What motivates landowners to protect their land? Hear what landowners say about why they donated or sold a permanent conservation easement on their land.
"As a rural businessman, preserving this farm means I can plan for the future. With a vineyard, it's always a 40-year crop and if you can't plan for the future, it ties your hands. When you farm and work in the country, you need open space around you and becoming a nucleus of preservation in the valley, we've seen other farms take heart and go the same way we have, and that means we've achieved critical mass here. This has resulted in a tremendous response from people in a societal context. By sending a message that we care for the land we work, it's wrought a positive message and a healthy message for the community and the people. And that message is the land we live on is really our spirit. You can wake up in the morning and say that what I'm looking at, which is very beautiful, is going to be here for years."
Rob Deford, owner of 240-acre Boordy Vineyards in the Long Green Valley, Baltimore County, Maryland. MET Easement recorded in 2000.
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