A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 8, 1997
' Lancaster Farmland Trust Honors 15 Land Benefactors
MTJOY (Lancaster Co.) —The
annual meeting of the Lancaster
Farmland Trust was held last even
ing at the Country Table restaur
ant Fifteen new land benefactors
were recognized, new officers
were elected, and reports of the
progress of agriculture land preser
vation were given.
In the executive director’s
report, Tom Stouffer said that the
trust had never preserved more
than 11 farms in any one year until
1997. By the end of the year. 16
farms are expected to be pre
served, bringing the total to 81
farms and over 5,200 acres. Lan
caster County has been designated
as one of the world’s most endan
gered sites by the World Monu
ment Association. This heightens
awareness of the problems of
sprawl and farmland loss.
Stouffer said we are reaping the
seeds that have been sown since
the preservation movement began
in the mid ’7os. One out of every
five acres preserved in Lancaster
County has been preserved
through the trust This is signific
ant because these are real land
donors with substantial donations
of the value of the easements made
by the farm families involved.
More than one out of five farms
saved by the trust comes from Old
Order Amish farmers because trust
of private rather than governmen
tal organization.
Next year, the trust will cele
brate the tenth year in operation.
The goal is to raise $200,000 and
have a celebration of 100 farms
preserved at that time.
In the election of trustees, John
H. Schwartz is president; Stephen
M. Kraybill, vice president; Terry
R. Scheetz, secretary, and Philip
W. KimmeL treasurer.
Board members are Barbara
Shaw, Christian Herr, Kenneth H.
Messner, and Amos M. Beiler.
Also Christopher C. Barton, James
R. Clark, Carolyn A. Kilgour, Ste
phen D. Lockey 111, James R.
Shirk, and Gini L. Wagner.
The outstanding donor award
went to Conrad W. Nelson. Gini
Wagner, Ruben Weaver, and
Rebecca Weiss were honored as
volunteers of the year.
Recognized as 1997 land bene
factors are:
Land Benefactors 1997
Annual Dinner
Lancaster Farmland Trust hon
ored the following fourteen land
owners who have pre-
served their farms since
the last annual dinner
meeting;
Joseph G. Cham
berlain is a Chester
County businessman
and has garnered much
joy from reinvesting his
profits back into farm
land, renting the farms
to young Amish fami
lies starting out. and
taking a genuine inter-
est in helping them
eventually purchase the
farms. He owns three
adjacent farms in Little
Britain Township along
Ashville Road, close to
the Octoraro reservoir.
Two of the farms are
productive dairies and
one is a small green
house and vegetable
operation. He preserved
the three farms totaling
160 acres last
Christmas.
Mr. and Mrs. Esh
are Old Order Amish
preserved two farms, creating a
block of 122 preserved acres in
East Lampeter Township.
P. Robert and Deborah Wen
ger operate a 240 acre dairy along
Cardinal Road in East Drumore
Township. They farm with the
help of two sons, and have recen
tly experimenteid with milking
three times a day, three days a
week, to increase milk production.
They are active volunteers in the
Solanco Fair and continue to show
cows at the local and state fairs.
They preserved the farm last
December.
Wayne and Vera Hottenstein
own 26 acres along State Road in
East Hempfield Township. The
property is part of the original
Hottenstein homestead which has
been in the family for over 200
years. They learned about preser
vation from their attorney and
from fellow easement donor and
friend, Daniel Rohrer. There are
now four farms preserved in East
Hempfield, west of East Peters
burg Borough.
Henry and Verna Stoltzfus
decided to preserve a 62 acre dairy
farm in East Donegal Township
along Musser Road after reading
an article about preservation in the
Lancaster New Era. They drove
across the county to New Holland
to visit with the farmer featured in
the article, and decided they were
interested in doing the same. Hen
ry is a founder of the agri-business
Lancaster Level Flow. He and
Verna have rented the farm for
years to the same family; in fact,
the second generation of that fam
ily is now fanning the land.
Mrs. Martha Mayer decided
to presave her 100 acre farm after
learning that one of her neighbors,
Victor Engle, did the same. The
farm was purchased by her parents
in 1904, about the time Martha
was bom. It is farmed by a neigh
bor, Russell Swarr, who is also
preserving his farm. It consists of
98 acres of tillable land along Gar
field Road in Rapho Township.
Mrs, Paulyne Long and Mrs.
Janet Eshelman preserved their
father’s farm in 1993 and are now
preserving IS acres of meadow
and wetland as open space and a
private nature preserve. This quiet
oasis is sandwiched between their
family farm, now owned by an
Amish neightbor, and another pre
served farm owned by David
Byers. The wetland, which con-
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The new officers of the Lancaster County Farmland Trust. From left, seated, John
Schwartz, president, and Tom Stouffer, executive director. Standing, Terry Scheetz,
secretary, Stephen Kraybill, vice president, and Philip Klmmel, treasurer.
tains headwaters of the Cono
wingo Creek, has been studied this
fall by a senior biology class at
Millersville University led by Dr.
Guy Stuececk, and it has been
found to be in excellent condition.
Mrs. Ruth E. Stolzfus was the
gracious hostess of 300 of the
Trust’s members at our annual
picnic in September. Her farm,
known as “Greystone Manor”, is
situated along Oregon Pike in
Manheim and Warwick town
ships. Mrs. Stoltzfus and the Trust
thrilled the crowd with the
announcement that 325 acres of
the farm will be preserved in a
joint preservation project among
the Trust, the Lancaster County
Agricultural Preserve Board, and
Manheim Township and Warwick
Township officials. This public
private partnership of the Trust, as
a non-profit organization, county
agency and two municipalities is
one of the most complex projects
the Trust has been involved in to
date. We are all very pleased that
NEW from O
the efforts to preserve this signif
icant farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Stoltzfus The
Old Order Amish family is pre
serving a scenic 55 acre dairy farm
will be the first preserved in Bart
Township.
Mr. and Mrs, Esh operate a
dairy farm near the village of
Monterey, south of Lcola. This
Old Order Amish family learned
about preservation from' their
neighbor. They preserved 63 acres
in Upper Leacock and S 3 acres in
Colerain Township in October.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller also farm
near the village of Monterey in
Upper Leacock Township. They
are preserving a SS acre dairy
farm.
Mr. John K. Stolzfus is pre
serving a 67 acre dairy farm along
Newport Road in Leacock Town
ship, 2 miles northwest of the vil
lage of Intercourse.
Rod W. Harnista is one of the
earliest supporters of Lancaster
Farmland Trust and one of the first
easement donors, having pro-
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tec ted a property in southern Mar
tic Township situated adjacent to
the Tucquan Nature Preserve. As a
successful businessman who
builds communication towers, he
has reinvested his profits into
land, and he is now preserving a
second farm he purchased adja
cent to the first along Pinnacle
Road.
H. Eugene and Karen L. Gar
ber are preserving a fourth prop
erty this year along Maytown
Road in East Donegal Township.
The bare land will be joined with
another farm, his 45 acre pre
served farm, to make one 84 acre
preserved farm. Significantly, all
of the other adjacent landowners
have preserved their farms, so the
preservation of this 39 acres fills
in the last piece of a large preser
vation puzzle, further securing
East Donegal farmers as leaders in
the county's (and the nation’s)
preservation efforts. This is the
52nd farm to be preserved in that
township.
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