力的激励机制, 用于支付州所得税的可转让信贷. It is an effective, voluntary, 自由市场机制已被证明大大增加了保护地役权的十大赌博正规老平台, 保护景观的完整性并使切萨皮克湾流域受益.
In 1999, 弗吉尼亚州议会通过了《十大赌博平台排行榜》,” to grant a credit against its state income tax to property owners who donated land or easements to protect conservation values in Virginia. The original tax credit granted was 50% of the value of a qualifying conservation donation in the state.
Today, Virginia allows an income tax credit for 40 percent of the value of donated land or conservation easements. 到2020年，纳税人每年最多可以使用2万美元，在随后的纳税年度每年可以使用5万美元. 税收抵免最多可以结转13年. Unused credits may be sold, allowing individuals with little or no Virginia income tax burden to take advantage of this benefit.
十大赌博正规老平台协会主张维持这一重要项目, 它保护了弗吉尼亚数十万英亩的土地不受开发, and is a member of the Virginia United Land Trusts Association, Virginia Conservation Network and VirginiaForever.
宾夕法尼亚拱心石娱乐、公园和保护基金
In 1993, 宾夕法尼亚州议会和公众建立了Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. Keystone基金及其专用资金来源, 该州15%的房产转让税, 建立一个专门和永久的资金来源，用于娱乐投资, parks, conservation, libraries, historical preservation, and education.
The Keystone Fund has helped protect 161,为县和市政公园提供超过000英亩的绿地, greenways, wildlife habitat, and other open space uses. 这也为成千上万的社区公园发展项目提供了资金, including ballfields, playgrounds, pools, picnic areas, 还有娱乐中心和步道项目, bicycling, and other recreation uses.
We are a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Land Trusts 我们主张为Keystone基金提供全额资金.
Delaware Open Space Program
特拉华州的开放空间计划负责协调公园的收购, open space, natural areas, forests, wildlife habitat, greenways, and access to waterways. These management areas include some of the finest examples of Delaware’s diverse natural and cultural heritage.
The process for acquiring open space lands and conservation easements in Delaware was codified in 1990 with the passage of the Delaware Land Protection Act. The Land Preservation Office in DNREC implements this law by identifying areas of high ecological value and protects these areas by working with landowners who would like to protect their property from development and preserve it in perpetuity. Since the law was passed in 1990, over 57,特拉华州有1000英亩的土地受到保护，不受开发.
We strongly support the Delaware Land Protection Act and annually advocate for full funding for this program.