Newsletter
Fall 2007

Tour of Greenwood Sanctuary in Dimock, PA

On June 23, representatives from the E.L. Rose Conservancy car-pooled to Dimock. PA where they met with Laidily MacBride at the property known as the Greenwood Sanctuary. The participants were privileged to share a picnic lunch and came to better understand the motivating forces and common interests in preserving a beautiful place in Susquehanna County.

The long drive into the property, shaded with a canopy of trees and lined with impressive stonewalls, welcomed the Conservancy members on an initial tour of the sanctuary. Named after the Greenwood family of Dimock, the Greenwood Sanctuary includes forested rocky hills, mixed fields, a large beaver pond and a variety of trails. Laidily MacBride welcomed the Conservancy representatives with a warm smile and open heart. The weather was perfect and the renovated barn, which will be available for on-site events, provided the site for lunch.

In our conversations with Laidily, her love of the land, her fond memories of shared family experiences, and desire to retain the character of the area were easily evident. Part of her motivation for conserving the property could be heard across the valley, on the far side of the beaver pond, where a quarry on the scarred hillside and sound of heavy equipment were evident. The Conservancy looks forward to a long and mutually beneficial friendship with Laidily and the Greenwood Sanctuary.

High Point Preserve at Twenty

First time visitors to Susquehanna County are often taken by its scenic beauty. Long time residents cherish the beauty and character of the local landscape. To some, its preservation represents a motivating force. High Point Preserve is evidence of what can be accomplished when a dedicated group of people work together for a common good.

The E.L. Rose Conservancy was formally incorporated as a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation, and received approval for § 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service on May 23, 1984. The first order of business was to approach the Rose family to discuss acquisition of acres of beautiful real estate bordering Silver Lake. What followed was a three year effort involving a group of committed people with a shared purpose and long term vision. From this perspective two decades down the road, we offer a few words of reflection and gratitude.

The property (later named the High Point Preserve by John Butler) represented the last intact acreage remaining in the hands of the Rose family after the original purchase of over 100,000 acres in 1809 by Dr. Robert H. Rose. Through a series of discussions and long meetings involving dedicated Conservancy principals Patty Bloomer, Harold Donovan, and John Wilkerson, a prolonged campaign was launched to convince the Rose family (three children) that the proposed conveyance to the Conservancy was the best possible option.

The acquisition of the real property, however, was a slow process, and required the raising of a huge amount of money from the local community. The fund raising included requesting an initial donation or $100 which was met with almost 100% support. Each cottage owner at Silver lake was asked to contribute $15,000 toward the purchase of the property. By March 1987, the young Conservancy had raised a staggering $150,000 toward the purchase. The Rose family agreed to the sale and by September 1987 the Conservancy had raised $300,000. Three members of the Board of Directors secured a bridge loan to bring the funds up to the purchase price. That loan was repaid within a year.
The Conservancy’s offer of $450,000, while under the market price for the real property, resulted in the Rose family receiving essentially the same amount of money after taxes as they would receive if the property was sold to a private buyer for $600,000. The difference was obvious: the Conservancy would maintain and preserve the real property for perpetuity.
In the terms of fund raising activities, the campaign to acquire the capital to purchase the Rose property must be one of the most extraordinary efforts ever undertaken in a small, rural community. The Rose families vision and wish that the land be preserved took root in the trust formed with the young Conservancy. As Patty Bloomer noted in a December 5, 1987 correspondence, “it seemed to many that it would be impossible to raise over $400,000 to purchase the land and when I look at that same land today it does seem indeed like a miracle that it has been saved for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Conservancy Legacy

American presidents are often concerned about their legacy. How will they be judged by history? What have they contributed to this country that has left a lasting imprint for succeeding generations? But you do not have to be a president to leave a legacy. Each of us should be considering our own legacies and what we can do to leave a positive imprint upon our community.
The Community Foundation of Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties has created a Legacy Society, which recognizes those persons who have generously remembered their favorite charity when making estate planning decisions. The Community Foundation can assist you in creating a fund that will provide financial assistance to your favorite charitable cause for perpetuity. The Legacy Society provides a tremendous tool for those interested in philanthropic giving to create a testamentary gift to benefit their favorite charities.

In order to assist our interested members, the E.L. Rose Conservancy of Susquehanna County has created an official Legacy Society Chapter with the Community Foundation, and our own Patty Bloomer has agreed to act as the

chairperson for our Legacy Society. For those interested in creating a perpetual fund for the benefit of the Conservancy, please contact Patty Bloomer, or go to the Community Foundation website at www.community-foundation.org.
As you all know, the Conservancy has acquired substantial acreage in Susquehanna County for conservation purposes. The maintenance of these properties requires financial resources, and future property acquisition for conservation will also depend upon the financial position of the Conservancy. We ask that you consider remembering the Conservancy in your estate plan, and that you consider a gift to the Legacy Society in your will. By doing so, you will truly leave a strong legacy that will lead to the conservation of natural space in Susquehanna County.

Conservation easements

A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally binding agreement that permanently limits certain types of uses or prevents development from taking place on a piece of property, while protecting the property’s ecological or open-space values. Easements allow individual owners to continue to own the land and to sell it or pass it on to their heirs. There are often long term tax benefits to the landowner for establishing a conservation easement. 1,434 conservation easements are held by 43 land trusts across the state. Most of those Conservancies are run by volunteers

Loss of PA Farmland

Since 1950, Pennsylvania has lost nearly half of its farmland compared to a loss of 20% nationally. Several factors ranging from the profitability of farming to urban growth pressures are behind the loss of farmland.

Story of Preserving a family Homestead

We are blessed with beautiful farmland in Susquehanna County. Families who have chosen the farming life invest more than finances in their land; they invest their time, hard work, and caring. There are tremendous economic pressures on farm owners as developers, timber companies, and mining groups regularly offer to buy their land. Read about the Landis family in Lancaster County, PA who faced similar pressures and made the decision to work with a conservancy to establish a conservation easement to make the long term preservation of their farm a reality.

E.L. Rose Conservancy Board of Directors Update

At the July 2007 Annual meeting, five positions on the Board of Directors were approved by the membership present.

Patty Bloomer returns to a board position after a year off as required in the By-Laws.
Bob Alspaugh first time candidate from Longford Lake brings his interest in environmental conservation, management skills, and availability of time with his recent retirement.
Deb Crisman – first time candidate from south Montrose/Dimock with proven leadership skills, strong community ties, and interests in conservation, fund raising
Greg Deck – first time candidate, from Great Bend, State trooper, with interest in conservation, GPS, farming, and mule hiking.
Kevin Davis - first time candidate, coordinator with the Ross Park Zoo, teacher, with interest in conservation, wildlife, outdoor activity.

The E.L. Rose Conservancy welcomes these board members as they start their three year term. We look forward to their contribution to the common goals of the Conservancy.

Other members currently serving on the Board of Directors:
George Basel, Carol Engle, Joe Hester, Jason Legg, Tim Matthews, Keith Oberg

John Butler completed his term on the Board and he will be greatly missed for his wisdom, good humor, and dedication to the community.

The Board regrets the resignation of Rae Marie Bostrom but is grateful for the time she could serve and appreciates that she will continue to help coordinate Conservancy sponsored events.

Conservancy Near Term Goals

• Working with local land owners to place conservation easements
• Develop a web accessible Research Archive and Database
• Organizational Initiatives
    – Organize and consolidate records
    – Begin the LTA Accreditation process
      • Organize, Clarify and Define
      • Quality and Continuity
• Improve Connections to the larger community, local and state, DCNR
• Increase Board Diversity and Depth
    – Merge History, Commitment, New ideas, Energies and Perspectives
• Develop Funding resources
    – Income, Selection of Projects, Grants
• Fourth of July 2008 – Renew the E.L. Rose Conservancy Float
• Develop Leadership – dependency on our children’s connection to the land – outdoor education activities
• Enhance Trail Maintenance and improvement
• Recognize the long time support for the Conservancy; tree planting October 13, 2007 at the Butterfly garden, Silver lake - The Bloomer family, The Donovan family, and The Wilkerson family. Other founding families and long time contributors will be recognized in the coming years with similar tree plantings.

Special remembrance and thanks go out to Ann Berge and her family and friends for memorial donations made in honor of her late husband, Ralph Berge. Families like the Berges are the heart and soul of the Conservancy.

The E.L. Rose Conservancy of Susquehanna County has grown over the last twenty plus years and is in need of a formal home office. Ideally, an E.L. Rose Conservancy Home Office facility would enable:
• Meeting facility
• Records consolidation, management and archive
• Educational programs for the broader community
• Outdoor programs
• Full and part-time Support staff/interns
• Convenient location in Susquehanna County
If you have a property that is currently under-utilized or have a property or office space that you would be willing to lease or donate, please contact a Board member. See your financial advisor for information of tax benefits.

The Conservancy supported the Friends of Salt Springs celebration on September 1 with an information table and contributed a home composter which was raffled off to benefit the park.

Annual Meeting ReCap

Cornell Research Partnerships

The Cornell University Department of Natural Resources conducted a variety of cooperative conservation and research projects in 2007. The reports on these projects were given at the annual meeting and will be available on the elrose.org web site, which covers the valued projects in more depth than is available in this space.

Jessie Undergraduate student Jessie Comba presented an update on her ground-based photo-monitoring project which documents and builds a database from old and recent photographs. This is the second year of Jessie’s project and she has taken hundreds of photographs of locations in Susquehanna County. Jessie reported on her methods and plans for continued monitoring. She thanked a number of people and organizations especially the Susquehanna Historical Society, John and Barb Wilkerson, Kate Bentsen, and the E.L. Rose Conservancy for their support

Jessie Comba is the recipient of a Hunter Rawlings Undergraduate Research Award for 2008 which will pay her tuition and includes a research stipend. Jessie was nominated by Prof. Jim Lassoie based partly on her unique work with the E.L. Rose Conservancy and Susquehanna County.

Fish Community Impacts on Water Quality - The Alewife saga

Prof. Cliff Craft presented an interesting update on the studies related to fish populations including the salt-water bait fish , alewife, in Silver Lake. While it is too early for any definitive results from the trout stocking done in the fall of 2006, there is observational evidence of the trout actively preying on the alewife. The recommendation was made to make another round of trout stocking this fall. Monitoring of water conditions and fish populations will continue. Alewife

Kristi Sullivan and Steve Morreale’s presentation on “Biodiversity Assessment and Enhancements was well received and included data gathered regarding several projects including vernal pools, frog call presentation and survey, butterfly garden with native perennials, and the deer exclosure at Longford lake. Thanks to Kristi’s work in the area, our knowledge of wildlife and natural behaviors is increasing in depth.

Prof. Jim Lassoie gave two presentations on projects with PhD student Jamie Herring, the first being a documentary video project for the E.L. Rose Conservancy. The project will engage landowners in Susquehanna County through the creation of a film about the importance of their lands. We are expecting at least a preview of the video at the Fall Colors dinner planned for October 13, 2007.
The second project has global proportions and deals with a web-based portal called the Conservation Bridge enabling communication links between a diverse set of people from around the world. The E. L. Rose Conservancy is an inaugural member of the community of environmental organizations that will utilize and participate in the Conservation Bridge project with links to groups from Africa to China, to Bhutan, and to Susquehanna County. Coming soon: ConservationBridge.org

Turbidity is essentially a measurement of how cloudy or clear the water is, or, in other words, how easily light can be transmitted through it. Alewife contribute to increased levels of algae and reduced water clarity. One way to measure turbidity is to lower a device called a Secchi (pronounced seh-key) Disc into the water. A Secchi Disc has black-and-white elements. As the disc is lowered into the water, increasing turbidity will cause the black-and-white areas to fade into one another, and the disc will slowly disappear from sight. A reading in Silver lake in July 2007 showed an improved clarity (15+ ft) as compared with the 2006 (5 ft) reading.

The TOUR OF HISTORIC BARNS IN SILVER LAKETOWNSHIP on Sunday, August 12, 2007 was a great success.

barn Guest lecturer, building historian and Master Timber Framer, John McNamara, discussed each barn's original location, architecture and original purpose, dismantling and restoration procedures. There were SIX barns on the tour whose uses include a photography studio, an art studio, a retail establishment, a residence, a corn crib acting as a writer's studio and an entertainment barn.

Of particular interest this year was the barn which has been restored as a summer residence. Exciting transformations have taken place including a lower level summer kitchen, a main kitchen, a loft which houses two offices, and a fieldstone fireplace. The owners have designed the interior to be handicap accessible and the building is "green" and features state of the art soybean insulation, as well as 300 year old timbers.

Special thanks to the Sea Hag Soaps and Mercantile, VanZandbergen Photography, and to the Bowman, Randall, Nesvold, and Wilkerson families for opening their beautiful barns. Thanks also to Patty Bloomer for coordinating the event and RaeMarie Bostrum and her team for coordinating a delicious dinner that was enjoyed by all at the end of the tour.
Thanks to all of the 90+ who supported this fund raising event with proceeds going toward our Stewardship Fund for maintaining property protected by the Conservancy through easement or donation.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, September 22, 8 – 11 am - BIRDING SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, HIGH POINT RESERVE

There are many places across the county to see a variety of species as well as experience some great natural areas. Based on the soon-to-be published Birder’s Guide to Susquehanna County, this walk will explore E.L. Rose Conservancy’s High Point Preserve near Brackney. Park and meet on Crowley Road, 1 mile off Rt. 167 in Brackney. . Instructor: Nancy Wottrich, FSSP Education Coordinator, Friends of Salt Springs Park

Saturday, October 13, 2 – 3 PM – Tree Planting and Dedication, at the Butterfly garden at the end of South Lake Road, Silver Lake

We are starting a new tradition and formally giving recognition to the families whose vision, commitment, energy, and contributions have made an impact on the E.L. Rose Conservancy and the quality of life in our local environment. This initial dedication will honor three families who were involved early in the founding of the Conservancy and in the acquisition of the High Point Preserve. A tree will be planted for each of the Bloomer, Donovan, and Wilkerson families. Refreshments served.

Saturday, October 13, 3 – 4 PM – Fall Colors Hike and Perennial Planting, at the Butterfly garden at the end of South Lake Road, Silver Lake

Bring a deer resistant perennial plant to take root and add to the beauty of the Butterfly Garden and enjoy a hike through the High Point Preserve during the peak of the fall colors.

Saturday, October 13, 4:30 PM – Fall Colors dinner and Susquehanna County Video Project at the Wilkerson Barn on South Lake Road, Silver Lake, PA Project.

Bring a dish to share for an end of season dinner. A preview presentation on the Participatory Video project involving Land Owners in Susquehanna County will be given by Prof Jim Lassoie and Jamie Herring from Cornell University. Dinner-ware and drinks will be provided.

Thanksgiving or Christmas Give a gift membership to the Conservancy to a family member, child or grand-child, or a friend and encourage them to support the mission, stewardship, and activities of the E.L. Rose Conservancy of Susquehanna County. See our web site for a membership form. ELROSE.ORG

Conservancy History
The Board of Directors is in the process of organizing and cataloging the records that have accumulated over the twenty plus years of the Conservancy’s history. Reorganizing the records has become a process of remembrance. Way back around 1980 Harold Donovan and Patty Bloomer started local discussions about forming a Conservancy. They hired an attorney from Westchester, PA to advise on the legal aspects of establishing a 501 c (3) not-for-profit conservancy. Harold became the first president, Patty the vice-president, and Catherine Donovan the treasurer. More to come.

Newsletter Fall 2007