Eastern Shore Land Conservancy has helped to protect more than 68,000 acres of farms, forests, woodlands, and wetlands on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, safely securing land for wildlife habitat, climate resiliency, historical preservation, and agriculture. Thousands of those acres also provide public access to the Maryland outdoors for both people and their pets! Walking your dog in a beautiful natural place provides healthy recreation for both you and your pet, plus decreased stress, socialization, and the opportunity to observe and appreciate the unique sights and sounds of the Eastern Shore.

 

Several of ESLC’s perpetual conservation easements like the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center in Grasonville and Stanley Park in Oxford, Maryland (both free to the public), offer walking trails, birding hideaways, scenic views, riverside beaches, and boat launches—all friendly to dogs on leash. Also in Oxford, ESLC is currently working with the Friends of Oxford Conservation Park, Talbot County Parks & Rec, and Washington College’s Natural Lands Project to restore meadows and wildlife habitat and expand the trail system at Oxford Conservation Park (another favorite spot for Eastern Shore dog-lovers). And at ESLC’s Jim and Mary B. Lynch Preserve in Caroline County, ESLC conserves and stewards 206 acres of piney trails, beech groves, wild azaleas and creekside coves where dogs can skip and sniff to their heart’s delight along Robins Creek.

 

Less well-known is ESLC’s long history of increasing public access to the outdoors through the planned purchase and transfer of land. Because ESLC can often take action on a faster timeframe, the organization has often served as a Robin Hood for the Eastern Shore, purchasing lucrative private properties before they can be developed and then transferring the land to towns, counties, and Maryland DNR for it to become community parks, nature preserves, sanctuaries, and extensions of public-access Wildlife Management Areas. Dogs are allowed on many of these properties including Bohemia River State Park, White Marsh Park in Queen Anne’s County, Brown’s Branch WMA, Sassafras NRMA, and Friendship Park in East New Market. At times, ESLC has kept an eye on the market so that land adjacent to parks or conserved properties can be bought and transferred, increasing both wildlife corridors and public trail extensions.

 

After decades of this important work, ESLC is also often sought for help. Last year, the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay approached ESLC prior to listing Camp Grove Point in Cecil County for sale. ESLC purchased the camp in December 2024 and is currently assisting DNR in its restoration of the property to a more natural state. Once transferred to DNR, Camp Grove Point will become part of the Grove Farm WMA, a roughly 1,000-acre expanse of hardwood forest, swamps, farms, marshes, and beaches providing open access for hiking, fishing, biking, bird watching, and public hunting. The camp will be connected to the larger conservation area by the 242-acre Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity property that was similarly purchased by ESLC and transferred to expand Grove Farm WMA in 2021. Leashed dogs are allowed on trails at Grove Farm WMA as well.

 

The Maryland Eastern Shore Trail Network (MESTN), founded through the organizational stewardship of ESLC, works to connect all of these public places to further increase access, safety, and functionality. The Eastern Shore of Maryland consumes 30% of the state’s land mass but only 9% of Maryland’s road-separated trails, even though the peninsula serves as both residence and vacationland for the entire region. Conserving and stewarding public lands and trails helps to enhance public open space for residents, visitors, and furry friends alike.

 

Most of the projects described above were funded through Program Open Space, a system Maryland developed for funding conservation in our state. Every time a property is purchased, a 0.5% transfer tax is collected. This money is then used by Program Open Space to fund and conserve community playgrounds, state parks, nature preserves, wildlife habitat, and farmland. These funds are depended upon by every county, town, and city in Maryland. At times a portion of these funds have been diverted from their agreed upon use (conservation efforts) and used to offset Maryland’s budget needs, as will likely happen this year. The people of Maryland cannot afford to lose this funding and these spaces. They are essential for public health, community wellbeing, our agricultural industry, and our natural resources conservation economy which annually contributes more than 38,000 jobs and over 4 billion dollars on Maryland’s Eastern Shore alone.

 

Public access to nature should not be a luxury. We depend on these spaces for physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Walking your dog through the woods as neon orange tuliptree blossoms tumble through the air can lessen anxiety and depression. Playing fetch under cathedral-high loblollies and kayaking through a percussion of spartina marsh grass thick with muskrats and red-winged blackbirds lowers mortality and illness rates. These experiences help us to regulate our sleep-wake cycles, connect with friends, and boost cognition and attention. And they have similar health benefits for our pets. Interacting tangibly with our environment reminds us just how important it is to conserve our peninsula’s natural resources in order to protect our unique culture, our air and water quality, climate resiliency, economy, food security, biodiversity, and so much more. ESLC is honored to conserve and steward Maryland’s open land in this way, preserving our beautiful marshy landscape for generations to come.