A $1.85 million conservation easement granted by a land preservation program in Montgomery County will permanently protect Pennypack Farm in Horsham from future development, writes Michael Tanenbaum for the Philly Voice.

The 35-acre property is located next to the College Settlement of Philadelphia, an organization that has been providing camping experiences and summer programs to urban youth for a century.

The college started leasing 24 acres of its land to the Pennypack Farm and Education Center nonprofit in 2003, which transformed a cornfield lacking nutrients into a farm providing food for around 3,500 people each year through community-supported agriculture.

The easement was facilitated through the Agricultural Land Preservation Program, which has protected over 10,500 acres on 187 farms in Montgomery County since 1990. The township, county, and state all provided funds to pay for it.

“Preserving farmland in the county is important because once farmland is developed, it’s nearly impossible to get that resource back,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Thomas DiBello. “Organizations like College Settlement of Philadelphia and Pennypack Farm are training the next generation of farmers.”

Read more about Pennypack Farm being preserved in the Philly Voice.

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