The Maryland Department of Natural Resources wants residents’ input on the state’s recreation needs and land conservation priorities for the next decade.
Now through June 28, members of the public can provide comments on DNR’s draft of its Land Preservation and Recreation Plan. The draft plan is the result of a year’s worth of work with public lands planning firm Agency Landscape and Planning to gather data about Maryland’s current land preservation and recreation amenities, as well as input from two surveys, four regional public events, and four stakeholder focus groups.
The plan outlines the current state of Maryland’s parks and other protected lands, as well as the state’s vision for the future and how they hope to get there.
For example, the plan shows that more people — and a more diverse range of people — are participating in outdoor recreation, but the length of time that individuals are spending outdoors is decreasing. The plan seeks to increase investment in outdoor recreation in order to improve the quality of these services and encourage people to spend more time in nature.
Residents and visitors have some of the best access to nature within a five-mile drive in Central Maryland, particularly in Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City. Meanwhile, counties on the Eastern Shore have the most significant gaps in access, where participants must travel longer distances to reach nature areas, according to the plan.
Maryland’s goal of conserving 30% of the state’s total 6.1 million-acre land area by 2030 has already been achieved six years early. Next, the state has committed to raising that percentage to 40% by 2040.
One of the priorities of the Land Preservation and Recreation Plan is to support those goals. Land protected by state agencies, local governments, nonprofit land trusts, and the federal government all count towards the goal.
Community members can review the draft LPRP and submit comments via an online form by 11:59 p.m. on June 28.
