Stories of the farmers and landowners who preserved their land by donating a conservation easement in partnership with the Centre County Farmland Trust.
Don and Esther Smith watched over the years as the landscape surrounding their 75-acre family farm changed from rural to suburban. They did not want to see their historic house and barn demolished, nor their land bulldozed for development. They preserved their land in December 2025 with a conservation easement held by the Centre County Farmland Trust — realizing a decision they made 14 years ago.
Nancy Parks and Bill van den Berg wanted to protect land from an encroaching quarry near their Aaronsburg home. At a 2000 auction, they bought 16 acres of walnut trees and native wildflowers, and later two adjacent parcels of 11 acres. These 27 acres were part of Aaron Levy’s original tract of wilderness when he laid out the village of Aaronsburg. Over centuries, people cleared trees, built a barn, farmed crops and planted […]
Nancy Parks and Bill van den Berg wanted to protect land from an encroaching quarry near their Aaronsburg home. At a 2000 auction, they bought 16 acres of walnut trees and native wildflowers, and later two adjacent parcels of 11 acres. These 27 acres were part of Aaron Levy’s original tract of wilderness when he laid out the village of Aaronsburg. Over centuries, people cleared trees, built a barn, farmed crops and planted […]
Herb Cole lived his earliest years in Brooklyn, New York, but loved spending summers and weekends on a family farm in Stone Church, Pa. There, he developed a lifelong passion for fishing and hunting. He trapped to earn money for college as he attended high school in Bangor, Pa. “That’s, I think, where he got the […]
History emanates from Hodge Farm. Hugh & Barbara Hodge insured it always would when they donated an agricultural conservation easement to the Centre County Farmland Trust in May 2004. This easement was significant: It was the first farm permanently preserved by the Trust and it was the first farm preserved in Penn Township. Located between […]
History emanates from Hodge Farm. Hugh & Barbara Hodge insured it always would when they donated an agricultural conservation easement to the Centre County Farmland Trust in May 2004. This easement was significant: It was the first farm permanently preserved by the Trust and it was the first farm preserved in Penn Township. Located between […]
History emanates from Hodge Farm. Hugh & Barbara Hodge insured it always would when they donated an agricultural conservation easement to the Centre County Farmland Trust in May 2003. This easement was significant: It was the first farm permanently preserved by the Trust and it was the first farm preserved in Penn Township. Located between […]
Joseph Griffin believed he would someday return to his boyhood home on 14 acres. But then he found new stewards and preserved the land. For decades, Joseph Griffin believed he would return to his cherished boyhood home and live in the little log house on 14 acres of sloping field and forest next to the […]