Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Land and Water Protection: The fourth year of the Re-Leaf the Reserve program saw more acres along stream buffers planted to improve water and air quality - the program has now planted 30 acres. MCA partnered with Friends of Ten Mile Creek to maintain strong protections for our backup water supply. We partnered with other local civic organizations to ensure critical protections for farmland and our shared water supply continue as the county considers future development patterns under the Thrive 2050 plan. We pushed for a much needed revision of the county forest conservation law as a member of the MoCo Forest Coalition.We lent support to civic organizations in Frederick County navigating master plan changes with legacy impacts on Southern Frederick farmland and forests. Late in the year we responded when PFAS, or "forever chemicals", were found in Poolesville wells by sharing information and resources with local residents.

Farmer Support: Since 2011 MCA has matched 32 new or expanding farmers with long term leases on local land through our Land Link program - now totaling over 500 acres of matches. 2022 saw 6 matches, including several that are growing some or all of their produce for food banks. We promoted local food products and CSA programs and continued to grow our producers listserve to help farmers share knowledge and equipment. In June we partnered with Dodo Farms to host a listening session with the County Council president and diverse local farmers to discuss how to remove barriers to thriving farms. We led a successful campaign to fully fund the County Office of Agriculture in order to better serve local farms.

Education: 2022 was a joyful return to in person education experiences, including bringing high school students to farms and water quality monitoring sites. We engaged the general public through our 15th annual Ride for the Reserve fall bike tour. The 2022 Royce Hanson award honored the work of Jane Perini and Wib Middleton, publishers of PLENTY magazine, a publication specifically focused on the Agricultural Reserve. During the 2022 election season we collected and shared unedited candidate responses to our survey on protection of farms, forests and water quality and provided non-partisan information on redistricting changes impacting local voters.