Fifty-five acres preserved in Germany Township

Christine and Harvey Lee own nearly 55 acres in Germany Township near Littlestown in southeastern Adams County. Last July, the Land Conservancy of Adams County (LCAC) purchased a conservation easement on their property with the help of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and donations to the Land Conservancy from our supporters. NRCS contributed the majority of the funding through its Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, which provides up to 50% of appraised easement values to protect farmland. LCAC’s requirement was to provide 10% of the value, allowing us to preserve this farm at significant discount, and with a substantial donation by the Lees.

 The land owned by the Lees, which they purchased in 1987, consists of approximately 24 acres rented to a local farmer who rotates corn, soybean, and winter wheat plantings. Also within the property are woodlands, bottomlands and wetlands. In addition, the Lees have planted hundreds of trees, such as eastern black walnut and sycamore, on nearly 14 acres of environmentally sensitive riparian areas through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), another NRCS program with goals to enhance water quality, reduce erosion, and restore wildlife habitat. 

 “Piney Creek [within the Monocacy/Potomac watershed] runs through our land,” they said.  A major influence guiding their preservation efforts over the years has been their commitment to doing their part to protect that watershed. “We’ve been in CREP for about 20 years.  The land between the road front and Piney Creek formerly was bare.  But now it contains a healthy forest we planted to protect that stream.”  They concluded, “We joined LCAC due to our personal commitment to rural preservation.”