The real estate slump may have diminished the state's ability to buy parkland, but property owners haven't stopped preserving their land from development.

The Maryland Environmental Trust reports that landowners agreed to place conservation easements on a record 5,747 acres in 11 different counties last year, permanently surrendering development rights in return for tax breaks.

The largest of the 24 easements covered 2,894 acres of Andelot Farm in Kent County, a mix of forest, farmland and ponds. One of the more important ecologically was a 188-acre easement near Cunningham Falls in Frederick County, shown above. It's home to the Queen-of-the-Prairie (Filipendula rubra), a state endangered plant that grows in an unusual seepage wet meadow on the property.

“2009 has been an incredible year for MET,” said MET Director Elizabeth Buxton in a press release.   It wasn't a banner year for the number of easements, but the big Andelot property put the acreage total over the top.

The trust, affiliated with the state Department of Natural Resources but overseen by a citizen board of trustees, promotes the preservation of open land and habitat. Since its formation in 1967, the trust has secured more than 1,000 easements and protected more than 122,000 acres of farmland, forests and scenic areas statewide.

While the land has not come exactly free to the state - those tax breaks are foregone revenue - it's generally a lot cheaper than buying property outright. The other tradeoff is that lands under easement remain in private hands, off limits to public access -- but the state is not responsible for maintaining them, either.

(Photo courtesy of Maryland Environmental Trust)