Saving Land
Land conservation projects from March 1, 2016 to August 31, 2016.
PENNSYLVANIA
BERKS COUNTY
1 – Gundy Woods
32 acres
Robeson Township
Fee Acquisition: Addition to Green Hills Preserve
The Gundy Woods property is an addition to Natural Lands Trust’s 172-acre Green Hills Preserve. The property runs across and over a ridgeline which offers a commanding view of the Preserve. Preservation of this land increases the buffer area around the wetland at Green Hills, which is valuable habitat for a myriad of species including one in particular that is listed as “federally threatened.”
Key Partners: PA Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources Bureau of Recreation and Conservation – Keystone Recreation, Park, and Conservation Fund; David Low in memory of Abbott F. Low
2 – Lichtenwalner Property
2.3 acres
Facilitated Acquisition
Union Township
Natural Lands Trust purchased this small but significant parcel of land and transferred it to French Creek State Park. The 2.3 acres of woodlands are a critical link needed to connect the soon-to-be-completed two-mile section of the Big Woods Trail running through French Creek State Park to the Schuylkill River Trail.
The property lies within a region known as the Hopewell Big Woods—the largest block of contiguous forest between New York and Washington, D.C.—which has been a focus of conservation efforts by Natural Lands Trust and more than 50 private and public partners over the past decade. It’s also a part of the Schuylkill Highlands Conservation Landscape, an area at the intersection of the PA Highlands and the Schuylkill River Watershed that has been designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR) as a priority for conservation, recreational access, and compatible economic development.
This land purchase marks the eighth that Natural Lands Trust has facilitated for French Creek State Park; to date, the organization has worked with PA DCNR to add 386 acres to the park.
Key Partners: PA DCNR Bureau of State Parks; Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation
3 – Quaker Hill
80 acres
Robeson Township
Facilitated Acquisition
The addition of 80 acres of high-quality Berks County forest to the Bureau of Forestry’s William Penn Forest District builds upon the 234-acre Gibraltar Hill acquisition in Berks County that Natural Lands Trust completed for the Bureau in 2014. The property will be transferred to the Bureau of Forestry in the near future. It’s located in the Hay Creek watershed upstream from the Birdsboro Municipal Authority lands in the heart of the Hopewell Big Woods.
Key Partners: Open Space Institute’s Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund, which is made possible with funding from the William Penn Foundation (The Delaware River Watershed Protection Program seeks to ensure abundant, clean water within the 13,000-square-mile drainage of the Delaware River.); PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry; PA DCNR Bureau of Recreation and Conservation – Keystone Recreation, Park, and Conservation Fund; US Forest Service – Highlands Conservation Act
CHESTER COUNTY
4 – Kraus Property
Donated Conservation Easement
55.7 acres
London Britain Township
The Kraus property adjoins 2,072 acres of state parkland in Pennsylvania known as the White Clay Creek Preserve, and 3,000 acres of parkland in Delaware known as White Clay Creek State Park. This makes it especially important as a buffer to these two popular parks.
The easement was donated by the Estate of Marjorie P. Kraus. Sisters Patricia Kraus Holt and Kathryn K. McClure generously facilitated the process, ensuring the property’s future as undeveloped land.
Kathryn said, “The property was home to my parents Philip and Marjorie Kraus and their six children. The farm sustained us with a garden, orchard, and fields to pasture steers, sheep, chickens, and a horse. Along with the needed hard work, this setting allowed endless hours of exploration and interaction with nature, and instilled in the entire family a love, curiosity, and appreciation of the natural world.”
Key Partners: Kraus family; London Britain Township; National Park Service – White Clay Creek, National Wild & Scenic River
5 – Wright Property
Bargain Sale Conservation Easement
27.8 acres
East Nantmeal Township
The Wright property is on the East Nantmeal-West Nantmeal Township line and forms the gateway into East Nantmeal along a very scenic stretch of Conestoga Road. It overlooks the upper French Creek and is not far from the large block of protected lands of the Great Marsh area. The Wright easement protects woodlands and productive pasture.
Key Partners: Chester County, East Nantmeal Township, Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation, John and Marjorie Wright
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
6 – Ashway Property
15.8 acres
Silver Spring Township
Bargain Sale Conservation Easement
The 15.8-acre Ashway Property is one of the first five of Silver Spring Township’s initial round of easement purchases utilizing funds from its recently passed Open Space Referendum (the first referendum in Cumberland County.) It is a scenic small farm with productive meadow lands and a small wooded headwaters wetland area.
Key Partners: Mr. Briner Ashway, Silver Spring Township
7 – Willow Run Alpacas
10.8 acres
Silver Spring Township
Donated Conservation Easement
Willow Run Alpacas is a 10.8-acre farm located within the wide, fertile agrarian valley stretching west of Harrisburg. The property includes productive pasture lands, a small stream, and an estate farmstead area.
Key Partners: Silver Spring Township, Ms. Selena Updegraff
DELAWARE COUNTY
8 – Little Flower Manor
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
9 – Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden
Click here for more information.
NEW JERSEY
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
10 – Sunset Lake
120 acres
Upper Deerfield Township
Facilitated Acquisition
The Sunset Lake property consists of rolling woodlands sloping to wetlands and a tributary stream of the Cohansey River and Sunset Lake. The owners had an approved subdivision plan for a total of 339 residential units, which would have dramatically reduced infiltration and increased pollutant runoff into the stream and lake. Natural Lands Trust stepped in to lead a team effort along with Upper Deerfield Township to negotiate the purchase and to secure grant funding that allowed the township to acquire the property. The property is adjacent to and upstream of the Bridgeton City Park system, which consists of more than 1,000 acres of land centered around the Cohansey River and its tributaries.
Key Partners: Cumberland County, Frank H. Stewart Trust, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, NJ Conservation Foundation, NJ DEP Green Acres, Open Space Institute – Bayshore Highlands Program, Upper Deerfield Township