Preservation of land celebrated with toast

It's a celebration six years in the making. The Berks Conservancy announced more than 500 acres of land will remain undeveloped and preserved in Berks County.

"The backdrop to the Oley Valley are these beautiful Oley hills in Pike District and Rockland Township," said Kimberly Murphy, president of the Berks Conservancy.

The Berks Conservancy said another 582 acres of it will be protected.

"What is significant about today's event is that three of the properties are the first protected through the Highlands Conservation Act federally funded program," said Murphy.

The Highlands Conservation Act was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, who attended the celebration.

"From that, about $500,000 in federal funds have contributed towards the purchase of the conservation easements for this land," said Gerlach.

There was also matching funds from the state, all to protect the quality of the land and resources on it.

"We have some exceptionally high quality water sources in this region and the preservation of a lot of this acreage is preserving not only the habitat and also certainly the water supply for downstream users in the Schuylkill River Valley," said Gerlach.

People working on the project said it has taken six years to get to this point and are happy to see so many contributors including municipalities, local private organizations and landowners.

"If we're serious about maintaining food and water security in our own region, then the protection of these special places is particularly important to generations to come," said Murphy.

During the toast, the grand total announced to protect this land was more than $2 million.