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VOTERS VOICE STRONG SUPPORT FOR OPEN SPACE
In the past ten years, Montgomery County and its residents
protected over 9,200 acres, added 316 acres to the County's
own park system, and developed more than 23 miles of trails.
Yet during this same period, nearly 40,000 acres were proposed
for residential, commercial, and industrial development. As
open land becomes increasingly scarce and as the pressures
on it build, Montgomery County voters and commissioners recognize
the need to develop a new Montgomery County Open Space Program.
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The clear majority
of Montgomery County voters surveyed who favored support
for a new county-wide open space program ranged across
the political spectrum.
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Graph
courtesy of The Tarrance Group
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Montgomery County Commissioners, confident
that county residents value the success of The Montgomery
County Open Space Program, have asked the voters to affirm
their support for a new 10-year program in November's general
election. A question will appear on the ballot asking if county
residents are willing to support a program dedicating up to
$150 million in funding to protect open space, preserve farmland,
and invest in green infrastructure over the next ten years.
The Commissioners' decision to move forward with the ballot
question responds to the results of a Voter Attitude Survey,
commissioned by Montgomery County Lands Trust and conducted
in January 2003 by The Tarrance Group, of Arlington Virginia.
The survey of registered "likely" voters shows that an overwhelming
majority of 89% of Montgomery County voters favor a new county-wide
open space preservation program, with 67% saying they "strongly
favor" a new program. This opinion crosses gender lines, age
differences and even political party persuasions with 88%
of Republicans, 92% of Democrats, and 88% of Independent voters
responding in favor of a new program.
In examining where current county dollars
are spent for preservation, 89% of voters feel protecting
the amount and quality of our water is an "extremely or very
important" program, and 76% of voters say preserving open
space and natural land areas is an "extremely or very important"
program.
These results, along with the favorable
responses to important preservation projects, reflect the
high value county residents place on preservation programs.
See the Executive Summary of the survey on our website, www.mclt.org.
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Look
For the Open Space Question
on the November 4, 2003 Ballot
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OUR
MISSION:
MCLT's mission is to permanently preserve land and to foster
the wise stewardship of open space in our county by:
- Acquiring land easements and encouraging donations
to appropriate stewards;
- Facilitating the creation of open space and natural
amenities in existing communities;
- Encouraging environmentally sensitive, sustainable
development that preserves open space, significant natural
resources and our county's unique character;
- Providing educational programs on land preservation
and managed growth.
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PARTNERS
SHARING A VISION
Numerous hardworking organizations in the
region concern themselves with safeguarding Montgomery County's
rich resources. How do these organizations collaborate and
stay tuned to one another's efforts? They meet as a group
called Partners for Land Preservation. In 1997 Montgomery
County Lands Trust formed this union of like-minded agencies.
Whether a particular group preserves historical landscapes,
protects a public watershed, or promotes environmental education,
partnering helps us more effectively care for our valuable
resources.
Partners for Land Preservation meets
three times year at different member locations where the partners
are able to see on-the-ground what the others are doing. The
Partners work jointly to be more effective regionally
on projects of mutual interest. The group has grown from its
original family of eight conservancies and watersheds to 18
organizations over the last five years. As the member organizations
within Partners undertake collaborative preservation projects
of local and county significance, major funders see us working
together.
Not only do the Partners call on
the ingenuity, skills, and strengths of one another to meet
challenges head on, they are also able to identify which projects
are priorities for the future. The requirements of priority
projects, combined with the concerns identified by Montgomery
County voters in the survey released by MCLT earlier this
year, provide vital background information for creating a
new Montgomery County Open Space Program.
MCLT IS GROWING!
Montgomery County Lands Trust welcomes Lisa Hancock to its
staff. Lisa joins us as our part-time Communications and Development
Coordinator, working under Dulcie Flaharty. She is a former
board member of the Valley Forge Audubon Society where she
continues to help with fundraising and publications. Lisa
has an English background with an MLA degree from the University
of Pennsylvania and has worked for most of her career as a
writer and editor for McGraw-Hill. She is thrilled to use
her communications skills to help preserve open space in Montgomery
County.
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DCNR Awards
Grant For Swamp Creek Study
On May 1st Montgomery
County Lands Trust received a grant in the amount
of $19,000 from Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding will go toward
conservation planning along the Swamp Creek corridor.
Swamp Creek is a waterway that forms the spine of
an important riparian corridor extending through five
townships in Montgomery County including Lower Frederick,
Upper Frederick, Limerick, New Hanover, and Douglass.
The important tributary connects with the Perkiomen
Creek just north of Schwenksville.
In performing this
study, Montgomery County Lands Trust will be analyzing
recent aerial photos, ground checking parcels, and
assessing the current landscape. MCLT will also meet
with and educate current land owners and municipalities
on the benefits of land conservation. Free from major
development, the Swamp Creek corridor is host to abundant
and diverse wildlife. In the springtime, the Pennsylvania
Fish and Game Commission stocks the scenic stream
with trout.
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 Preserved
farms, the county's Sunrise Mill historic site, and
natural woodlands lie along the creek's path. Nearby
areas include the preserved lands of Stone Hill and
the Pennsylvania Game Lands in Limerick Township.
DCNR previously awarded MCLT an acquisition grant
to preserve a section of Swamp Creek known as Camp
ArthuReeta. This grant led to further involvement
by MCLT in the Swamp Creek area, thereby prompting
application for the new planning grant. |
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BOARD WELCOMES ELKINS WETHERILL
AND SHEILA BELLO
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Montgomery County Lands Trust welcomes two
new members to the Board of Directors, Elkins Wetherill
and Sheila M. Bello. Both bring considerable land
planning and conservation experience to our board.
Elkins Wetherill is a retired lawyer
whose extensive career includes serving as Chairman
of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, Montgomery
County Treasurer, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Securities
Commission, and 16-year President of the Philadelphia
Stock Exchange. An original member of the Open Space
Task Force, he currently serves as Chairman of the
Montgomery County Open Space Board. In addition to
his long record of public service, Elkins has authored
A Field Guide to Some of the Common Grasses of
Southeastern Pennsylvania.
After growing up on a farm in Abington
Township where Elkins observed his family working
for "orderly growth," he purchased his own farm in
Plymouth Township on which he has lived since 1947.
To help preserve open space, he sold 35 acres to Plymouth
Township several years ago, and he is working with
MCLT to place the remaining acres under easement.
He has been involved with horses since childhood,
and in retirement, they are his main hobby. Mr. Wetherill
enjoys living on his farm with his wife, Ethel, known
by friends as "Babbie."
Sheila Bello has been committed
to environmental issues for many years. After graduating
from Rosemont College with a BA in biology, she began
her career in Washington, D.C. She later returned
to the Philadelphia area where she received her master's
degree in environmental education from Arcadia University
(Beaver College). Sheila served on the Montgomery
County Open Space Planning Board and continues to
hold a position on the Montgomery County Parks Board.
Sheila has lent her skills and
energies to the Schuylkilloop Task Force, The Schuylkill
River Valley National Heritage Area Task Force, the
Upper Schuylkill Valley Partners' Growing Greener
Grant Project, and the Schuylkill River Greenway Stewardship
Study Committee. She has also participated in the
Montgomery County Planning Commission's Watershed
Awards Committee. A mother of three, Sheila and her
husband Patrick live in Blue Bell.
Both Elkins and Sheila bring valuable
experience to our organization and we look forward
to tapping their vast knowledge in furthering our
mission.
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Elkins Wetherill has devoted a lifetime to public
service.
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Open spaces, watersheds are hot button issues for
Sheila Bello.
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HARLEYSVILLE NATIONAL BANK, UNIVEST SUPPORT
MCLT
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Harleysville National Bank, a corporate
sponsor and consistent supporter of Montgomery County
Lands Trust, once again exemplifies how corporate leaders
can actively partner in land preservation and thoughtful
growth. The bank made a recent generous contribution
that will allow us to forward our mission and add to
our endowment.
MCLT would also like to thank Univest
National Bank and Trust Co. for its ongoing donations
in support of our efforts. An earlier contribution by
Univest allowed us to publish our Saving Land Saves
Money booklet.
These banks contribute energy and
resources that help save Montgomery County's cherished
open lands. We appreciate their ongoing generosity and
concern for our community.
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Dulcie Flaharty accepts check from HNB executives Walter
E. Daller, Jr., Chairman, and Jan O'Donnell Sloat, Wealth
Management. & Trust Consultant.
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TWO GENERATIONS
OF LAND CONSERVATIONISTS
For Jake Lea, land preservation is
more than just a job -- it's a way of life. Jake is
Montgomery County Land Trust's Director of Land Preservation;
he has been with us since 1999. During his work week,
Jake is busy visiting properties, meeting with landowners,
and helping to develop preservation strategies.
Jake's own attachment to the land
may have begun as a child when on weekends he and his
family visited his great uncle's Willow Lake Farm in
Whitemarsh Township. He and his brothers and sisters
played in the barn, chased sheep, and found frogs in
the pond they called Willow Lake. Jake's great uncle,
a "confirmed bachelor" died in 1967 after he had willed
the 300-acre piece of land to Jake's mother, Jane O'Neill.
In 1993 Jane gathered her children
to discuss what to do with 120 acres of the remaining
land. She wanted the land to be preserved, but she believed
it was a family decision. After the family unanimously
supported Jane's wishes, Jane preserved the land in
two stages. Most of the land is now owned by the Wissahickon
Valley Watershed Association with the conservation easement
held by Montgomery County Lands Trust.
In 1972, in another corner of our
region, Jake and his wife Gretchen had purchased an
old stone farmhouse with 22 acres near Boyertown in
Berks County. Since that time, Jake has been adding
"bits and pieces to the land" so that it now totals
65 acres. Jake, who had always envisioned the land with
its rolling hills as farmland, wanted to preserve it.
Just as his mother did with her family, he consulted
with Gretchen and his two daughters first. They supported
Jake's idea for preservation, and in late 2002, Jake
generously donated a 57-acre easement to MCLT. Jake's
85-year-old neighbor, who grew up on the farm, continues
to farm it.
Was it "genetics" that prompted Jake
to donate the easement as Jake jokingly suggests, or
did Jake learn by his mother's example? Whatever the
reason, Southeastern Pennsylvania has two beautiful
pieces of permanently preserved land due to the foresight
of two generations of Jake's family.
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STATE REPRESENTATIVES HONORED FOR CONSERVATION
State Representatives Kate Harper and Ray Bunt stand out
as shining examples of what can be accomplished for land protection
at the state level. During the Pennsylvania Land Conservation
Conference held in March, Dulcie Flaharty presented Kate and
Ray with awards for their efforts in the state legislature.
The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (PALTA), an association
of land trust and conservation organizations across the state,
recognized Representative Kate Harper of the 61st District
and Chair of Montgomery County Lands Trust for "her commitment
to conservation and leadership in achieving dedicated funding
for the Environmental Stewardship Fund."
Representative Ray Bunt of the 147th District
and former Chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
was recognized for his "wisdom, perseverance, and leadership
in achieving enactment of the Conservation and Preservation
Easements Act (ACT 29 of 2001)." "Land preservation has true
champions in Ray Bunt and Kate Harper. We are honored to call
them colleagues and friends," remarks Dulcie Flaharty.
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L to R: Dulcie Flaharty, MCLT Executive Director; Ray
Bunt, State Representative; Kate Harper, State Representative;
Andrew M. Loza, PALTA Executive Director; Jacqui Bonomo,
PALTA Board President.
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ON
YOUR MARK,GET SET, VOTE!
Ensure protection of open lands, cherished places.
By Dulcie Flaharty,
Executive Director
The upcoming campaign to promote passage
of the Montgomery County Open Space Ballot Question
is clearly a sprint not a marathon. With a vote scheduled
for November, Montgomery County citizens will soon have
the chance to officially say "Yes" to an initiative
that will help ensure a green future for themselves
and their children.
Montgomery County Lands Trust has
been in training for this race for the last decade.
The notable achievements of the Open Space Program do
not lessen the need to build on the positive work done
by both the county and local municipalities.
Montgomery County continues to develop
rapidly. One out of every ten houses built in Pennsylvania
during the previous decade was built in Montgomery County.
Yet, the carrot and stick structure of the Montgomery
County Open Space Program demonstrated the significant
capacity for communities to change behavior. Designed
with generous incentives, this program caused municipalities
to look at which lands they wished to protect and then
provided funding to achieve those green goals.
The increasing commitment to save
the open land, natural resource areas and historic landscapes
requires ongoing funding at the county, state, and local
level.
Current program victories include
over 9,200 acres preserved through municipal acquisitions,
farmland preservation and private organization land
conservation; 23 miles of county trails constructed;
and 62 open space plans for boroughs and townships guiding
local land protection. We cannot forget that the County's
$60 million in grants used for these programs enabled
us to leverage over $41 million in funding from sources
outside of county funds.
Every municipality in Montgomery
County participated in the program through planning
projects, land acquisition, and tree planting initiatives.
Every municipality, therefore, has strong reason to
root for successful passage of the ballot question in
November and for the creation of a new open space program.
Montgomery County communities - urbanized
or rural, big or small - stand ready for a new program.
They know the rules of the competition and remain hungry
for a new round of grants.
Although it is valuable to pause
for a moment to appreciate and celebrate the numerous
accomplishments of the Montgomery County Open Space
Program, much work remains before us. Greenway and riparian
lands need protection and connection. Working farms
need preservation to continue active agriculture. Boroughs
and towns can benefit from enhanced and re-greened public
spaces.
In reality all the citizens of Montgomery
County are running this race. It is a race to secure
a green future for our county and it is your vote that
will get us to this finish line.
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SPECIAL
THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS
Your help makes our success possible!
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Chairman's Circle
- $5,000 and above
Claneil Foundation*
Harleysville National Bank and Trust Company*
Gretchen and John Lea
Marilyn & Drew Lewis
Arthur Loeben
Montgomery County*
Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development*
Peter Schlotterer
William Penn Foundation*
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Visionary - $1,000-4,999 Representative
Ellen Bard
Margaret Butcher Foundation*
Ruth & Walter Daller
Phoebe & Lee Driscoll
Dee & Roger Hillas
Ellen E. Lea and Dale Schilling
Jane J. Lea
Elizabeth Lippincott
Katie & Hugh Moulton
William B. Packer, Jr.
Kirstin & Feodor U. Pitcairn
John A.H. and Elizabeth J. Shober Trust (in memory of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Swope)
Mary Ellen Steinberg
Joly & James Stewart
Univest National Bank & Trust Co.* Mary M. Wood
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Conservationist - $500-999 Compliance
Management International, Inc.*
John E.F. Corson
Dulcie & David Flaharty
Elizabeth H. Gemmill
Carole & Lee Gravagno
Raymond McConnell |
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Benefactor - $250-499
Charles H. Allebach, Jr.
Susan Barrick
East Norriton Township*
Franconia Township*
Chara & John Haas
Rep. Kate Harper
& Paul J. Kelly III
Hatfield Borough*
Barbara & Henry Jordan
Sydney Lea
Lower Frederick Township*
Lower Providence Township*
A. Harris Mosher
Plymouth Township*
Pregmon Law Offices*
Anthony Rapoza
Pete Retzlaff
Towamencin Township* Whitemarsh Township*
Worcester Township*
Patron - $100-249
Linda & Mark Austerberry
Sheila & Patrick Bello
Suzanne & Guy Bush
Bea & Robert Bast
George C. Benz
Barbara & Wallace Bieler
Kathy & Ed Bieler
Roseanne & Peter Bostock
Karen & Gary Brown
Pamela Brubaker-Reich
Francis J. Carey
Cynthia & Morris Cheston
Harriet L. Cramer
Frank D'Lauro, Jr.
Joan and Rick Fidler
Jaimie & David J. Field
Nancy Fineberg
Fox, Rothchild, Frankel & O'Brien* Generations Farm*
Sally & Bun Gladieux
Jane & Jack Goldberg
Linda & Antonio Goncalves
Melanie & John Harris
Hershey Farm Agency, Inc.*
R. Erich Hess
Lower Gwynedd Township*
Susan & Chris McKeone
Susan & Brian McNeill
Gerald Mullaney, Jr.
Ellen & James O'Neill
Nina and Bill Raab
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Gerald Roberts
Debra Rodgers & Paul W. Meyer Shari & Stuart Rudoler
Saint-Gobain Corporation*
Nancy & Greg Shelly
Carol & Steve Teutsch
Jill & Mark Thomson
E. Van Reiker & Company*
Betty & Henry C. Webster
Kelly & Gib Williams
Ruth & Charles Yeiser
Sponsor - $50-99
Ellen & Philip Barba
Bergey Creative Group*
Gail & Gary Cantor
Alison & Scott Cook Sather
Renee & Frank Di Domizio
Louisa C. Dubin
Emily & Kenneth Edmonds
Claude Epstein
Elaine & Gary Feiss
Geraldine & Marshall Fisher
Becky Frazier
Friends of the Wissahickon* Beatrice Garvan
Joan Grobstein
Gail Gosser & Phil Smith
Betsy & Ted Hershberg
J. Brent Hooker
Indian Valley Appraisal Company* Barbara & Edward Klavon
Arlin Lapp
Karin Lea
Greta G. Longenecker
J.P. Mascaro & Sons*
William M. McGovern
Patti & Ali Naji
Steven L. Nelson
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust*
Perkiomen Animal Hospital* Melissa & Jonathan Spadt
Janet Starwood
Stauffer Glove & Safety*
Stout, Tacconelli & Associates, Inc.*
Deborah & Bob Thomas
Neal G. Thorpe
Edna Volz & William R. Bluhm Kathleen & Dennis Wausnock
Elizabeth West
Joan & Milton Wohl
Member - up to $35
Sandra & David Allebach
Kenneth Amey
Betty & Martin Appel |
Janice Asher & David Kenty
Loretta & Robert Beahm
Timothy Brophy
Karen E. Burton
Paul E. Cashman
Marie & Harold Ciampoli
Hope Fox Coates
John P. Colarusso
Carolyn & Scott Conti
Mary Ann & John Cover
Ann Csink & John Linck
Ronald P. Dahlen
Betsy & Dan Daley
Michael Del Nero
Sara & Francis Devinney
Helen & Eugene Diebold
Elisabeth T. Ervin
Keith R. Fisher
Darwin Frantz
Nancy & Peter A. Grove
Elaine & Stuart Hughes
Clarence W. Huling, Jr.
Anne & Joseph Jones
Ronald S. Joyce
Susan & Joseph Kiefner, Jr.
Robin & Paul Kiesel
Robert J. Kreb III
Gail Latch
Joy & William Leach
Lower Pottsgrove Township*
Eileen McDonnell
Anne R. Meibohm
Ruth & Jules Mermelstein
Judith E. Miller
Susan & James U. Mohr
Anita Meehan & Richard E. Mulstay Ilene & John G. Nelson
New Hanover Township*
Jackie Paul Entertainment Group, Inc.*
Mary Anne & Ted Poatsy
Phoebe Rosenberry
Marian Rowland
Jane & Fred Schuetz
Lisa & Daniel Sullivan
James V. Tancredi
Temple University - Ambler*
Miriam B. Theobald
Kathleen J. Utz
Anne & Edward Wagner
Madelyn & Richard Wagner
Sandra Whipple & Robert Garfield Susanne & James C. Willits
Charles E. Wismer
Henry Zadell |
Newsletter
Archive
For Montgomery
County Lands Trust Membership Click Here.
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| Box 300 • Lederach,
Pennsylvania 19450 • Phone 215-513-0100 • Fax 215-513-0150
• info@mclt.org |
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