Maryland’s Rural Legacy Program (RLP) provides funding to preserve large, contiguous tracts of land and to enhance natural resource, agricultural, forestry and environmental protection while supporting a sustainable land base for natural resource based industries. The program creates public-private partnerships and allows land trusts and local governments to determine the best way to protect critical landscapes. Land conservation investments are targeted to protect the most ecologically valuable properties that most directly impact Chesapeake Bay and local waterway health. The program is administered by the Department of Natural Resources.

​The Rural Legacy Program encourages local governments and private land trusts to identify Rural Legacy Areas – delineated areas within a county that include both working farms and ecologically significant landscapes – and to competitively apply for funds to complement existing land conservation efforts or create new ones. Local Sponsors must apply annually to the Rural Legacy Board for participation in the program and to receive funding.