WILLISTOWN CONSERVATION TRUST

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The Willistown Conservation Trust Staff and Trustees Mourn a Hero of the Countryside

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IN MEMORIAM: MRS. J. MAXWELL R. (BETTY) MORAN

August 7, 1930 – January 23, 2020

The Willistown countryside lost one of its greatest heroes on January 23, 2020, when Betty Moran passed away. She left a legacy of generosity, support for many worthy causes, close friendships, love of good times, a competitive spirit, and a passionate dedication to protecting the open spaces that she loved.

Willistown was blessed to have Betty as a champion and lover of its equestrian tradition and the conserved land that makes those activities possible to this day. Over the past 40 years, she played a significant role in helping maintain its rural character, participating in numerous land protection partnerships that saved beautiful parcels of land from development.

In 1980, Betty supported our first community partnership to acquire the “Hundred Acre Field”. She went on to become a lead investor in 14 additional partnerships to purchase, preserve and resell properties that would otherwise have succumbed to development, resulting in over 2,000 acres in the Willistown area conserved with Betty’s direct support.

The Willistown countryside simply would not look the way it does today without Betty. Executive Director Bonnie Van Alen attributes this to Betty’s dedication, saying, “In my 40 years of knowing Betty, she never said ‘no’ when asked to participate in an effort to save a beautiful property from development, including placing conservation easements on her own Brushwood and Bryn Clovis properties.”

The staff and Trustees of Willistown Conservation Trust are grateful for Betty’s insights, leadership and generosity during the time she served as a board member. We take comfort knowing that the more than 7,500 conserved acres of rolling fields, mature woodlands and stream valleys of the Willistown countryside will be a lasting part of her legacy forever.

12.7 More Acres!

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The map of permanently conserved land in the Willistown area just got a little greener, thanks to Lawrie Harris. Lawrie donated a Legacy Conservation Easement to the Trust on November 11, 2019, protecting her 12.7 acres on Twinbrook Road from development forever. Located on Twinbrook Road in Easttown Township, in what is known as the Leopard Tract, the gently sloping site is primarily wooded and features a small tributary to Crum Creek named Grubb Mill Run. Several acres of open meadow area surrounds Lawrie’s home and garage, the only structures on the property.

The easement will limit further subdivision of the property and will protect the natural features of the property that serve as important wildlife habitat, support the surrounding ecosystem and contribute to scenic views along Twinbrook Road. The easement defines most of the property as Sensitive Riparian Area, which include wetlands, hydric soils and floodplain, and limits the amount of disturbance allowed in these areas.

Lawrie shares her late husband Jay’s passion for the environment, and wants to conserve the land to ensure it will stay just as it is today, so both people and wildlife can enjoy it forever. Her decision to donate the easement was prompted, in part, by neighbors Kate and Ben Etherington’s recent decision to do the same. We are grateful to Lawrie for her foresight and generosity.

“I want to be absolutely certain that future owners will keep this property intact and take care of the stream and woodland. We don’t have many places like this left and we need to preserve them,” said Lawrie. “And the process of working with the Trust has been easy and enjoyable. Willistown Conservation Trust has a 40-year legacy of protecting land in our area.”

When you look at a the Trust’s protected lands map, you see a mosaic of open space comprising preserved parcels of all sizes – from hundreds of acres to just a few. And in an era when conserving habitat, protecting the quality of our water supply, and offsetting the impact of human activity is so vital, every acre counts.

We developed Legacy Easements, like the one that protects Lawrie’s land, specifically so owners of smaller parcels of land could protect their land in perpetuity. Legacy Easements are generally less complicated than traditional ones and can be tailored to protect features of an owner’s property that are personally and/or environmentally significant.

Thank you Lawrie, another hero of our countryside!

Meet Laryssa Terleckyj, our Stewardship Intern

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Each summer, Willistown Conservation Trust hosts students who are pursuing degrees related to the conservation work we do here. We asked Laryssa, an intern working with Bill and Stewardship, some questions.

Laryssa has spent a lot of time in the field this summer.

1. What’s your major?

I study Environmental Engineering with an Environmental Policy minor at Clarkson University.

2. What interests you the most about working with Willistown Conservation Trust?

I am interested in learning the different ways that land is protected and  preserved. 

3. What do you hope to learn during your internship experience?

I have been learning more about land easements and the processes that go into land conservation. I have also been able to get more involved with community engagement and outreach events with the Trust. 

4. If you could design your ideal job, what would it be?

An ideal job for me would  involve research and experiments but would also involve a policy component to implement the findings of research. My ideal job would be centered around sustainability and implementing sustainable practices. 

5. When you’re not doing science stuff, what do you like to do?

Outside of the classroom and work, I love hiking, trail running, and horseback riding. I am also a workout instructor-in-training. 

6. How do you hope to make an impact in your chosen field?

Recently, I have become very interested in sustainable food systems and the agriculture industry. I either want to implement policy that will create a more sustainable food system or research and help people understand sustainable nutrition. 

Back to School: Banding a purple martin colony

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About a 15-minute drive from Willistown Conservation Trust are the Glen Mills Schools (GMS). While this private institution is closed at the moment, the huge purple martin colony it hosts on its quadrangle is very much open for business.

Looking at the 32 purple martin houses on the GMS quad

The purple martins have been living on the school grounds since the 1970s and our Rushton bird conservation team has been helping band the colony for the past 10 years. There are also many chimney swifts in the numerous chimneys of the various 19th century school buildings.

Checking a nest box for nestlings

Volunteers joined together with members of GMS staff, led by Doris McGovern (who was key in establishing the Rushton Woods banding program), to make its annual visit to the campus to band nestlings on July 3, 2019. About a dozen volunteers inspected the 32 martin houses at GMS and very carefully banded 250 fat and healthy purple martin chicks.

Team receives a briefing

A colony of this size in a very accessible area presents a unique opportunity to band a large number of individuals in just a matter of a few hours. Just like the birds we band at Rushton Woods Preserve, these purple martins will provide valuable information for the study of dispersal, migration, survival rate, reproductive success, and population growth. For example, we know that some of the birds raised at GMS now reside as adults at Bob Lange’s Sugartown Strawberry Farm.

These were a little too small to band

Some purple martins prefer the gourd houses

For more information about our bird conservation program see https://wctrust.org/birds/. For more information about purple martins, visit the Purple Martin Conservation Association https://purplemartin.org

Bird Conservation program intern, Kristen Johnson, raises a nest box back up the pole so the adults can return to care for the young.

Stewardship program intern Laryssa Terleckyj helps the team keep track of the tiny bird bands.

Meet our Watershed Protection Program co-ops!

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Each summer, Willistown Conservation Trust hosts students who are pursuing degrees related to the conservation work we do here. We asked Maddy and Kacy, co-ops in our Watershed Protection Program, each a series of 5 questions. Here are their responses… Stay tuned for posts about other students working at the Trust this summer.

Kacy Reitnauer (l) and Maddy Sabo (r) – Behind them is a trap Maddy is using to study differences in insect habitat.

Kacy Reitnauer – Drexel University (Watershed)

1. What’s your major?

Major: environmental science with a concentration in ecology and conservation Minor: environmental studies

2. What interests you the most about working with Willistown Conservation Trust?

I am super excited to work for WCT and to learn about the inner workings of a non-profit land trust. The main goals of the Trust really resonate with me. I think it will be interesting to see how these goals and various projects are incorporated into education and outreach programs. 

3. What do you hope to learn during your co-op experience?

I am very interested to learn about the various tasks involved with watershed protection. I hope to gain a variety of skills related to freshwater ecology, water quality, and education and outreach.

4. If you could design your ideal job, what would it be?

My dream job would allow me to travel around the world to educate communities about environmental topics to instill environmental stewardship. I would love to work with nonprofits that are working to improve their communities and the environment. 

5. When you’re not doing science stuff, what do you like to do?
I enjoy cooking, camping, kayaking, going to concerts, and reading.

6. How do you hope to make an impact in your chosen career path?

By choosing a career in environmental science, I hope to inspire others to appreciate, respect, and learn about the natural world. I believe educating young people about the environment is key to establishing community based conservation and a sustainable future. 

Kacy and Maddy taking a well-deserved rest after helping plant 125+ trees to restore a riparian buffer zone in Ashbridge Preserve.

Maddy Sabo – Drexel University (Watershed)

1. What’s your major?

Environmental science

2. What interests you the most about working with Willistown Conservation Trust?

The thing that interests me the most about working with Willistown Conservation Trust is using science and preservation to connect with a surrounding community. I think it is so important to connect people with nature, and teach people of all ages about the importance of protecting the Earth. Science is a bridge and should be able to reach everyone, not just scientists. I am particularly interested in water conservation, which is something I will be devoting a lot of time to working with WCT and I’m very excited!

3. What do you hope to learn during your co-op experience?

Getting technical, I hope to learn a lot about macroinvertebrates and how they are used to analyze the quality of water. However, I am also hoping to learn more about how non-profits dedicated to conserving land function and meet the people that WCT impacts.

4. If you could design your ideal job, what would it be?

In the past couple of years I’ve found a passion for entomology. My dream job (although possibly not attainable) would be traveling to under-researched areas in the tropics where there are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of undiscovered insects, and studying and documenting them. There is so much left to discover and so much more to learn in the field of entomology! 

5. When you’re not doing science stuff, what do you like to do?

When I’m not doing science stuff or anything school related I love to play games with my friends. Over the past four years we’ve come to have a pretty large collection of card and board games. I love the strategy and competition and creativity of them all. I also enjoy cooking and photography. And in any extra free time I walk dogs, where I get exercise, explore the different neighborhoods of Philadelphia, and get lots of puppy love

6. How do you hope to make an impact in your chosen career path?

I’ve chosen to study environmental science for one simple reason: I want to make a difference, even if it’s just a small one. I presume the how and where will grow and evolve with time as I do. That being said, I hope to somehow preserve the green space that remains and protect the incredible plants and animals that live there. There’s so much to learn and so much to do the opportunities are endless!

OUR NATURE PRESERVES

Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year from sunrise to sunset, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. Willistown Conservation Trust owns and manages three nature preserves in the Willistown area - Ashbridge, Kirkwood and Rushton Woods Preserve. We maintain these lands for the … Learn more about our nature preserves.

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WHERE WE WORK

The work of the Willistown Conservation Trust is concentrated on 28,000 acres of Willistown Township … read more