Land Protection

12.7 More Acres!

November 11, 2019 By Blake Goll

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!

Public Notice of Accreditation Renewal

October 25, 2019 By Erik Hetzel

The land trust accreditation program recognizes land conservation organizations that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. Willistown Conservation Trust is pleased to announce it is applying for renewal of accreditation. A public comment period is now open.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, conducts an extensive review of each applicant’s policies and programs. In 2008, Willistown Conservation Trust was one of the first land trusts nationwide to be awarded accreditation by the Commission. According to Bonnie Van Alen, the Trust’s President and Executive Director: “Our accredited status should assure our contributors, easement holders, project partners and other stakeholders of our commitment to meeting the highest national standards of performance and procedures. In other words, not only are we protecting important lands, but we’re doing it in the right way and for the long term.”

The Commission invites public input and accepts signed, written comments on pending applications. Comments must relate to how Willistown Conservation Trust complies with national quality standards. These standards address the ethical and technical operation of a land trust. For the full list of standards see http://www.landtrustaccreditation.org/help-and-resources/indicator-practices.

To learn more about the accreditation program and to submit a comment, visit www.landtrustaccreditation.org, or email your comment to info@landtrustaccreditation.org. Comments may also be faxed or mailed to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, Attn: Public Comments: (fax) 518-587-3183; (mail) 36 Phila Street, Suite 2, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.

Comments on Willistown Conservation Trust’s application will be most useful by November 14, 2019.

Shocking Report Illustrates the Importance of Land Protection

September 20, 2019 By Communications Team

Yesterday an alarming study in the journal Science was released, which detailed the dramatic and shocking decline of birds in North America. Three billion birds have been lost in the last 50 years. This staggering drop includes not only threatened species, but also common ones like Eastern Meadowlark, Wood Thrush, Barn Swallow, Blue Jay and even Baltimore Oriole (like the one pictured here, banded this year at Rushton Woods Preserve).

For every 10 Baltimore Orioles in 1970,
4 have been lost since.

Meadowlarks rely on healthy grasslands for habitat, which have been disappearing as human development and agriculture spreads across the land. Making matters worse without those grasslands, which are also needed to filter stormwater runoff, waterways that birds also rely on are being contaminated.

For 40 years, Willistown Conservation Trust has been permanently protecting land to advance conservation, including the preservation of vital habitat. Our Bird Conservation Program has been using this land to help study birds and promote their protection, operating a banding station, studying their health. Most recently, the Bird Conservation Program and their partners have been among the leaders in expanding the Motus Wildlife Tracking System throughout the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast United States. The Willistown Area has even been designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society because of its habitat and biodiversity.

We will continue our fight to protect land and habitat that birds need to survive. And despite the frightening report, there are some things you can do to help. Here are a few simple actions you can take:

Keep cats indoors. It is estimated that domestic cats kill millions of birds every year.
Lobby your representatives in Washington, DC, to support the Migratory Bird Protection Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and other legislation that protects the environment.
Reduce (or better still eliminate) the use of pesticides (particularly neonicotinoids) and herbicides on your property.
Create habitat for birds in your own yard by maintaining shrub scrub, planting native plants, and providing water sources.
Participate in citizen science efforts to document bird populations.
Provide financial support to organizations that support bird conservation, like Willistown Conservation Trust.

While we are disheartened by the findings of this report, Willistown Conservation Trust is more motivated than ever before to continue our work to protect the land and the birds that rely on it.

We (and the birds) thank you for your continued support!

What is a Conservation Easement?

August 27, 2019 By Erik Hetzel

Landowners in the Willistown area are the primary stewards of the natural and historic heritage of our countryside. Fortunately, the use of conservation easements provides a flexible option for private landowners who wish to preserve the natural resources of their lands while still meeting their financial objectives. A conservation easement is a flexible tool that protects land while leaving it in private ownership. It is a legal and binding agreement between a landowner and a qualified conservation organization such as the Willistown Conservation Trust. The easement exists in perpetuity, is recorded with the deed to the property, and applies to all future owners.

Conservation easements benefit the environment, the community, and the landowner. Chester County, with its abundance of open space and preserved land, published the Return on Environment study in May 2019. That report helps illustrate the many benefits of preserved land. The Trust was a proud participant in this report and you can learn more about it here on our website.

Willistown Conservation Trust walks landowners through the process, beginning with understanding the landowner’s individual needs and desires in planning for the future of your property. We will then work closely with you to design a Conservation Plan which will preserve the natural and scenic characteristics of your property, meet your specific financial objectives, and further the conservation goals of the Trust and the community.

To learn more about the easement process, read our publication Heroes of the Countryside or email Erik Hetzel, Director of Land Protection.

Return on Environment: The Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Chester County, PA

May 6, 2019 By Blake Goll

Protected open spaces provide substantial economic, environmental, and health benefits to surrounding communities, but these benefits are often overlooked or undervalued in policy debates and investment decisions. A better understanding of these benefits can demonstrate how protected open space contributes to economic development and fiscal stability and can reverse the common misconception that conserved undeveloped land is non-productive and non-revenue producing.

Chester County’s open space preservation program began in the 1980s amidst a growing public concern that the county’s vistas and landscapes were disappearing in a tide of suburban sprawl. Chester County voters overwhelmingly passed a $50 million bond referendum in 1989 for open space preservation, and funding has continued ever since. As of the end of 2018, over 28% of Chester County’s land is preserved- a testament to the coordinated effort by County leadership, municipalities, nonprofit partners and supportive citizens.

Willistown Conservation Trust was proud to partner with Chester County and other major land conservancies active in Chester County, as well as the Chester County Economic Development Council and Chester County Association of Township Officials to produce a report that estimates the economic impact of the County’s robust open space preservation initiative.

Our own Rushton Farm and Rushton Woods Preserve are the subject of one of the case studies featured in the report. Please take a moment to review the full report, which clearly shows the significant and positive effects of open space.