Maryland couple turns 116-acre hunting land into protected wildlife habitat

When Louise and John Durocher bought 116 acres in Kent County, Maryland, the property was intended primarily as a hunting retreat. Over the next two decades, however, the couple gradually changed its purpose. They stopped growing crops and began restoring the fields with native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees. They planted river birch, tulip poplar, sycamore, white oak, loblolly pine, black walnut and pawpaw, creating a mosaic of meadows, woodland, wetlands and hedgerows. Now known as Tavern Creek Farm, the property has been placed under a permanent conservation easement through the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and the Durocher family. Eastern Shore Undercover reports that the agreement will protect the land from future development and preserve its value as wildlife habitat, while safeguarding water quality in Tavern Creek and the Chesapeake Bay.