Chris Rossi/The Gazette
Emily Hoopes is the new executive director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance.
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Formed seven years ago in opposition to a controversial Potomac River crossing, the Montgomery Countryside Alliance has grown from a single-issue advocacy group to one of the county's leading proponents of farmland preservation. Now outfitted with a new leader and headquarters in the county's Agricultural Reserve, the alliance is planning for the next phase of its growth.
The nonprofit shared staff and Washington, D.C., office space with the regional advocacy group Coalition for Smarter Growth for about three years. MCA's board decided to separate from the coalition's broader mission of promoting smart growth last year, according to board president and co-founder Mike Rubin. A former board member donated use of a room in his Boyds' carriage house for office space, and a new executive director, Emily Hoopes, was hired in September.
"I think it was just time," said Hoopes, who grew up in Gaithersburg and became familiar with the alliance as marketing specialist and community liaison for Whole Foods Market, which has done annual fundraisers with MCA. "We could not possibly be where we are today without their expertise."
The alliance, formed under the name Solutions Not Sprawl, was created to fight the Techway, a proposed parkway linking Maryland to Virginia. One of the potential routes would have cut through the county's Ag Reserve, a 93,000-acre tract downzoned to protect farmland.
The federal Techway study that sparked the debate was cancelled in 2001, but the group remained to monitor any future plans for the parkway. MCA volunteers continued working with CSG, a collaborator during the Techway controversy.
MCA launched its Celebrate Rural Montgomery campaign in 2005 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Ag Reserve. Members expanded the group's mission to fighting all threats to the reserve, such as encroaching development and fragmentation of the land.
"They've been very active in trying to look out for the interests of the Ag Reserve, and they've done a good job for a long time," said County Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park.
Hoopes, the only full-time staffer at MCA, has been strategizing and taking care of administrative tasks and revamping its Web site, www.montgomerycountrysidealliance.org, which Hoopes hopes to relaunch in early 2009. It is also widening its focus from protecting farmland to protecting farming by promoting local food.
