The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County

I walk on the Halstead property almost every day. If I don't walk there I walk through the meadow that was part of the Arnold property. All of this is possible because of the work of the Kennett land trust. The trust continues to try to conserve more land so more people can enjoy open space in Kennett Township but is thwarted by overly complex requirements put in place by the township. I joined the board because I believe the minimally paid employees and the volunteer board members wish only to promote open space in our area for us all.

I'm a student at Unionville High School and have been doing my community service with the Land Trust for the past couple weeks. I have had a great experience working here,they are great people with the number 1 goal of keeping Chester County land protected and beautiful.

KTLT is an organization with a great mission of helping to preserve open space in our area. My experience with them, however, has been very disappointing and disturbing. Several members of its leadership have engaged in a campaign of lies and rumors in order to garner sympathy and community support. They have distributed literature divulging personal and private information and making derogatory comments about good people in the community. In addition, I believe they have engaged in misleading fundraising techniques. In 2008 and 2009 they raised a significant amount of money to rehab a building for their offices and advertised it would be a demonstration of green building techniques. The problem was that the building was located in an area zoned residential. The KTLT members knew this but went ahead with plans anyway. When they couldn't get the necessary permits they acted like it was a big suprise. From my understanding, they are now using most of this money on operation expenses, mostly on salaries. As far as I can tell, almost all of the money they raise goes to an inflated payroll. I wouldn't donate a penny to this organization. If you want to support land conservation there are many great organizations that use the money much more efficiently, many with all-volunteer help. I'm usually not harsh or critical, but from my experience the way some in this group have conducted themselves is a disgrace to the conservation community.

the Kennett Township Land Trust has been very successful in preserving open space in our township. They have created several nature corridors and walking preserves that have increased the quality of life of our area.