In 1779, when Aaron Levy laid out the village of Aaronsburg, these 27 acres were wilderness. Now, this is the only remaining, undeveloped part of Levy’s original tract. Thanks to Nancy Parks and Bill van den Berg, the land’s meadow, woodland, wildlife habitat and intermittent stream are protected from development.
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 walnut trees.
Deer, hawks, songbirds, rabbits, barn owls, foxes and turkey are abundant. An intermittent stream flows into Elk Creek.
A Commitment to Stewardship
“I see intrinsic value in all plants and animals,” said Parks. “As human beings, we are stewards of this.”
In 2011, they donated a conservation easement through the Centre County Farmland Trust.
“We recognized we couldn’t protect it alone forever,” said Parks, who served on the CCFT Board of Trustees from 2013 – 2016.
(A conservation easement legally binds a landowner and a qualified organization, like the Centre County Farmland Trust, to perpetually protect the natural, cultural, and/or historic resources of a property. Landowners donate their development rights, as CCFT does not compensate landowners for those rights, but pays much of the cost of enacting the easement and pays to uphold the easement in perpetuity. Learn more about our work.)
Next Chapter of Stewardship
By 2019, Parks was the sole owner and decided to sell. She asked neighbor Scott Dennison, owner of Dennison Press, to print an advertising flyer.
Instead, Dennison and his wife, Shari Edelson, bought the property and committed to it as wildlife habitat and a long-term ecological restoration project. They hosted a guided trail walk for Centre County Farmland Trust members and guests in September 2021. Edelson spent two decades managing public gardens and landscapes and is working on PhD research on human impacts in parks and protected areas, as part of the Protected Areas Research Collaborative at Penn State.
Dennison Press is a local design and printing shop. Dennison is now the sole owner of the land.
While the property is private, you can see the barn and views of the woodland from the road. Look for the CCFT sign affixed to the c. 1841 German Bank barn at the corner of Apple Tree Alley and Pine Street.
Banner photo by Danny Brumbaugh. Used with permission.