A collaboration among the Trust, East Nantmeal Township, the Nature Conservancy, and landowners Michael and Constance McNamara has resulted in a wonderful outcome for the community: the conservation by a Trust easement of one of the largest unprotected properties within the Great Marsh in East Nantmeal Township. The highly environmentally sensitive 87-acre McNamara property might have yielded 23 new houses, but is now permanently restricted to two additional homes. As a part of the project, two-thousand feet of public access trail for pedestrians, horseback riders, and non-motorized vehicles have been dedicated to the township, as has a small parking area for trail users.

The 3,464-acre periglacial Great Marsh is one of the most important natural areas in eastern Pennsylvania, providing habitat for more than 200 plant  species and 155 bird species, as well as reptiles, butterflies and mammals. The diversity of bird species found in the marsh, including rare, endangered and threatened species, have led the Audubon Society to designate it as an Important Bird Area. The McNamara lands contain large portions of wetlands, the Lyons Run stream, and both mixed hardwood forests and a palustrine woodland that borders the stream valleys. Approximately half of the property consists of cropland, and it also features an apple orchard.

The easement process can be arduous when there are several parties involved. The Trust thanks all of its partners in this special endeavor, and particularly Mike and Connie McNamara, for their commitment to seeing this superb conservation project to a successful conclusion.

Please join us in thanking Theodora Heathcote and her children, John Heathcote, Olivia Heathcote, Jean Burke, and Mary Pinto for their April 7 donation of a conservation easement on their 36-acre property in West Vincent Township.
With a panoramic valley view, the scenic property is predominantly used for farming. It also features a spring-fed pond and adjacent wetlands and about two and one-half acres of woodland, containing among other species, chestnut oak, black oak, black birch, American beech, mapleleaf viburnum and lowbush blueberry.
The family's easement donation was supported by West Vincent Township open space funds, which were used to pay the costs of easement preparation and future stewardship. The easement carves out a six-acre area for possible future subdivision into four residential lots.

How Land Conservation Saves You Money

To many, the environmental, human health, and aesthetic benefits of conserving land and creating trails and parks are priceless. To others, the conservation of private land helps only those wealthy enough to own it. Research shows, however, that the conservation of open land, whether publicly or privately owned, creates quantifiable public financial benefits. Here’s a look at just three:

Protecting open land saves taxpayers money.

You may have heard the claim that open land, particularly agricultural land, is a drain on tax revenue because it is taxed at a lower rate than residential land. The flip side of this assertion is that land developed for residential use brings in tax dollars. While it is true that residential property is taxed at a higher rate in Chester County, and elsewhere, than larger parcels (10 acres or more) enrolled in the Clean and Green tax program, the cost of providing services to residential property exceeds the tax revenue it generates.  In a summary of Cost of Community Services (COCS) studies conducted in more than 100 communities within the last 20 years, the American Farmland Trust found that for every dollar of tax revenue from residential property, the median cost of community services was $1.15. (www.farmlandinfo.org/documents/27757/FS_COCS_8-04.pdf)  In contrast, the median COCS for open land was $.36 for every dollar of tax revenue it generated.  Furthermore, despite variations in revenue and costs from community to community, there was not one instance in which residential tax revenue matched or exceeded costs. In essence, even when levied at a lower rate, taxes from open and agricultural land provide a substantial financial benefit to taxpayers, helping to subsidize the tax shortfall of residential property.

It is likely that protecting privately owned land with conservation easements has the greatest financial benefit because it does not consume tax dollars for maintenance, as does publicly owned land.

Protecting land protects water quality, reducing treatment costs.

One of the greatest threats to the quality of the drinking water we all depend on comes from polluted run-off from increased residential development.  The accumulation of pollutants from diffuse, or non-point, sources makes treatment of water for potability difficult and expensive. The best and least expensive way to protect water quality is to conserve the land adjacent to drinking water sources. In a 2002 study, the American Waterworks Association and the Trust for Public Land found that water treatment and chemical costs were reduced by 20 percent for every 10 percent increase (up to 60 percent) in forested land surrounding water sources (Conservation: An Investment That Pays.  www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=23056&folder_id=188).

Conserved land with access for passive recreation benefits the local economy.

Conserved land has an affect on local economies in several ways.  First, areas like ours, with scenic natural lands and passive recreational features, such as trails and fishing creeks, are highly desirable places to live and work near.  Surveys of businesses employing high-technology workers found that a good environment ranked at the top of desirable community attributes for their employees.  Studies also show that high-income retirees, who typically pay more in taxes than they use in municipal or county services, prefer to live in walkable communities with recreational opportunities in nearby rural areas.  In northern Chester County the truth of these survey preferences is borne out by the growth of property values in municipalities with significant amounts of conserved natural lands.  Higher property values mean higher transfer taxes, which support our municipalities and schools.

In addition to its attractiveness to affluent residents, scenic natural land that offers access for hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, and hunting has enormous potential for regional recreational tourism, as anyone traveling passing the squadrons of weekend cyclists on our country roads on a Sunday afternoon can attest. A poll commissioned by the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors (Americans and the Outdoors, 1987) found that the top criteria among those seeking outdoor recreation were “natural beauty” and “quality of views,” hallmarks of the conserved lands of northern Chester County.

Many other public financial returns stem from land conservation, but we lack the space to discuss them here. The point is that the financial benefits of land conservation are for everyone.  Although a beautiful vista gives rise to poetry and paintings, makes the heart skip a beat, and soothes the soul, there are hard, cold economic reasons for supporting the permanent protection of open natural and agricultural land in your community, whether privately or publicly owned.