Howard County, Maryland's Agricultural Land Preservation Program has taken advantage of the down market to purchase more than 1,000 acres of farmland.
The program is funded through real estate transfer taxes, and is intended for farm owners willing to "extinguish" the development rights on their land. Program administrator Joy Levy says in the Baltimore Sun that development pressure has been high in the area:
"After this latest round of easements, the county's agricultural land preservation program has prohibited development on 21,637 acres in rural western Howard, where the majority of the land does not have public water and sewer system, Levy said."
FULL STORY: Development prohibited on more than 1,000 acres of Howard farms
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