2005 News

August 17, 2005
Commissioners Preserve 44.4 Acres of Farmland, 28 Acres of Open Space

With the purchase of a conservation easement on the Earl H. Myers crop farm, the Bucks County Commissioners preserved 44.4 acres of prime farmland in Milford Township and another 28 acres of prime land in the Cook's Creek watershed in Springfield Township.

The $444,018 cost of the easement on the Myers' County Line Road farm is divided 60-40 between the state and county. Bucks County picked up 40 percent of the cost, or $165,607, and the state paid $278,410.

The conservation easement will save the Myers property from future development. Significantly, it is located in the Milford Township Agricultural Security Area and adjacent to more than 200 acres of preserved farmland (in the same family) in Lehigh County and within two miles of over 150 acres of preserved farmland in Bucks County. Currently, Milford Township has more than 4,000 acres recorded in Agricultural Security Areas.

It is the 93rd farm preserved in Bucks County to date.

The commissioners also approved the Heritage Conservancy's request for a $195,000 grant under the Natural Areas Program to acquire 28 acres within the Cook's Creek watershed, the only viable coldwater fishery in Bucks County.

Owned by William Nies, the mostly forested property on Richlandtown Pike has been identified as a Priority I site for preservation in the Natural Areas Inventory of Bucks County. Cook's Creek, which runs through the eastern portion, has been designated as an "exceptional value" stream by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The stream supports a naturally reproducing population of native brown trout.

The Heritage Conservancy reported the fair market value of the Neis property easement as $390,000. The county grant covers half the cost. The Conservancy requested an equal amount from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The commissioners' action took place during their regular bimonthly meeting held today at the annual Middletown Grange Fair in Wrightstown.