Scenic Rivers Land Trust Inc

Since 1988, the Scenic Rivers Land Trust (SRLT) has been protecting land in Anne Arundel County.  We work with landowners to safeguard their land in the manner that best suits their needs and priorities.  Our professional staff guides landowners in the creation of legal land preservation agreements that define how their property will be protected and can make them eligible for significant property tax savings, large charitable deductions and estate tax savings.            

Our Goals:

• To identify, monitor and protect priority natural areas in the watersheds of five rivers:  Severn, South, West, Rhode and Patuxent.
• To educate landowners, community leaders and public officials about voluntary techniques for protecting and preserving land.
• To accept and manage conservation easements for the permanent protection of land.
• To assist in the protective stewardship of our natural resources.

Stmt of accomplishments

 

In 2012, SRLT celebrated our 50th protected property and has since added 10 more to the list, now protecting over 2,600 acres, or about 1% of the land in Anne Arundel County.  SRLT has been recognized as one of the leading land trusts in Maryland through the Aileen Hughes Award presented by the Maryland Environmental Trust. Also in 2012, SRLT was nominated for “Non-profit of the Year” by the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce. SRLT has also received regional recognition of four of our easement landowners by the String of Pearls program.

 

Soon we will launch our “Building on Success” campaign with the ambitious goal of protecting 5,000 acres by 2015, doubling our current holdings in a mere three years. We expect our 5,000 acres to leverage protection for thousands of additional acres of forest, wetlands and meadows, invigorating the ecological and economic resiliency of our entire region. SRLT cannot accomplish this goal without your support!

Services we provide

• Educational Neighborhood Coffees to promote land preservation in your neighborhood
• Community Organization Presentations
• Technical Briefings on Conservation Easements targeted towards educating legal, accounting, wealth management, and real estate professionals on land conservation in Anne Arundel County
• Annual Walk for the Woods: This year we had over 400 local residents participate in our 8th Annual Walk for the Woods. Partnering with the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks, SRLT opens the Bacon Ridge Natural Area in the South River Greenway to the public once a year for hiking, bird watching, and general outdoors education. The Bacon Ridge Natural Area consists of 900+ acres of protected parkland in Crownsville. While it is not yet fully open to the public, SRLT is working on a plan with the County’s Recreation and Parks Department to open the park to the public on a regular basis.