Draft plan adds agritourism, working‑lands and fisheries policy; commissioners ask about incentives

Planning staff presented a new "Working Lands" theme that would promote a diverse agriculture and forestry sector and support agritourism activities such as farm stays, roadside stands, craft beverage production and recreation farms.

Commissioners asked staff to explicitly include federal funding sources for land preservation (for example, REPI and other federal easement programs) and to ensure action language does not limit preservation to only state priorities. Staff agreed to add federal sources to the language.

On mineral resources, staff proposed a policy to support appropriate sand and gravel operations while minimizing negative impacts; commissioners suggested exploring mechanisms for encouraging temporary subdivision borrow areas to be repurposed as recreation (ponds, parks) and to consider fee‑in‑lieu approaches and parks/rec involvement.

On fisheries, staff proposed policy language to "maintain adequate fish stocks for commercial and recreational fishing" and to collaborate with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on rebuilding overfished stocks and controlling invasive species. Commissioners asked that the language explicitly include shellfish sectors (crabs, oysters) and to explore financial and operational supports such as a county fish market or other market development efforts.

Next steps: staff will add federal funding sources to preservation language, refine fisheries language to be inclusive of shellfish and consider drafting incentive options and implementation actions for parks, mining reuse and aquaculture supports.