Brandywine Conservancy Receives $1.5 Million Grant to Help Acquire 569 Acres Along Octoraro Creek

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Aerial image of the acquisition site via the Brandywine Conservancy.

The Brandywine Conservancy has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to be used toward the acquisition of a 569-acre natural area along the Octoraro Creek in Lower Oxford and West Nottingham townships.

This area is a portion of the 952-acre Glenroy Farm property that spans Chester and Lancaster counties.

The conservancy’s ultimate goal is to work with the landowner to permanently protect the entire property through purchase and agricultural easements. The $1.5 million will be used to match an already approved $3 million multi-year grant from the Chester County Preservation Partnership Program.

Eventually the 569-acre natural area will be transferred to and managed by the Oxford Area Foundation (OAF). OAF will manage it as a passive preserve with five miles of trails mostly along the Octoraro Creek.

“When completed, this project will help create 6,739 acres of contiguous preserved lands in the Octoraro watershed,” said Ellen Ferretti, Director of the Brandywine Conservancy. “This exceptional land, which is predominately forested, will not only offer 2.1 miles of protected frontage along the Octoraro Creek — a tributary of the Susquehanna River — and vital habitat to woodland flora and fauna, but will also provide public recreational opportunities in a magnificent setting for the community.

“We are grateful to all of our partners and to the property owners whose goal was to find a way to keep the land as it is today, forever.”

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