A26‘Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 4, 2003
Baltimore County
(Continued from Page A 1)
dustry and for future generations,”
said Dan Calhoun, chair of the Bal-'
timore County Agricultural Board.
Clarence, George, and Charles
Mielke, owners of Trenton Mill
Farms in the Piney Run Rural Leg
acy Area, recently sold the develop
ment rights to their farm, bringing
the county’s total number of pre
served acres to 40,000. “These boys
have farm blood in them, and the
land was passed down to them from
their parents. They grew up on the
land and have farmed it their whole
lives. To see a crop of townhouses
would be devastating to them,” said
Rhoda Mielke, George Mielke’s
wife.
Trenton Mills Farms is consid
ered one of the most significant ag
ricultural operations in Baltimore
County. Working more than 3,000
acres and providing grain services
to mother 7,000 acres of farmland,
this farming operation represents
more than 25 percent of the grain
production in Baltimore County.
Preserving this vital and scenic
farm, through the state’s Rural Leg
acy program, perpetuates the water
shed protection provided by the
farm’s 3,200 feet of stream buffers.
In 1985, Drew and Joan Norman
took over the family farm in White
Hall and converted it into an organ
ic vegetable farm. Growing to be
come one of the largest farms of its
kind in the state, they needed more
land to expand. In 1998, Drew’s sis
ter, Helen Elmore, sold an easement
on their farm to the Maryland Agri
cultural Land Preservation Founda
tion, and used the proceeds to pur
chase more land, which they lease
to the Normans for ogranic vege
table production. “Without the sale
of that easement, we would not
have been able to do it,” Elmore
said.
Boordy Vineyards, a nationally
recognized local winery, sits on
more than 200 acres of preserved
land in the Long Green Valley. The
DeFord family, who has owned the
farm for generations, donated an
easement over the entire farm in
2001. This donation was a major
event in securing the protection of a
critical mass of land in the Long
Green Valley. Now, more than
2,000 acres, or more than 30 percent
of this scenic 7,000-acre agricultur
al valley are protected.
“Our decision, as a family, to
preserve the farm was part of long
term planning to create the stabili
ty for planting a vineyard and for
our grandchildren,” Rob Deford
said. “It is difficult to describe the
relationship one has with the land
one grows up on. The decision to
preserve was easy once we found
the right mechanism to use.”
Baltimore County is nationally
recognized for its strong local land
use and preservation policies, with
a thirty-year history of active pres
ervation efforts. The first preserva
tion easement in the county was in
1974. Shortly afterward, the county
created the Urban Rural Demarca
tion Line, which established a clear
boundary between the urban and
suburban areas serviced by public
water and sewer, and the area des
tined to retain its rural flavor. In
1975, the county created Rural
Conservation Zones, including an
Agricultural Preservation Zone to
protect rural resources. Smith,
when he served as third District
County Councilman, sponsored
legislation to make the Agricultural
Zone more protective. This protec
tive zone has proven to be a firm
foundation upon which preserva
tion programs could build.
The county’s preserved lands,
combined with its extensive system
of parkland, creates a remarkable
green network that stretches from
the Chesapeake Bay to the Pied
mont border with Pennsylvania.
“These green expanses are a quali
ty of life asset that few jurisdictions
can claim,” Smith said. “Reaching
this 40,000 acre milestone, and
striving to protect 80,000 acres
demonstrates our commitment to
ensuring this legacy of the land for
future generations.”
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