Hanover Evening Sun
March 23, 2004
By Erin Negley

The Rabers' claim on 187 acres of land south of New Chester started after World War II with a dairy farm.

The farming focus shifted to crops after Bill Raber had a heart attack in 1965. But his son, Greg, continues to farm corn, soybeans, wheat and hay on the land.

The farm won't be replaced by houses or businesses in the future. Bill Raber's children ­ Greg and Jeanette Martz and their spouses ­ sold the development rights for the farm to the Adams County Agricultural Land Preservation program.

They also donated an easement for 53 acres of woodlands to the Land Conservancy of Adams County.

"I've never lived anywhere else," Greg Raber said. "I was born in the middle of 200 acres in 1957. I kind of want to die in the middle of 200 acres."

Raber wants to preserve the quiet, beautiful farm between Conewago and Oxford roads in Straban Township for future generations.

"We just felt that this needed to be preserved because of the open space," he said. "I just didn't want to see 140 houses go up."

The county agricultural preservation program purchases easements and pays land owners the difference between the value of the farmland and its value if developed. The program pays an average of $1,600 per acre, said Ellen Dayhoff, program director. It has bought easements on nearly 13,000 acres since 1989.

The Raber-Martz farm ranked high on the preservation list because Raber uses excellent conservation practices, because the farm is close to development and because it has good soil, Dayhoff said.

The 53 acres of woodlands is not agricultural land, so it wasn't eligible for the county program. Instead, Raber and Martz were referred to the land conservancy.

The nonprofit group accepts donated easements, said land conservation coordinator Sidney Kuhn. The group has accepted nearly 2,000 acres of donated easements since 1996.

The unnamed Conewago Creek tributary running through the woods made the area important for preservation, she said. An aquatic animal species recommended for endangered status in Pennsylvania live at the end of the tributary, Kuhn said. The state did not identify the species in a recent report, she said.

"It's important to keep the woods intact to keep the water quality high so the species can survive," Kuhn said.