ClearWater Conservancy is looking to acquire a conservation easement that would permanently preserve more than 100 acres of Hess Farm in Harris Township.
The Centre County Board of Commissioners recently agreed to submit a letter of support to the state Department of Community and Economic Development on behalf of the conservancy’s application for a grant through the Greenways, Trails and Recreation program.
ClearWater is seeking a $250,000 grant, the maximum allowable, for the project, and is required to provide a 15 percent match. Kevin Abbey, land conservation manager, said the organization is still ‘putting all the pieces together’ to determine the total cost of acquiring a conservation easement for the farmland, but that it would be above the maximum that could be provided through the grant program.
Hess Farm is located off Shingletown Road near the Harris Township-Ferguson Township line and southwest of Shingletown Gap. A conservation easement permanently restricts use of land to protect its natural resources, regardless of the owner.
‘That’s kind of right in the sweet spot of State College Borough Water Authority’s recharge area,’ said Centre County Planning Director Robert Jacobs.
Jacobs said Hess Farm was on a list of possible properties for the county to purchase, but that it would be years before it would be able to do so and ClearWater felt it was important to pursue conservation now.
Roaring Run, a tributary of Slab Cabin Run, passes through the eastern portion of Hess Farm. Abbey said that conservation of the land would be a continuation of ClearWater’s efforts over more than a decade along the Tussey Ridge. That has included acquiring the 423-acre Musser Gap and 280-acre Hale property, both of which were then conveyed to Rothrock State Forest.
Hess Farm is adjacent to Rothrock, but the state forest is not involved in the proposed easement.
‘Given our concentration on source water protection in that area, this one fits right in,’ Abbey said.
Last year, ClearWater completed the $2.75 million Slab Cabin Run initiative to acquire conservation easements on the Meyer and Everhart farms in College and Harris Township, which also sit in a critical part of the Spring Creek Watershed, adjacent to the Harter and Thomas wells.
Abbey said staff have received initial approval to begin discussions with the Hess Farm property owners, Cindy and Jeff Harding, to acquire the easement. ClearWater would assume stewardship of the easement, but the property ownership would not change under the easement proposal.
