Centre County Farmland Trust

Partnerships

Centre County Farmland Trust History

“The first to dream about Centre County dreamed of an agricultural empire.”

James McNeal

The Centre County Farmland Trust was founded by E. Lynn Miller and formally established on February 24, 1994. The initial Board of Trustees were also the members of the Centre County Agricultural Land Preservation Board. Those members were William Keough, Marion Deppen, Aileen Homan, Ira Whiteman, Milo Wilson, Rodney Musser and Brooks Way. The great challenge then was to raise funds and to begin a public relations campaign to inform land owners about donating an Agricultural Conservation Easement as another way to permanently preserve their land. Fund raising was a very slow process and by 1999 there was just over one thousand dollars in the treasury.

In April of 2000, Norm Lathbury was hired by Centre County Planning Office to coordinate the agricultural land preservation program. Bob Donaldson, Director of the Planning Office, wanted to see the Farmland Trust “up and running”. By September, the Trust received its recognition of exemption from the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c)(3), non profit corporation, enabling the organization to hold conservation easements. In October of 2000, the Pennsylvania Department of State recognized the Trust as a charitable organization and permission to raise funds through public solicitation.

At the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Trust, a new Board of Trustees was approved by the members. George Hildenbrandt, Robert Poole, William Moerschbacher, Robert Eberhart, C.J. Wagner, Tim Bowser, Elizabeth Goreham, Brian McKinley and Robert Anderson. By 2003 the Trust had raised enough money to preserve the 176 acre Hugh and Barbara Hodge farm in Penn Township. The very first easement was prepared and reviewed by Amos Goodall, the Trusts’ legal council, and the Hodge farm was permanently preserved in May of 2004. Since then five more farms have been preserved totaling 658 acres.

contact webmaster