BALTIMORE, MD—The Board of Public Works has approved Maryland Department of Natural Resources items totaling $6.3 million in grants to local governments and land trusts to improve parks and protect land with perpetual conservation easements.

The Antietam Creek Waterway Trail will be receiving a grant of $480,000, which will be used to provide new access to and parking for the trail.

“Program Open Space — Local provides funding for county and municipal governments for the planning, acquisition, and development of recreational land or facilities,” said the DNR in a release.

Grants were also awarded to three other projects in Prince George’s County including $2.6 million for the reconstruction of playgrounds at Lane Manor Park and Bladensburg Waterfront Park, as well as $2.7 million for the acquisition of conservation easements on five properties across five different counties.

The Rural Legacy program, which was created in 1997, aims to conserve large working landscapes across 35 designated areas in Maryland. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Permanent Easement Program, which was established in 2009, works with willing landowners to purchase and preserve conservation easements on these lands, which are then required to be maintained indefinitely.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.