Four Properties Preserved in Chester County

MEDIA, PA

Natural Lands Trust, the region’s largest land conservation organization, preserved four properties in Chester County in the closing weeks of 2009.

The organization purchased a 33-acre property in Franklin Township, Chester County, expanding the organization’s Peacedale Preserve. Additionally, three landowners in the county entered into conservation agreements that will preserve a total of 38 acres. The properties will remain in private ownership but are protected from future development by a type of permanent restriction called a conservation easement.

The purchase from the Dolores Morris Limited Family Partnership of a 33-acre parcel in Franklin Township expands Natural Lands Trust’s Peacedale Preserve to a total of 206 acres. The Peacedale Preserve was established in July, 2009, when the organization purchased 113 acres from Wilkinson Nottingham, LLC. That property was combined with an adjacent 60 acres that NLT had owned since the 1970s to create the preserve. “This is a wonderful example of just how long-term the work of conservation can be,” noted Molly Morrison, president of Natural Lands Trust. “Three decades after receiving the original donation of land, we are still looking for ways to expand it and increase the benefit to the local community.”

A 2008 botanical survey of Franklin Township identifies part of the Morris property as an “Exceptional Natural Area” comprised of a relatively intact, species-rich landscape dominated by native plants. Conservation of the property will preserve this valuable habitat. Funding for the property acquisition was provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Chester County’s Preservation Partnership Program, and Franklin Township. Wilkinson Nottingham LLC donated the construction of a small parking lot along Peacedale Road, which was recently completed. Future plans for the preserve include an extensive trail system and signage. (More information about Peacedale Preserve is available at www.natlands.org/preserves)

The recently-protected lands also include a nine-acre property located on North Creek Road in East Bradford Township, immediately adjacent to Natural Lands Trust’s Stroud Preserve. The largely wooded parcel contains a “first order” tributary of the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek. A classification by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, first order streams are the uppermost reaches of the stream system and are critical to the health of waters downstream. The property is also the site of the Ingram Mill House, circa 1780. Robert Hawkes, whose family has owned the property since 1920, donated the conservation easement. In a letter to Natural Lands Trust, Mr. Hawkes noted, “I have always lived here; this place is my heritage. With what you have enabled, it now becomes my legacy. I’m proud to be associated with NLT.” East Bradford Township assisted with the direct costs associated with the transaction.

Also in East Bradford Township,two parcels situated along Valley Creek will add to several hundred acres of contiguous, permanently protected open space. The parcels, which are owned by the Colley families, are highly visible from Valley Creek Road—listed by the Township as an “exceptionally scenic” road—and their preservation will help maintain the beauty of the stream valley. Combined, the 19 acres of property include 300 feet of Valley Creek, a tributary to the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek. The land is largely wooded, and the steep hillside overlooking the stream is dominated by mature oak and hickory trees with low-bush blueberry growing in the understory layer. Funds for this conservation easement were provided by East Bradford Township.

Finally, the Miller property, located on Goshen Road in Willistown Township, was also preserved. The 11-acre parcel shares a common boundary on the east with other private property under easement with Natural Lands Trust, and boundaries on the south and west with lands under easement by Willistown Conservation Trust and the Brandywine Conservancy. Dominated by meadow and hedgerows, which provide valuable habitat for many species of native birds, the property is located within the Upper Ridley/Crum Important Bird Area (IBA). The easement was donated by the Estate of Martha Stengel Miller. This parcel is among more than 77 acres the Miller family has donated or placed under conservation easement over the last several years.