Williams Township has invested in land protection in the last two decades with the help of Heritage Conservancy. Including parks, county agriculture programs, and land under easement, and the township has over 2136 acres of protected land.
Heritage Conservancy is involved with four new properties that are in the works that will add another 131 acres of protected open space to that total.
Tucked into southeastern Northampton County, the community has supported land conservation efforts that have protected a combination of family farms, privately owned woodlands, and publicly accessible parkland. That includes six community parks plus the Delaware Canal State Park.
An earned income tax plan to fund open space preservation has fed expansion of municipal preservation efforts. The referendum was approved in the early 2000s, and the municipality implemented its Open Space Plan – accelerating conservation efforts. Heritage Conservancy was involved from the start.
“Williams Township is defined by its streams, natural habitats, and woodlands,” says Melody Ernst, Township Manager and Finance Director for Williams Township. “This partnership reminds us that conservation is a team effort. By working together, we’ve not just protected land, but we’ve woven a living legacy into the very fabric of Pennsylvania — one that will benefit generations to come.”
“The township has been great to work with,” says Matt Babbitt, Conservation Acquisition Specialist at Heritage Conservancy. “They have done a lot of work around public education and really worked to get the word out about the huge public benefit of protecting open space.”
This map shows the impact of concerted municipal effort in the conservation of natural land, open space, and farms.
Williams Township’s Land Preservation Board works with interested landowners to preserve their qualifying properties through the purchase or donation of conservation easements on “land identified as having important natural resources.” Farmland is protected under the Northampton County Farmland Preservation Program in partnership with the State and Township.
Heritage Conservancy serves as Williams Township’s exclusive partner for easement monitoring and new land acquisition. Our expert staff works to help evaluate new properties for protection, and we currently monitor all of the Township’s preserved properties annually to ensure compliance.
“We also work to go after third-party state, county, and federal grants on behalf of township to help providing matching funds for these projects,” says Matt.
We are currently the holder of four conservation easements in the community (with the township serving as co-holder, adding up to about 100 acres in Williams Township. These are properties that are protected in perpetuity. Our projects include the most recently contracted Oleksa Property, closed in 2024 (photographed below).
Before the end of the year we expect to wrap up conservation easements with the Township to protect three more properties, for a total of 112 additional acres.
We will serve as the holder (with Williams Township as co-holder) on another pending easement that is expected to close in the first half of 2026. When it is complete, the total preserved acreage in the township will climb to 2268 acres. That’s over 19% of the land in the township.
Beyond these plans, the future of the Open Space initiative is in question. The EIT funding referendum was rescinded in 2014, though the program continued with existing fund. This November, township residents will vote on a referendum that will renew its open space funding program.
Heritage Conservancy also assists in educating the public, a crucial part of ongoing conservation efforts. Matt Babbitt recently attended a town hall forum in Williams Township where he shared important information with residents about the benefits of a robust land preservation program.
He also presented at a landowner workshop for the Land Preservation Board to educate landowners and the general public on Conservation Easements and third party grant funding options.
“In Williams Township, they are conscious of preservation not just to stop development. They are also looking at the historic side and the value of protecting natural resources,” he says. “It benefits everyone who lives in the township.”
Top photo courtesy of Williams Township.
