When long-time land conservation coordinator Sarah Kipp decided to take a one-year leave of absence from her work at the Land Conservancy of Adams County to travel and work abroad, York Springs resident and recent law-school graduate Adam Boyer stepped in to take the reins of her position. Now Boyer has joined the Land Conservancy board of directors.
“I really enjoyed my time working with the Land Conservancy, and I think joining the board is a good way to stay involved,” said Boyer, who is now an associate at the Gettysburg law firm of Puhl, Eastman, and Thrasher. “I like what the organization does, and I think it’s in a good place, and I want to be a part of that.”
Boyer has long been interested in land conservation issues. A 2012 graduate of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University, Boyer earned his law degree from Villanova University School of Law in May 2015, with a focus on environmental and land use planning. During law school Boyer served as a research assistant at the Lower Merion Conservancy in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, and as a legal intern at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation in Harrisburg.
Given his varied experience in the land preservation field, Boyer is pragmatic about the future of land preservation in the county.
“Everybody gets excited about acreage—and we should get excited about that, because at the end of the day the goal of the organization is land preservation—but there are responsibilities that go along with every acre of land we preserve, such as making sure you have the resources necessary to defend the easements in the future,” said Boyer. “Signing the easement is just the beginning.”
Boyer notes that the Land Conservancy’s Stewardship Circle funds will be increasingly important as the Land Conservancy holds more easements and takes on the perpetual responsibility to monitor and defend them.
Boyer acknowledges that funding is always a challenge in land preservation.
“There’s definitely grant money out there to help underwrite the purchase of easements, but we have to be able to put up the local matching funds,” he said. “It would be too bad if we stalled in our efforts in the future due to lack of financing. I don’t see interest in land preservation going away any time soon in Adams County. As the real estate market heats up, so will interest in land preservation. Hopefully there will be money to do it.”
Boyer added that he’s happy to be working at Puhl, Eastman, and Thrasher.
“I enjoy working here for the same reasons I liked working at the Land Conservancy,” he said. “I enjoy working locally with people I know or know of. Also, this is a service-oriented job and I enjoy that.”
When he’s not working, Boyer volunteers as a substitute organist at Gettysburg Presbyterian Church and serves as a director of the 4-H Clubs of Adams County, as well as on the Huntington Township Planning Commission, the York Springs Historical Society, and the Adams County Young Professionals.
