Committee hears multiple bills on eminent domain, conservation easements and compensation for landowners

Lawmakers, farm groups and conservation organizations urged the Economic Matters Committee on Thursday to strengthen protections for landowners facing condemnation, and to ensure fair compensation where eminent domain is used.

Delegate Michelle Guyton opened testimony on House Bill 631, which would bar condemnation of privately held land subject to a conservation easement. "I am asking you to prohibit the government or any instrumentality of it from using eminent domain to take land that is already subject to an existing conservation easement," Guyton said. Supporters told the committee the change would protect investments in long-standing preservation programs.

Representatives of agricultural groups and land trusts testified in favor. Tyler Huff of the Maryland Farm Bureau said the organization opposes using eminent domain against preserved farmland because it undermines trust in…