Conservancy preserves 136-acre Donmoyer dairy farm in E. Hanover Twp.

A 136-acre Lebanon County crop and dairy farm near Fort Indiantown Gap has been permanently protected from development, the Lebanon Valley Conservancy announced Aug. 12.

The farm, in East Hanover Township, is owned by John and Megan Donmoyer and remains in active agricultural production. It lies within the Kittatinny Ridge Sentinel Landscape, a federally designated conservation area that the conservancy calls a strategic focus because it serves as a corridor for songbird migration and habitat for rare wildlife.

The project was funded through a partnership involving the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, and the Army National Guard’s Fort Indiantown Gap Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program, known as REPI.

“The RCPP grant opportunity allows farmers to preserve and improve their farms,” said Courtney Reimann, the conservancy’s land protection director. “The REPI program supports military readiness while preserving agriculture, recreation, and natural habitats.”

The Donmoyer family pursued the federal grant rather than selling to developers, according to the conservancy.

“Developers gave me many offers over the years, but I wanted the farm to stay in the family,” John Donmoyer said.

“TLVC’s role as a land trust was to bring together the pieces of the puzzle to make that work, and on a local level, to ensure the conservation of the farm into the future,” Reimann said.

The property includes rolling hills of prime farmland and wooded areas along the Swatara Creek, which the conservancy said provide wildlife habitat and help control runoff into the creek — a significant water source for the Lebanon area.

Deeds for the land date to the mid-1700s, according to the conservancy.

“Over the years, I’ve found an English coin, musket balls, and gun flint on the farm,” Megan Donmoyer said.

Charles “Chuck” Wertz, a conservancy board member emeritus, said the farm has three lime kilns, the remains of a springhouse, and a cattle underpass that allows cattle to cross beneath Jonestown Road.

The Kittatinny Ridge Sentinel Landscape, designated in 2024, stretches about 250 miles along the Appalachian Mountains from northern Maryland to New York’s Catskill Mountains and is anchored in Pennsylvania by Fort Indiantown Gap, one of the nation’s busiest National Guard training centers. The designation is intended to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, support agricultural and forestry economies, and expand public access to outdoor recreation.

Formed in 2000, the Lebanon Valley Conservancy works with neighboring land trusts and with local and state governments on conservation, education and land preservation. The organization has preserved more than 1,500 acres to date.

The conservancy will hold its annual golf tournament Aug. 31 at Lebanon Country Club and is planning a Clean Water Week celebration Sept. 12-19. Information on both is available at tlvc.org.