The “Hills of Green”

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager. Photo: Video still by Mark Williams.

It is with great sadness that I note that I will no longer be managing Green Hills Preserve. With the addition of new preserves Natural Lands is redistributing Land Stewardship staff to accommodate managing the additional acres, and Green Hills Preserve will be managed by a roving Preserve Manager who will also take  care of Sadsbury Woods and Willisbrook Preserves in Chester County.

I have enjoyed my five years there as it has afforded me an opportunity to start managing a new preserve from scratch, our first preserve in Berks County. Those years have passed in a blink, but think back to just a few years ago before there was a parking lot, information kiosk, or trails on this preserve. With the help of volunteers and many other staff people we’ve cleaned up old farm dumps, done wildlife habitat management, and converted 90 acres of crops to biologically-diverse meadows through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Aubrey Smith, Assistant Preserve Manager at Crow’s Nest, has been an equal partner in our projects at Green Hills. Both of us will be returning to Crow’s Nest Preserve full time.

Most dear to me is that I have benefitted from the support of a very active conservation community in Berks County, neighbors who really care about the preserve and the wildlife that uses it. I am grateful to all of the wonderful people I’ve met while working at Green Hills.

The new Preserve Manager will be Cooper Williams, a Stewardship Assistant who has worked at many other preserves at Natural Lands. I hope everyone greets him with as much warmth and support as was extended to me. He starts on September 11. I will still visit Green Hills regularly and plan to be working with Cooper on projects at Green Hills in the future.