State plans to preserve 9,200 acres

O'Malley announces land deals and interactive Web-based map to outline goals

All five tracts score highly on an environmental rating system that his department has developed, Griffin said. The Worcester tract, surrounded by about 10,000 preserved acres, is home to a wide variety of forest-dwelling birds, as well as those that spend their winters in Central and South America, such as the Baltimore oriole.

The other tracts combine natural value with historical and economic significance. In Cecil, there are about 975 acres of forest and meadows. In Charles, 1,700 acres on Port Tobacco Creek may help buffer the Army's Blossom Point proving ground from encroaching development. And in St. Mary's, 985 acres on St. Inigoes peninsula would shelter the Navy's Webster airfield from development, while another 776 acres on Newtowne Neck was the site of one of the nation's first universities, a forerunner to Georgetown University founded by the Jesuits in 1677.

Environmentalists praised the O'Malley administration for moving to preserve the tracts.

"They're not making any more land," said William Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. "Anything you can protect for tomorrow is a legacy."

O'Malley also announced that his administration would be doling out $13.5 million this year in Rural Legacy grants to 20 different counties for local land preservation efforts.

About 21 percent of the state's land has been developed, O'Malley noted, and a comparable share has been preserved. But pavement is spreading across the landscape at a rate five times faster than Maryland's population has grown, he said, calling that an unsustainable trend.

He said the "GreenPrint" map, which can zoom into lot-by-lot land use while also providing detailed information about recent state purchases, should help local officials in making growth plans. The public can see the map at www.greenprint.maryland.gov.