Tecumseh Land Trust Makes Dream Come True

On November 4th, 2012, a dream came true for Barbara McNally. She signed an easement that day to permanently preserve the 150 acre farm that had been in her family since her great, great grandfather purchased it in 1843. When Barbara and her brother inherited the land they didn't see eye to eye about what to do with it. She went to Tecumseh Land Trust to learn more about her options. She learned that the farm’s stretch of Lisbon Fork, its hydric soils, 33 acres of woods, and prime crop ground made the property a candidate for a combination of conservation funding – the Clean Ohio Open Space program and the federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program.

Barbara took out a loan to buy her brother’s share of the property and worked closely with the land trust to make applications to the programs, Barbara says she wanted to preserve the farm because “there is so much development on farmland right now.” This land is particularly important to her because her grandmother and her children grew up here. Now that the easement is on the land, Barbara says “I can’t explain the feeling you get knowing your land is saved forever.”