Plans to build the Maryland Horse Park in Anne Arundel County have come to an end, leaving the horse park again looking for a home. Hartford County and Cecil County officials have said they would welcome the horse park in their respective counties, according to an article in the Baltimore Examiner
Savefairhill Inc opposes the horse park at Fair Hill NRMA,
for the following reasons:
Fair Hill NRMA is public land, bought using funds from program open space. We strongly oppose selling off public parkland for any form of development.
Fair Hill is a unique and unspoiled rural landscape, offering a vast array of natural landscapes, habitats, flora and fauna, and extensive, in some cases rare, wildlife. The horse park would bring with it a 5000 seat stadium, mercury vapor lighting, loudspeakers, not to mention acres of parking lots, many new buildings, heavy traffic and blight in the surrounding rural areas.
The DNR, and a good number of our elected officials have pledged to preserve Fair Hill NRMA as it is today (see DNR letter and Pledge Meter below). It is our hope that these guardians of our parkland will honour their promise and say a categorical NO to a horse park at Fair Hill NRMA.
SAY NO TO A HORSE PARK AT FAIR HILL!
What you can do:
Call or write to your elected officials (again) and ask them not to offer up your parkland as a freebie to the Maryland Horse Industry
Write to the DNR and ask them to protect your parkland for future generations
Stay tuned: Join our Yahoo group for other information on what's going on, and how you can help.
William C. Manlove - District 1
Office: 410-996-5201
wmanlove@ccgov.org
Mark H. Guns - District 5
Office: 410-996-5201
mguns@ccgov.org
Brian Lockhart- District 3
Office: 410-996-5201
blockhart@ccgov.org
Wayne L. Tome - District 4
Office: 410-996-5201
wtome@ccgov.org
Rebecca J. Demmler - District 2
Office: 410.996.5201
rdemmler@ccgov.org
RJD@crosslink.net
Who we are.....
The SaveFairHill Team is a registered non-profit volunteer organization whose mission is to ensure the protection and preservation of Fair Hill NRMA through legal protection, public awareness, adequate funding, and community involvement.
The team's goals are:
To promote adoption of a revised, more specific Land Unit Plan, to provide permanent legal protection for Fair Hill NRMA from development.
To campaign for adequate state and county funding for maintenance, security and stewardship of the NRMA
To establish a permanent and sustainable conservation plan to protect the natural, cultural and recreational resources, including the extent and diversity of habitat at Fair Hill NRMA.
In the run up to the 2006 elections, SFH asked our candidates for office, and elected officials to take a pledge to protect Fair Hill from development. See below for a list of candidates who did, and did not sign.
Delegate David Rudolph, with the support of the Cecil County Delegation, submitted a bill to the General Assembly to "codify" the 1997 Land Unit Plan.
The bill was heard by the Environmental Matters committee, and a number of local residents and park users traveled to Annapolis to testify. As codification was pursued, the Land Unit Plan was found to be difficult to codify.
However, the DNR has written a letter promising the residents of Cecil County that it will abide by the Land Unit Plan, and that it will hold a public hearing before embarking on anything that might be in conflict with it. The letter is shown below. Although codification was initially thought to be a more solid legal backing of the Land Unit Plan, this "promise" by the DNR is considered a significant step forward in protecting Fair Hill.
SaveFairHill extends its sincere thanks to Delegate Rudolph for his leadership in protecting our parkland.
How you can help protect Fair Hill NRMA:
1) Write to our County Delegation to support the preservation and the protection of Fair Hill as open space. Send letters to the general assembly members. (Names & addresses of our Delegates is shown below).
2) Write a letter to the Cecil Whig as well to garner public support, and educate the citizens at whigletters@chespub.com.
3) ATTEND the SaveFair Hill Meetings Please join us! Meetings are posted on our YahooGroup.
4) Help out with Trail Maintenance! Trail Work Parties are held on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Reminders will be posted on our Yahoo Group site.
Fundraising activities:
Donations are welcome on-line. Please click here to donate:
Christmas cards
There are two designs, shown below. Each design was created especially for SaveFairHill Inc.
1) The Covered Bridge at Fair Hill - By Geraldine McKeown (www.mckeownart.com). $35 for pack of 20 (includes envelopes), plus $2.50 Shipping per order.
2) Bowhunters Meadow - By Mary Ellen Goetz. $35 for pack of 20 (includes envelopes), plus $2.50 Shipping per order.
How to order:
Option 1: Call Mike at 1 800 250 9011 (you can pay by credit card)
Option 2: Pay the correct amount through the paypal link above (Where it says "Make a donation"), then send an email to savefair@savefairhill.com stating which card you want, number of packs, a delivery name & address, and quote your paypal receipt / confirmation number.
"Don't forget - this park belongs to all of you! You paid for it with your tax dollars!"
