25 years of land preservation in Adams County

In the 1980s, people living in the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., discovered what long-time residents of Adams County already knew—that this is a delightful place to live. Our open spaces, farmlands, woodlands, cultural amenities, and relatively low tax rates began attracting urbanites and suburbanites and suddenly, land that had been farmland or woodland for generations was threatened by hastily planned development. While this growth was welcomed by many, it concerned those who wanted to see the rural character of Adams County preserved while integrating development in a thoughtful way.

In 1990, the county commissioners established the Adams County Agricultural Land Preservation Program to protect agricultural land through the purchase of conservation easements. This program operates with state and county funding, and as of 2019, has preserved nearly 22,500 acres of agricultural land on 185 Adams County farms.

The county’s AgLand Preservation Program does important work protecting local farmland, but because its charter is limited solely to farmland preservation, many types of land that are worthy of preservation—historic farms and many orchards with poorer soils, forested tracts, and other areas of cultural or environmental significance—fall outside the program’s charter.

For this reason, in 1990 the Adams County commissioners also adopted a comprehensive plan that called for, among other things, the creation of a nonprofit, nongovernmental land trust specifically to help preserve lands that fell outside the purview of the Agricultural Land Preservation Program—which ultimately led to the founding of the Land Conservancy of Adams County, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, in late 1995.

A Founding Member Campaign generated about $34,000 for start-up cash, but the board of directors soon realized that it needed funds in excess of annual membership renewals. In 1998, an energetic corps of volunteers held the Land Conservancy’s first annual Art Auction, and in 1999, its first annual Road Rally. These fundraising events continue to provide vital support to the Land Conservancy today.

The Land Conservancy led a successful effort in 2001 to obtain an $850,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to fund the Marsh Creek Watershed Protection Project. Some grant funds were used by the Conservation District to implement watershed improvements. The Land Conservancy used its share of the funds to complete twelve bargain-purchase conservation easements on 1,011 acres of land along Marsh Creek. The creativity and success of this project prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to give its Source Water Protection Award to the Land Conservancy, the first nongovernmental organization to be so honored.

In 2003, the Land Conservancy was awarded a grant to preserve a historic farm through the USDA’s Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program (FRPP), the first of many properties we have preserved in collaboration with FRPP, the American Battlefield Trust, and other partners to protect lands with agricultural, historic, and environmental significance.

During the summer of 2005, the Land Conservancy celebrated the preservation of 3,000 acres of Adams County land with its first annual Summer Picnic. By the end of 2007, we had surpassed the 5,000-acre mark with the preservation of our largest project up to that time—more than 400 acres of forested land in the Narrows.

Soon afterward, Tree Farm #1 in Hamiltonban Township was placed on the market, opening 2,500 acres of forestland to development. In 2008, the Land Conservancy partnered with local, regional, and national conservation groups—and more than three-quarters of Adams County voters—to pass a $10-million bond initiative to fund land and water conservation projects, an effort that led to the creation of the Adams County Green Space Program. With Green Space and other funding, Tree Farm #1 was purchased and added to the Michaux State Forest, protecting headwaters of Middle Creek and increasing public access to the Forest.

The Land Conservancy has always worked to deserve the trust placed in it by the people of Adams County. In 2013, its integrity was recognized through accreditation by the Land Trust Alliance. Accreditation is awarded to land trusts that demonstrate the highest standards in all aspects of operations, from bylaws to fundraising efforts to financial accounting practices. We were proud to achieve re-accreditation in 2018.

In June 2016, the Civil War Trust presented the Land Conservancy its Brian C. Pohanka Preservation Organization of the Year Award. The Trust, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation of the nation’s Civil War battlegrounds, presents the award each year to an organization that shows outstanding dedication to the preservation, promotion, and interpretation of Civil War history.

In acknowledgement of the Land Conservancy’s long and fruitful relationship with the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in 2017 we received the distinction of being named a “certified entity” under the NRCS’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program—the only certified entity in Pennsylvania, and one of just three other certified entities in the nation. Certification significantly expedites conservation easements funded through the NRCS.

Today the Land Conservancy is in its third decade of working to preserve the rural lands and character of Adams County. We hold more than 160 conservation easements permanently preserving more than 11,500 acres of woodlands, open spaces, farmlands, freshwater streams, and historic spaces. We acknowledge with gratitude the many landowners who work with it to craft these easements to protect our natural resources, as well as our volunteers, members, and staff, all of whom provide the lifeblood of the organization.