(March 2007, #003)

For Immediate Release

CHADDS FORD, PA — In 2006, the Brandywine Conservancy's Environmental Management Center permanently protected 1,283 acres of farmland, wetlands, woodlands and open space in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. This accomplishment raises the total number of acres protected by the Conservancy to 40,867.

Of the lands protected in 2006, over 1,190 acres were preserved through new conservation easements. A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a property owner and a conservation organization such as the Brandywine Conservancy. It severely restricts all or part of a property in perpetuity. Two easements, protecting 124 acres, were prepared by the Conservancy but are now held by the Delaware Nature Society. The Conservancy also assigned four easements to other land trusts, and amended three existing easements to further restrict the land.

The Conservancy is now responsible for monitoring 425 easements, 90% of which were donated by environmentally-minded individuals. Conservancy staff members visit each property at least once a year to ensure that it remains in compliance with the terms of the easement. In addition to working with private landowners, the Conservancy's professional planners, natural resource managers and specialists in historic preservation, horticulture and landscape architecture provide comprehensive land planning services to local municipalities.

  For more information about the Brandywine Conservancy, call 610-388-2700 or visit www.brandywineconservancy.org.

To learn more about the Conservancy's programs, call 610-388-2700 or visit www.brandywineconservancy.org.