An agricultural conservation easement is a deed restriction that landowners voluntarily place on their property to protect resources such as productive agricultural land. The agreement is between a landowner and a governmental agency or nonprofit conservation organization and is legally binding upon the land and future owners in perpetuity. The conservation easement protects the land from future development and requires conservation practices that assure proper care of the land, so it remains usable and productive for future generations. Conservation easements are recorded in the Carroll County Land Records.
The MAPLF Program, Carroll County Easement Purchase Program, Rural Legacy Program and Critical Farms Program require perpetual easements on properties that participate in the program. The easement permanently retires the development potential of the land. While the easements prepared by County staff each include conditions and requirements specific to each individual property/farm, the following sample easement forms for each program show the base easement agreement.

Click below for a sample.

For more information, contact the Ag Pres Program staff at 410-386-2214 or CarrollAgPres@CarrollCountyMD.gov.