Tub Mill Creek

[flyfishermanj]

"PROPERTY CONSERVED
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy protected, through an agricultural easement, more than 37 acres of farmland at the headwaters of a notable Westmoreland County creek.
The Fairfield Township property sits at the headwaters of Tubmill Creek, which has been identified as a “priority watershed because of the rich aquatic life in the stream.” The easement keeps the property in private hands while permanently restricting development on it."


This is out of the Trib, neat little stream for those of you in Westmoreland County.

JH

 

[Maurice]

Good news no doubt but can you fish it?

 

[albatross]

Maurice wrote

Good news no doubt but can you fish it?

My thoughts exactly. I've never fished the area because I heard it was mostly posted.

The Trib story

 

[Maurice]

PROPERTY CONSERVED
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy protected, through an agricultural easement, more than 37 acres of farmland at the headwaters of a notable Westmoreland County creek.

The Fairfield Township property sits at the headwaters of Tubmill Creek, which has been identified as a “priority watershed because of the rich aquatic life in the stream.” The easement keeps the property in private hands while permanently restricting development on it.

I am not sure what the WPACon had to do with the "protection" if it was put into an Ag easement. Its probably a Clean and Green and the conservancy helped with the paperwork. I am shooting from the hip here. I do know that Clean and Green Ag easements do not allow development in exchange for lower property taxes. But the property had to be farmed to a degree. If not in crop, It cannot fall into that category. It can be put into another category but access must be permitted but it isn't mandatory to advertise it, just no posting signs. I work on a property that falls into this category. If people want to take a walk though the grounds, they are welcome to do it through the easement and tax breaks. But there are no signs indicating this is permitted. And there are no posted signs because this would be against the rules.

The presence of the WPC indicated they contributed toward this easement. I am curious to the degree and specifics. I think it is concerning that the WPC would willfully take donations intended for conservation from the public and pool them to help private interests save money on taxes and keep property closed. Of course the property is conserved, thats great....but who is paying the people to keep it closed off?

 

[JackM]

I would think the Conservacy bought the property (private hands) and placed the easement on it.

 

[greenghost]

JackM wrote:
I would think the Conservacy bought the property (private hands) and placed the easement on it.

I assume Jack is right. I know the WPACon is very well funded with enough in their pockets to do so. That stated, imo, they are a good group and have preserved many acres in SWPA. Public access to their holdings may be an issue. To be honest, I do not know the details. I will definitely look into it though.

 

[greenghost]

Here is a statement of their Land Protection Policy, just drafted in December... very topical. If I am reading this correctly, in the Land Conservation section, they state that they do focus on protection through land acquisition. So... if I can make an assumption in this case, it sounds like the private owners sold to WPACO with the understanding through ag easement that they can still work the land but cannot develop it?!! It states, "When possible, and for protection purposes, certain rights will be limited by agreement with surface and subsurface owners."

 

[midgeman]

The landowner still owns the property, however it is protected from future development. A conservancy will not approve surface disruption to the lands, such as right-of-ways. Eminent domain may be treated different and would be disputed in front of a judge. The land can be drilled under or mined; with the exception of no surface damage. Essentially, a landowner forfeits their surface rights for the goodwill of conserving the land for agricultural use.

You must gain permission from the persons whom own the surface vesting deed.