Press release by Heritage Conservancy on 20 Jan 2025, written by Adrea Szyper
Photos courtesy of Heritage Conservancy

In December 2024, Heritage Conservancy preserved a total of 60 acres of Bucks County natural and farmland in three separate Conservation Easements. All of these easements closed in the same week! This brings our 2024 tally to 335 acres of conserved land.

Conservation easements put in place by Heritage Conservancy allow private owners to protect their property for public benefit now and for generations to come. Our perpetual role helps keep Bucks County and the surrounding area green and beautiful, protecting the natural areas, agricultural fields, and bucolic views that make this region special.

These three properties are only our latest projects, contributing to the 16,000+ acres of land protected by Heritage Conservancy.

The Wigand Property

23 acres in Buckingham Township
Along Carversville Road, this land was subdivided into five buildable parcels. All of them were donated by the owner under one easement — a true win for conservation. With about 12 acres of woodlands and six acres of rolling farm fields, this property adds to the rural character of the area and scenic views within the Paunacussing Creek Watershed.
Heritage Conservancy co-holds the easement with Buckingham Township.

The Valish Property

25 acres in Haycock Township
This primarily wooded property contains ephemeral streams and scattered vernal pools — very valuable habitat and a big attraction for local wildlife. The land spans 2,200 feet of road frontage along both sides of Oak Lane and is contiguous to a 67-acre easement also held by Heritage Conservancy. Conserving adjoining properties is a big win for ecology in the area.

The Gerding Property

12 acres in New Britain Township
Formerly a farm, this site contains woodlands that stretch beyond a historic home and barns. While the land is no longer farmed, half the property contains prime soils. The entire parcel is located within the North Branch Neshaminy Creek and Pine Run Watershed. Its 1,200 feet of road frontage along Park Avenue preserves scenery and significant wildlife habitat in a rapidly developing area.

The Work

The land conservation team at Heritage Conservancy (photographed above) includes staff members who negotiate these easement agreements, along with stewards who help assess the ecological value of the land and who monitor eased properties on an ongoing basis.

December is often a busy month in land conservation, as property owners work to finalize Conservation Easements before the end of the year. At the tail end of 2024, Heritage Conservancy Conservation Acquisition Specialist Kim Johnson spearheaded all three of these closing — in one week!

“I appreciate the time that it can take to complete a conservation easement, even ones that are donated and ‘should be simple’,” says Kim. “However, it’s also important that we prioritize landowners’ planning goals that may require an easement to close within the same calendar year. I was thrilled we could accommodate all of these easements in 2024 and provide the landowners with peace of mind that their properties will be preserved forever.”

With a background in commercial rea estate, Kim (above) knows the terrain well. She works with land owners, local municipalities, and public agencies on projects throughout Delaware and Lehigh Valley regions. This flurry of projects landed close to home, and delays and other factors meant that closings stacked up to fall on two days in December.

With the support of an expert team at Heritage Conservancy, the closings went through as planned, and as a result, 60 acres of natural land, agricultural fields, and critical wildlife habitat were put into conservation.

At any given time, dozens of projects are in the pipeline. As of this writing, we have close to 2,000 more acre of land in the works through various projects. Our number of new conservation easements has been growing in the last few years as we work to increase our impact in Bucks, Montgomery, and Northampton Counties.

About Heritage Conservancy

Heritage Conservancy is a community-based, nonprofit organization that works in partnership with communities, landowners, businesses, governments, and other mission-focused organizations to ensure that the landscapes that make our region special endure and flourish, for the benefit of both people and nature. Founded in 1958 and based in Doylestown, PA, Heritage Conservancy has worked to protect more than 16,000 acres of open space, farmland, wildlife habitat, and important watershed areas throughout Bucks and surrounding counties.

Our Mission

Heritage Conservancy’s mission is to protect and care for the lands of our region; to engage with and share the history that unfolded on these lands; and to connect people with both.