Easton, MD, November 2, 2026 — J. L. and Annette Gannon and Alexis Brooks have worked with  
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy to permanently conserve 285 acres in Windy Hill, a tiny community  
just east of Trappe in Talbot County. The conservation easement was made possible through the  
Maryland Department of Natural Resource’s Rural Legacy Program, funded through Program Open Space.
The easement protects 140 acres of prime farmland including conservation reserve program   
(CRP) buffer strips. 139 acres of deciduous forest, managed with a forest stewardship plan, enclose the  
farm’s grain fields and provide 100-foot-wide buffers for 3,900 feet of Ash Bridge Branch, a tributary of  
Miles Creek and the Choptank River. Many of the farm’s trees are more than 100 years old and are home  
to Delmarva fox squirrel and vulnerable forest interior dwelling bird species. Six acres of impoundments
offer rest and food for migratory waterfowl.

Approximately 122 acres of Windy Hill Farms exists within Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, which means 
the easement will not only permanently protect the scenic, open space, and natural integrity of the farm,  
it will simultaneously safeguard the water quality and plant, fish and wildlife habitat of the Chesapeake  
Bay. “Windy Hill Farms provides these many ecological benefits in concert with more than 2,039 acres  
of protected lands that all lie less than one mile away,” commented ESLC President & CEO Steve Kline.  
“Connectivity like this is critical in order for easements to have the greatest possible impact on wildlife,  
cultural preservation, healthy agricultural and economic systems, and community climate resilience.”  

“We chose to work with ESLC because they had worked with other local landowners and because of  
their attention to detailed calculations for the environmental value the easement represented,”  
commented landowner J. L. Gannon. “There is a wealth of knowledge with the office staff and personnel   
that helps enlighten you on the easement’s value for the environment.”

Windy Hill’s scenery is not only beautiful, but powerfully influential. The farm’s conservation easement  
protects almost 8,000 feet of scenic road frontage and 3,100 feet of scenic water frontage, with  
particularly special autumn and winter sunsets that illuminate “pretty much every species of waterfowl  
common to Maryland and some rather uncommon, as well,” said Gannon. These unique autumn views  
were captured by several of the nation’s top plein air painters during ESLC’s 2026 Forever the Forest  
alumni invitational at the Avalon Foundation’s Plein Air Easton Festival. In person and on canvas,  
Windy Hill’s beauty is now able to inspire stewardship in perpetuity.  

Established in 1990, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s mission is to conserve, steward, and advocate for the unique rural
landscape of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, forever a special place of diverse and abundant natural resources and thriving rural