Around Crownsville: Saving open spaces one lot at a time

When Connie Pumphrey moved to Herald Harbor in the late 1990s she fell in love with the waterfront community. She especially loved the trees that kept temperatures down in the summer.

But shortly after she settled into her home, development took off.

"It seemed like every week there was something else going up," she said.

A self-proclaimed 'tree-hugger,' Mrs. Pumphrey wanted to do something to slow the development. So when she heard of the Crownsville Conservancy, she was interested.

"What made me a good match was that I'd been in real estate and I've been a tree-hugger forever,"...