Maryland Environmental Trust, a unit of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, partnered with the Charles Koiner Center for Urban Farming Inc. to complete a conservation easement protecting green space in downtown Silver Spring. The one-acre property is home to Koiner Farm, an urban agricultural and educational enterprise.
Maryland Environmental Trust holds the property along with the land trust CKC Farming, conceived by Lynn Koiner, whose father Charles owned and operated the property for 40 years until his death in January. The active farm grows and sells produce, and also provides agricultural education opportunities for the next generation of sustainable food innovators.
“Five hundred years from now, I want my farm to still be here,” Lynn Koiner said. The easement will both preserve the property as urban open space and permit CKC Farming’s continued agricultural and educational uses of the farm.
“We are grateful for a local land trust partner like CKC Farming to help us protect this open space gem in the heart of downtown Silver Spring,” Maryland Environmental Trust Acting Director John Turgeon said.