Swann Farm in Easton Protected Forever

Talbot County, MD - A 70-acre farm along the waterways of Easton, Maryland will stay just as it is for generations to come. The McGill family has donated a conservation easement on Swann Farm to the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, working alongside the Maryland Environmental Trust to make it official.

The easement is the 342nd in ESLC's history and brings the organization's total conserved land in Talbot County to more than 13,951 acres.

ESLC President and CEO Steve Kline called it a meaningful moment for land conservation on the Shore. "In areas of the Eastern Shore that are lacking in purchased easement opportunities, ESLC relies on donated easements to achieve our land conservation goals," he said. "Thanks to MET and the McGills, Swann Farm will remain a quintessential Eastern Shore farm forever, offering bountiful farm fields, quiet woodlands, and clear creek water for generations to come."

The protected land includes 49 acres of working farmland and 17 acres of woodland. Those woods serve as a 100-foot buffer between the fields and more than 2,280 feet of waterfront along Shipshead Creek and Peachblossom Creek, both of which feed into the Tred Avon River.

The entire farm sits within the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area. The tree buffers help filter runoff, protect the shoreline, and provide habitat for fish, plants, and wildlife. The forests also connect to a larger woodland area that supports forest interior dwelling birds, a declining group of species in Maryland.

For Willis McGill, the decision came down to family. His grandfather, James McKenny Willis, bought and farmed the land in 1952, and three generations later, Willis wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

"The legacy, the beauty, of living in the big city and then crossing the bridge and coming down to the farm... to be able to give that privilege, family way of life, and appreciation to future generations, that's how the legacy of Granddad continues on," McGill said.

He also spoke about what the land means beyond farming. "It's always the first, right? Seeing your first eagle, your first turkey, shooting your first wood duck. What gives me as much pleasure as anything is friends' kids catching their first fish, watching the birds come in at night. It's a memory for life."

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy was founded in 1990. Its mission is to conserve and advocate for the rural landscape of Maryland's Eastern Shore, which it describes as a place of diverse natural resources and thriving rural communities.

All photos have been provided by ESLC.