A Project of Montgomery County Lands Trust

Don't Miss the 2012 Spring Green Futures Workshop hosted by Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell on May 31, 2012 from 4:00 PM to 8:30 PM. The Spring Green Futures Workshop is a great opportunity to learn from experts and be inspired by a diverse group of community decision makers.  Green Futures provides local leaders with the open space tools to deliver what the citizens of Montgomery County want: enhanced quality of life through land conservation and greener communities.  

For details including session choices see the registration brochure.
Click here to register! 

The Montgomery County Green Futures program offers a multifaceted approach to training and education for local municipal officials and their advisors. This dynamic series of workshops has reached over 1,600 people throughout the county, offering in-depth analyses of land conservation issues in a variety of venues. In creating an energizing and fun environment for the exchange of ideas, Green Futures provides local leaders with the open space tools to deliver what the citizens of Montgomery County want: enhanced quality of life through land conservation and greener communities.

See Green Futures Achievement Award Winners

Green Futures is generously supported by PECO and Univest National Bank and Trust. Collaborative partners include Montgomery County Community College and the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

Can you think of a better way to help save land and enjoy its bounty than to shop our local farms and markets? MCLT’s Shop Local Save Land Guide makes it easy. Slip it into the side pocket of your car to have at your fingertips for locating local stands and markets throughout Montgomery County. Publication of the guide was made possible by generous support from Claneil Foundation, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau/ Montgomery County, and Penn State Cooperative Extension. To order a paper copy or pick up multiple copies, please make arrangements with our office: info@mclt.org. Be sure to include your address if ordering a single copy.

Help us seize an extraordinary conservation opportunity and reach our May 31st deadline. Located in Upper Salford and Marlborough Townships, the Rogers-Hiester project includes 78 acres of exceptional natural resources anchored by a unique Georgian style brick manor house built in 1757. Both property and house must be saved. What makes the land and historic house so special? Two county-designated 'high quality' streams run through the property; the land has stunning diabase boulders, federally designated wetlands, prime agricultural soils, and woodlands. Its conservation affords natural connections, future trail linkages, and the opportunity for a new public park. The unaltered home features a museum quality interior. With its Flemish bond brick exterior, original smokehouse and summer kitchen, it merits preservation, appreciation, and in-depth study.

Be a part of this project. Turn the Rogers-Hiester conservation dream into reality by donating today .

Click here for all the latest stats and facts.

Read a powerful op-ed by State Rep. Kate Harper, Chair of Montgomery County Lands Trust. Published recently in The Reporter, it eloquently states the continuing importance of land preservation and the organizations that facilitate the conservation of our most special places.

Interested in preserving a piece of your land? The Trust can help you ensure that your land is protected, now and in the future. The Trust can help you design a conservation easement that fulfills your wishes for the future of your land. If the conservation easement is donated to the Trust, the Trust will monitor your easement yearly and ensure that the land remains as you wish. For more information, see our Landowner Conservation Options brochure, and our Conservation Easement Fact Sheet.

Learn About All our Preserve Properties

A recent press event with Congressman Jim Gerlach and MCLT's conservation partners highlighted the importance of making permanent a federal tax incentive that has helped thousands of farmers and ranchers of modest means. To learn more about the incentive and how to help make it permanent, visit the website of Land Trust Alliance.

The Moran Conservation Project -- A Vision Realized from Montco LandsTrust on Vimeo.

Connecting to the 3,700-acre Evansburg State Park in one corner and with an exciting trail in the works, conservation of the 81-acre Moran property in Worcester Township represents a major conservation victory for Montgomery County Lands Trust.

Growing Greener has transformed Pennsylvania by empowering communities to protect working farms and special places, clean up rivers and streams, create and improve parks, and revitalize cities and towns. After a decade of success, the funding sources to support Growing Greener are in jeopardy. You can help ensure that our communities and citizens continue to gain the benefits of this vital program.

Join Municipalities Across the State by Adopting a Resolution to Support Growing Greener II.

Click here to read a compelling Lansdale Reporter op-ed co-authored by Andrew Heath of  the Renew Growing Greener Coalition and MCLT's  Dulcie Flaharty. 

Click here to learn about the Renew Growing Greener Coalition.  

Click here to see the PA Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Report on the impact of past Growing Greener funding.

These community projects in counties across the state benefited from the last round of Growing Greener funding.

Are you looking for a grant to advance community open space goals and projects? The PECO Green Region program, facilitated by Natural Lands Trust, has awarded more than $950,000 to communities across the region since 2004. 

The PECO Green Region program makes grants in amounts up to $10,000 to municipalities in the five-county Philadelphia region.

Recipients for 2011 grants will be recognized by PECO on May 31st at the Spring Montgomery County Green Futures Workshop!

Montgomery County Lands Trust holds accreditation status from the Lands Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance.  The commission states that land trusts meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. The accreditation seal lets the public know that the accredited land trust has undergone an extensive, external review of the governance and management of its organization and the systems and policies it uses to protect land. 

Read the full news release announcing MCLT’s accreditation.

The GreenSpace Alliance and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission recently released the Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Southeastern Pennsylvania Report.

The findings are the very first to quantify the economic value of protected open space in our five-county region. Preserved open spaces are so much more than just pretty places. They contribute to our local economies and property values. They help us save on everything from health care to recreation, and they perform valuable ecosystem services that naturally improve the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Full study

Summary booklet

Pennsylvania rests on one of the largest gas deposits in the world. The Marcellus shale formation could hold enough recoverable gas to fuel the nation’s needs for 13 years. What’s not to like? What Pennsylvanians need to know is that natural gas extraction could impose heavy costs on our communities: air pollution; pipelines, drilling pads and wastewater pits scarring our landscapes; heavy rigs damaging our roads; billions of gallons of water taken from our streams; and operational errors contaminating our land and water. Extraction can be done in a way to reduce this impact and tax revenues from natural gas extraction can and should go toward protecting our environment.  

Let’s not miss an historic opportunity to ensure that our descendants receive a natural wealth equal to our own. As the push for natural gas drilling and extraction intensifies, let’s take the time to invest in our communities so they can prosper --both during extraction activities and after the gas is gone.

Click on this information provided by GreenSpace Alliance. Learn how a reasonable tax on natural gas drilling can provide long-term benefits to Pennsylvanians

Montgomery County Lands Trust thanks the generous corporations and foundations in our region who provided valuable support in 2011.

Are you a municipal official, planner, or conservationist looking for just the right conservation tools? Look no further. www.conservationtools.org sponsored by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association provides in-depth guidance and a wide array of tools sure to be a top resource for you and your community.

Montgomery County Lands Trust is working with land owners and local officials to identify effective ways to protect the Swamp Creek watershed – a 55.4 mile area in Western Montgomery County and Southeastern Berks. This link will take you to the extensive Swamp Creek Riparian Corridor Conservation Plan . MCLT’s new brochure, Protect and Preserve the Swamp Creek Greenway , provides compelling information, resources, and practical tips for caring for this valuable watershed. To obtain a free print copy, please make your request on our contact page .

• Protect and Preserve the Swamp Creek Greenway provides compelling information, resources, and a call to action for the valuable Swamp Creek watershed – a 55.4 square-mile area of special focus for Montgomery County Lands Trust in Western Montgomery County and Southeastern Berks County.
• Buy the Best, Zone the Rest: Building a Green Future presents an
  overview of conservation choices available to municipalities, nonprofits
  and the citizens of Montgomery County.
• Landowner Conservation Options incorporates stories from landowners working with us to preserve their land and outlines the assortment of preservation techniques available to any landowner newly considering preservation.
• Open Space Success Stories is a 36-page booklet highlighting the
  wide array of innovative projects emerging from Montgomery County’s
  first open space program.

To obtain a free print copy of any of these booklets, please make your request on our contact page. And while you’re at it, become a member. Joining is a great way to make a difference.

Montgomery County Lands Trust partners with groups throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania such as GreenSpace Alliance to implement strategies that keep our region vibrant, encourage smart growth, and protect our valuable natural assets. Click here to access the Regional Open Space Priorities Report produced by the
Green Space Alliance of Southeastern Pennsylvania. To see conservation plans for some of the important resources in Montgomery County, visit our Working Together page.

Learn about important natural resources and key conservation landscapes identified in our county through Montgomery County Planning Commission’s Natural Areas Inventory Study. To gain an overview of the study, you can view a narrated power point presentation.