A non-profit in Lancaster is helping to protect local ecosystems.
BY JAMES CLONTZ
The Lancaster Conservancy has helped to protect over 10,000 acres of land throughout the Lancaster area. The non-profit organization is working to protect local nature for generations to come. They maintain 50 nature preserves, freely open to the public for recreation.
Some of these preserves include:
● Welsh Mountain
● Climbers Run
● Shenks Ferry Wildflower
● Wizard Ranch
The land is preserved in order to maintain its natural state as much as possible. Throughout the United States, 31 million acres of natural land has been lost to human development since 1982. In an effort to curb the loss of land in Lancaster, the Conservancy works to obtain and preserve land through a variety of methods, such as donations or purchases. Purchases are funded both publicly and privately with grants. However, the Lancaster Conservancy doesn’t only preserve land they own. They maintain hundreds of acres of conservation easements. A conservation easement legally binds land usage permanently to protect it throughout the future, while still maintaining the land owner’s property ownership and allows them to not make their preserved land public. The easement sometimes also can involve tax benefits relating to the land. While the Lancaster Conservancy was founded with a mission for protecting Lancaster County’s natural land, the organization has managed to expand their work to three other counties:
● York
● Chester
● Dauphin
Scenery from Mill Creek Falls Nature Preserve / Lock 12 in York County. Photo by James Clontz.
Scenery from Mill Creek Falls Nature Preserve / Lock 12 in York County. Photo by James Clontz.
Events
In addition to maintaining their land, the Lancaster Conservancy hosts a variety of events to further push their mission of helping people of the past, present and future to enjoy Lancaster’s land. One series of events they hold is called “Nature Journaling”, where visitors are encouraged to start a titular nature journal. In one such Nature Journaling event this December, participants will be educated on different tips to journal in the colder weather coming in the winter. For those who visit nature preserves to watch for birds, another such event is their “Christmas Bird Count”, which is both an opportunity for education and a guided bird watching event at their Climbers Run Nature Preserve.
Kelly Slippey
In 2024, Kelly Slippey was named Community Event Coordinator of the Lancaster Conservancy. She formerly spent time working to organizing trips for college students. This experience helped make way for her role in the Conservancy, which sees her promoting engagement relating to nature between the organization and the Lancaster community at large. One of the events she aids with for the Lancaster Conservancy is the Lancaster Water Week, an annual celebration of the bodies of water found throughout the county. 2024 marked the eighth Water Week, the first of which Slippey was involved with. She says that the event led many locals to help out with cleaning the Conestoga River.
Fritz Schroeder
The Lancaster Water Week began in 2017, spearheaded by a member named Fritz Schroeder. Schroeder’s efforts within the organization led to clean water becoming “a central purpose” of the Lancaster Conservancy. Schroeder began his work with the Conservancy in 2012, when the Conservancy experienced a merger with the organization LIVE Green. After being promoted to Senior Vice President of Community Impact in 2018, Schroeder’s role in the organization continued to grow. In 2023, the Lancaster Conservancy named their newest CEO and president to be Fritz Schroeder, after previous CEO and president Phil Wenger decided to step down from his role of eight years.
Timeline of Fritz Schroeder’s climb to President of the Lancaster Conservancy. Timeline by James Clontz.
Climbers Run
While Climbers Run is just one of many nature preserves held by the Lancaster Conservancy, it is more than just another nature preserve. Climbers Run serves as something of a headquarters for the Conservancy, and is also where many of their events are held. These events are typically hosted within the Russo Barn at Climbers Run, though the barn also functions as a training center for the Conservancy to train their new volunteers to continue maintaining the preserves. Climbers Run is a former summer camp, initially donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Lancaster in the 1960s, who operated the camp until the late 2000s. The Conservancy acquired this space in 2012, naming it “Climbers Run” and turning it into the center they use to this day.
Shaw Family Nature Preserve
The Lancaster Conservancy recently expanded their Shaw Family Nature Preserve in Elizabethtown, after purchasing nearly 19 acres of land in an area that was at risk for development, now saved for the Lancaster Conservancy’s mission in maintaining nature. The 107-acre big Shaw Family Nature Preserve was acquired in a $2.1 million purchase that included a total of 155 acres of land. The Conservancy named it after one of their fellow conservationists, Barry Shaw, who has been active in local conservation throughout a life of philanthropy that includes contributions to farmland preservation, education, and retirement homes. Shaw is a nature photography hobbyist, and his interest in taking photographs of nature has implored him to also take interest in aiding in saving nature as well. The Lancaster Conservancy provides plenty of local natural beauties for visitors, some of whom may be nature photographers like Shaw, hikers, fishermen, and many more. Thanks to the generosity of funders and the Conservancy themselves, anyone seeking to enjoy nature in Lancaster will be able to for many years to come.
Millersville’s Biological Preserve
It’s not just the Lancaster Conservancy working to practice sustainability with Lancaster County’s natural land. Millersville University, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2040, has its own biological preserve on campus. The preserve is both used by students to further their studies and for those just wishing to take a walk through nature. Millersville also has their Watershed Education Training Institute, an organization that happens to work with the Lancaster Conservancy among others. The Watershed Education Training Institute is headquartered in Millersville University’s Creek Lodge, a building conveniently located near the Conestoga River and right outside the university’s biological preserve.
Millersville’s Pond
A conversation about Millersville University’s surrounding nature is not complete without mentioning the pond that houses Millersville’s pair of famous swans, Miller and S’Ville. The tradition to maintain a habitat for swans at the university began in 1966, when a $100 purchase from the Millersville Business Associates led to the campus having two swans: Fred and Ethel. Over two decades later, in 1987, the swans were renamed Miller and S’Ville. The play on words that became the swans’ names remains to this day, as different pairs of swans have come and gone throughout the years since. The swans are iconic figures and mascots of Millersville University, with much merchandise relating to them produced by the school.
Swans Miller and S’Ville. Photo by James Clontz.
References
Lancaster Conservancy – Saving Nature. (n.d.). Lancaster Conservancy. https://www.lancasterconservancy.org/
America’s Disappearing Farm and Range Land | Virginia Tech CALS Global. (2018, October 4). Global Agricultural Productivity. https://globalagriculturalproductivity.org/case-study-post/americas-disappearing-farm-and-range-land/
National Conservation Easement Database. (2019). What is a Conservation Easement? National Conservation Easement Database | NCED. https://www.conservationeasement.us/what-is-a-conservation-easement/
One United Lancaster. (2024, November 13). Lancaster Conservancy adds acreage to Shaw Family Nature Preserve. One United Lancaster. https://oneunitedlancaster.com/nonprofits/lancaster-conservancy-adds-acreage-to-shaw-family-nature-preserve/
Office of Sustainability. Millersville University. (1970a, December 11). https://www.millersville.edu/sustainability/office-of-sustainability.php
Watershed Education Training Institute. Millersville University. (1970b, December 11). https://www.millersville.edu/weti/
Etten, A. V. (2023, March 8). Lancaster Conservancy Board of Directors announces new president and CEO. Lancaster Conservancy. https://www.lancasterconservancy.org/news/lancaster-conservancy-board-of-directors-announces-new-president-and-ceo/
Etten, A. V. (2023, December 21). Lancaster Conservancy Nature Preserve Near Elizabethtown Named in Honor of Local Conservationist. Lancaster Conservancy. https://www.lancasterconservancy.org/news/lancaster-conservancy-nature-preserve-near-elizabethtown-named-in-honor-of-local-conservationist/
Etten, A. V. (2024, June 20). In the spotlight: Team member Kelly Slippey. Lancaster Conservancy. https://www.lancasterconservancy.org/news/in-the-spotlight-team-member-kelly-slippey/