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You are here: Home / Stories / A Gift to the Community

A Gift to the Community

05/07/2015

“If the land is sold, it cannot be retrieved. It is gone.”

Author: Taylor Potter
Location: Centre County
Land Preserved by: Centre County Agricultural Land Preservation Board

The Potter Farm has been in my immediate family since 1792 when Fergus Potter received a warrant for approximately 300 acres. Today the farm is comprised of 198 acres– fifty acres woodlot and one hundred twenty acres tillable. Since the farm has always been owned by a Potter, it is more than a “two-century farm.” The farm buildings as well as the farmhouse are in original condition. That is, they have not been added to or expanded since they were built in the mid 1800s. The house is unique in that it was one of the first plank, tilt-up frame houses.

My wife, Elizabeth, and I have lived on the farm for more than thirteen years. It’s the only home that our immediate family really knows. We have been missionaries and pastors in many places so the homes our children knew growing up were only temporary. To be able to place the property in a conservation easement makes it possible for us to keep the property in the family. It is the only way that we can continue to maintain the integrity of the farm, the land and the buildings.

That is not the only reason why the land has been donated for an agricultural easement. The water sources on the farm include many springs, including two that are distant tributaries to the Chesapeake watershed.

We highly recommend pursuing conservation possibilities. If the land is sold, it cannot be retrieved. It is gone. However, with help, the land can be preserved and farmed in perpetuity. That’s a gift to the family and a gift to the community. The process is slow, but rewarding. Mr. Norm Lathbury, of the Centre County Agricultural Land Preservation Board, was encouraging every step of the way.

In Their Own Words

  • A Gift to the Community
  • A Permanent Agreement Between Us and Nature
  • A Place in the Country
  • A Quiet Satisfaction
  • An Amazing Feeling
  • Essentially as We Found It
  • Five Hills Farm
  • For Future Generations 
to Enjoy
  • Forever Holding on to Holden Farm
  • Greg’s Woods
  • Keeping Bedminster Green
  • Kipp’s Fen
  • Preserve Our Farms
  • Preserving the Character of York County
  • Saving Our Family Lands
  • Solebury Township Landowners
  • The Value of Land Conservation
  • There Was Really No Other Choice

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  • Heritage Conservancy Sets Pioneering Example of Partnership and Preservation with Manoff Market Gardens

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    Freda R. Savana for Heritage Conservancy It could be said that Gary and Amy Manoff have farming in their blood. …Read More »
  • Berks Nature Closes on a Conservation Easement of Olivet Blue Mountain Camp

    Berks Nature Closes on a Conservation Easement of Olivet Blue Mountain Camp

    On September 30th, 2020, Berks Nature closed on a conservation easement project in the Schuylkill River Watershed, Kittatinny Ridge and …Read More »
  • Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

    Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

      Article originally published in September 2020 by Willistown Conservation Trust. The final conservation chapter to the 15-acre Stonehedge Farm …Read More »
View more posts >>
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  • Conservation Easement Assistance Program
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WeConservePA envisions future generations enjoying—undiminished—Pennsylvania’s natural areas and open spaces.

Thank you to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for supporting the Association’s conservation efforts.

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