Behind the victory in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed HB 2468 into law as Act 45 on June 24. The bill, which was only introduced a few weeks prior, establishes for conservation easements a crucial new safeguard: School districts, county and local governments, along with certain utilities, must convince the state orphan's court that there is no reasonable and prudent alternative before taking such land through eminent domain.

This extraordinary advancement in conservation easement protection occurred in record-breaking time and with bipartisan support in the general assembly. (The House, which voted 177-15, is made up of 121 republicans and 82 democrats; the Senate, which voted 37-12, includes 33 republicans and 16 democrats.)

This thrilling achievement would not have been possible without land trust people investing deeply in building relationships with state and local officials — whether or not they were asking for anything — through the years. It was fortunate that two legislative leaders experienced first-hand the extraordinary beauty of a new land trust property — Stoneleigh — at a retirement party just months before the public garden came to be threatened by eminent domain. But it was no accident that they were invited to attend that party for Dulcie Flaharty, a land trust leader who had engaged with officials in the region for a quarter century.

More broadly, it was crucial that land trusts in Pennsylvania have consciously worked together and with others outside the land trust world for years on finding common ground and advancing shared interests in the public-policy arena.

The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association's core messages during the brief lobbying campaign focused our efforts and clearly explained the need for immediate action from the general assembly:

• Respect the generous acts of civic-minded and generous donors.

• Uphold a conservative tool for conservation — a non-regulatory, property-rights-based tool that keeps land in private ownership.

• Adopt a fair and balanced approach. The legislation doesn't block eminent domain if there isn't a reasonable and prudent alternative available.

• Don't upend the expectations of community members, who believe their beloved special places are there for the long run.

• Especially given Pennsylvanians' constitutional rights to the preservation of the environment, it's only reasonable that governments should look for alternatives to taking easements established pursuant to public policy.

For more about the this campaign and the outcomes we're already seeing, I recommend these further readings:

• 'They Almost Need Therapists': How the Fight to Save Stoneleigh Brought Pa. Zombie Pols back to Life, Too (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• With Act 45 in Place, CV School District Will File to Drop McCormick Farm Case (The Carlisle Sentinel)

• Don't Let the Lower Merion School District Plunder Our Precious Open Space (The Philadelphia Inquirer)