The National Audubon Society has sold a 950-acre wildlife sanctuary it was given on the Eastern Shore to former Anne Arundel County executive Robert A. Pascal, who said Friday he plans to raise organic cattle and hay on part of it. Pascal and Audubon both declined to disclose the purchase price, though state assessment records valued the land and six homes there at $8.5 million.
The waterfront estate near Bozman in Talbot County was once a hunting preserve for the DuPont family. It was donated to Audubon 13 years ago by Jean Ellen duPont Shehan to be a nature preserve and outdoor education center. But nearly two years ago, the society, short on funds to maintain the estate and wanting to focus on its other programs and properties, elected to sell it. However, state and local governments declined the society's overtures, citing a lack of funds, and neighboring residents worried that the wildlife-rich tract might be developed or no longer accessible to the public.
Pascal, 75, said he intends to return at least part of the tract to cultivation, raising organic beef, hay and chickens there. He also said he plans to enhance its wildlife habitat to attract quail, and possibly even try raising oysters on leased bottom in Broad Creek just offshore. "I want to make it into an environmental area where the general public can come and witness how to keep it pristine," he said. Though he said he intends to preserve the land from development and allow public access, Pascal added he could not comment on whether he plans to put any of the land into permanent conservation easement.
Pascal served as county executive from 1974 to 1982, and was state senator for one term before that. A Republican, he made an unsuccessful bid in 1982 to unseat Gov. Harry R. Hughes. He now owns St. Michaels Harbour Inn and Marina and is an investor in Baltimore's Harbor East development. He lives on a 500-acre farm on the Miles River in Talbot County, and said he owns other tracts on the Shore.
The waterfront estate near Bozman in Talbot County was once a hunting preserve for the DuPont family. It was donated to Audubon 13 years ago by Jean Ellen duPont Shehan to be a nature preserve and outdoor education center. But nearly two years ago, the society, short on funds to maintain the estate and wanting to focus on its other programs and properties, elected to sell it. However, state and local governments declined the society's overtures, citing a lack of funds, and neighboring residents worried that the wildlife-rich tract might be developed or no longer accessible to the public.
Pascal, 75, said he intends to return at least part of the tract to cultivation, raising organic beef, hay and chickens there. He also said he plans to enhance its wildlife habitat to attract quail, and possibly even try raising oysters on leased bottom in Broad Creek just offshore. "I want to make it into an environmental area where the general public can come and witness how to keep it pristine," he said. Though he said he intends to preserve the land from development and allow public access, Pascal added he could not comment on whether he plans to put any of the land into permanent conservation easement.
Pascal served as county executive from 1974 to 1982, and was state senator for one term before that. A Republican, he made an unsuccessful bid in 1982 to unseat Gov. Harry R. Hughes. He now owns St. Michaels Harbour Inn and Marina and is an investor in Baltimore's Harbor East development. He lives on a 500-acre farm on the Miles River in Talbot County, and said he owns other tracts on the Shore.
"Coach D'Armi was revered by his players as a person and as a coach. He would have his players' backs at all times, in good times and bad," Militello said. "He made us believe that we could beat the likes of Carolina and Clemson with only a limited number of scholarship players compared to their full NCAA allotment.
Here is a news release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Anne Taylor, whose Parker Place Gardens shop is near the aging Feldman's building, wants to see some action taken.
Miller called his colleague, Del. Gail H. Bates, a Republican who serves on a subcommittee that oversees corrections spending, who in turn contacted Gary D. Maynard, secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
"I guess I really didn't anticipate it," she said.
Binetti said that the hope is that in time, after community concerns are addressed, the program can be restarted. The inmates involved have made progress on their educations and had shown good behavior.
