“It’s a simple thing. Simple as a flower. And that’s a complicated thing.”
That’s a lyric from an old favorite song. Those simple sentences reminded me that simplicity and complexity often exist together.
We need to protect land from development to help the planet. Simple right? We need open space for wildlife to survive and we need farmland to grow food. Simple. Actually, it’s pretty complicated.
Preserving land for the future, simplifying the process for landowners wanting to protect their land and environmental education; is the work of the Manada Conservancy.
Twelve years ago, after being frustrated by efforts to preserve farmland through agricultural zoning, a group of talented Dauphin County residents joined together to form the conservancy. It is a land trust working toward conservation. The Manada Conservancy works primarily in the Manada and Swatara creek basins.
After speaking with the President and one of the founding incorporators of the conservancy, Nancy Cladel, and after reading their excellent website closely, it still isn’t completely clear to me how they manage to do what they do.
Native Catalpa tree leaves at the Manada Conservancy Nature Preserve.
I know that I am awed by their ability to negotiate the protection of 500 acres land.
Here’s what I get. There is something called a conservation easement. The easement is written into the deed of a piece of property that restricts certain uses of the property, such as subdivision, or preserves it as a farm forever. The conservancy helps establish that easement and guide interested landowners through the process. Sometimes, land is donated to the conservancy.
Just a bit about me here. I enjoy trying to unravel difficult concepts. My college background is in economics and political science. Politics is impossible to unravel. That said, the process of land preservation seems complex to me.
An integral service of the conservancy is expertise. Guidance. Cladel mentioned offering expertise as an important part of what they do. The conservancy provides the mechanisms for landowners to get where they need to be to make sure their land is protected.
Add some language to your deed and your property will be protected. Simple enough? No. How will that language be enforced?
Importantly, the conservancy pledges to enforce easements. This requires setting up monitoring of deeds in perpetuity. This ensures that in 50 years, no one gets away with changing the rules of the game.
Native Catalpa is prevelant at the Manada Conservancy Nature Preserve.
You may know of other conservation programs such as the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Bureau of Farmland Preservation. The state program has many restrictions and a list of criteria to qualify. Bottom line, without more private involvement, many a farm won’t be protected by the state.
The Manada Conservancy protects lands for natural, agricultural, scenic and historic reasons in our area. Education provided by the conservancy extends beyond how to preserve your land into biodiversity and native plants.
Their website offers valuable information to landowners considering protecting their property. They also show case lands that have been donated to them and share their stories. The board and staff are profiled. You can see what a truly gifted group of people are behind the conservancy.
You can support the Manada Conservancy in several ways. You can attend and buy a bunch of great plants at the Meadowood Nursery Native plant sale next Saturday September 19th. You can donate directly to the conservancy. You can become a member or a volunteer.
There’s a chance to enjoy the first property the conservancy preserved on Saturday, September 26th . The conservancy is hosting a Fall-Eco Fun Day 1 to 4pm, at Little Meadow Park and the adjoining Manada Conservancy Preserve near Hummelstown. Naturalists will conduct tours and there will be fun and educational programs for children.
From their site, here is their mission:
- To help our region, originally forested, then agricultural and now suburbanizing, to maintain its character and sense of place.
- To provide open space for all to enjoy and for wildlife and native plants to flourish
- To assure that some land will be available for local agriculture
- To protect sensitive natural lands; lands harboring species of concern, those buffering streams, and those forming a piece of a migratory corridor
Roberta Bogash, Landscape designer of Greenworks Design, contributed to this post.
The Lyric was from Love and Rocket’s, “ No new Tale to Tell. “
Goldenrod will be in full bloom at the Manada Conservancy Preserve's Eco-Fall Fun Day September 26th.
