Ann Jones

Ann Jones has spent her career working to safeguard rural landscapes and it all started right in her backyard. Growing up, Ann watched as her quiet Howard County farm community slowly disappeared to suburban expansion. The landscape transformed right before her eyes.

This transformation motivated Ann’s family to apply for and receive one of the Howard County’s first agricultural easement grants.  Her family was at the forefront of what was to become the country’s most successful farmland preservation program. Without families like Ann’s, Howard County would have been swallowed up by subdivisions.

As the daughter of a Howard County Councilman, Ann has a unique skillset that makes her especially successful in spearheading largescale watershed conservation. Her best work is often done over a cup of coffee at a family’s kitchen table.

Ann has more than twenty years’ experience in preserving some of Maryland’s most stunning landscapes. Working with the Valleys Planning Council and the Land Preservation Trust, Ann has helped to successfully secure more than 26,000 acres of the Piney Run Watershed in Northwestern Baltimore County – composed of over 300 separate easements. In addition to securing the easements, Ann works regularly with landowners to share best management practices for stewarding the land to obtain the best outcomes for healthy land, water, air and habitat. 

Ann has found her passion as a statewide leader but for her it’s personal. Ann’s family still live on her family farm. For 276 years, her family has stepped-up to care for and maintain their land as a working farm.

“The occupants may change, the way we use the land may change- but by permanently protecting our land, the potential of the land to do good by providing clean air, water and food is the greatest gift we can leave the next generation.” –Ann

Ann is a proud mother of three and a grandmother of two grandchildren. She envisions a future where the next generation is connected to the land.

Here at Forever Maryland, we are grateful to have Ann as a founding member of our Advisory Council. In addition to serving as Director of the Baltimore County Land Trust Alliance, Ann administers the Rural Legacy Program for Piney Run and is the Conservation Director for the Land Preservation Trust. She has served on the boards of the Howard County Conservancy, Maryland Environmental Trust and the Howard County Agricultural Preservation Board. Together with Forever Maryland and the Partners for Open Space, Ann was a critical voice in protecting more than $200 million in Program Open Space funds.

We are proud to have Ann as a contributing member of the Forever Maryland team and together, we will continue to do great things for Maryland’s open space and natural resources.