Newest NLT Preserve Dedicated

Natural Lands Trust staff were joined by family and friends of the late Frank A. D’Lauro on October 19th to dedicate a nature preserve in the name of the long-time member of the Worcester Township Planning Commission. The sixty-acre Frank A. D’Lauro Preserve was donated to Natural Lands Trust by Mr. D’Lauro’s estate earlier this year in response to a request made in his will that his Long Lane Farm along Valley Forge Road be preserved as open space, forever.

The preserve consists of approximately 36 acres of hay fields and open meadows and roughly 11 acres of riparian woodland. Over 2,000 feet of headwater streams that are tributaries to Zacharias Creek flow through the property. Of particular value to Mr. D’Lauro were the stunning vistas of the property for passers-by on Valley Forge Road. When he planted native trees along the road several years ago, he made sure to leave large enough gaps to allow an unobstructed view of the fields and the distant hills in the background.

That rural beauty was something D’Lauro worked hard to preserve during his tenure as a member and chairman of the Worcester Township Planning Commission. Asked in an interview in a Township newsletter in 2000 why he was so dedicated to conservation, he said: “I was born here. It was a rural township. I envision a rural township and I am doing what I can to keep it that way.”

The Frank A. D’Lauro Preserve is the newest of 42 nature preserves totaling more than 20,000 acres that are owned and managed by Natural Lands Trust in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.

In addition to the sixty-acre nature preserve, forty-four acres of Long Lane Farm have been preserved via conservation easements donated to Montgomery County Lands Trust. Mr. D’Lauro’s cousin and executor, John D’Lauro (at far right in photo above with wife Joyce and NLT's Peter Williamson) worked with local environmental and real estate consultant Ross Pilling to devise a conservation plan that would fulfill Frank D’Lauro’s wish that the land be protected.

“Frank was constantly preaching about the importance of open space,” John D’Lauro noted during the dedication ceremony. “He truly loved this property and I am thrilled that we were able to work with Ross Pilling, Natural Lands Trust and Montgomery County Lands Trust to realize his dream.”

“We are grateful to the D’Lauro family for entrusting Natural Lands Trust with this preserve,” said Molly Morrison, the organization’s president. “It is a beautiful property and it is a fitting tribute to Frank D’Lauro who gave so much of his time to preserve his community’s quality of life.”