This story comes from WVIA News.
A 400-acre property in Susquehanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania was in the Peck family for almost a century.
That was until late last month, when the Countryside Conservancy purchased the land in Lenox Twp. for passive recreation.
“It’s like still hasn’t sunk in. I’ve been floating around since this happened, because it’s been really a dream come true,” said Abigail Peck.
LISTEN to the story:
Her family would skate on the 40-acre lake in the winter and swim in the summer. They camped out under the stars and cut down their Christmas trees at the property.
Pecks says they wanted other people to experience the magic they had.
The nonprofit land trust based in Lackawanna, Wyoming and Susquehanna counties purchased the land with financial assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and local funds from Eureka Foundation and the Robert H. Spitz Foundation, administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation.
The lake at Peck’s Preserve in Susquehanna County. Photo: Kat Bolus / WVIA News
Countryside Conservancy usually looks for land next to Lackawanna State Park and their other preserves, said Bill Kern, executive director.
“But this one was just so big and just so impressive that we felt like it could be a standalone parcel and that it had a lot of opportunity,” he said.
Kern described the property as a huge bowl surrounded by rock outcroppings. In the middle is the lake.
“All those things just check our boxes and then the opportunity that it presented for responsible, passive recreation, for hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, that all dovetails perfectly into what the conservancy has been doing for 30 years now,” he said.
He said based on the property’s size there could be around 5 to 7 miles of hiking trails.
The land was logged and blue stone from the property was sold at one time. The Peck family recently had a forester assess the health and diversity of the canopy of the forest.
A hiker stands near a large rock outcropping at Peck’s Preserve in Susquehanna County. Photo courtesy of Countryside Conservancy.
“And (the forester) was just really impressed with how overall healthy it was,” said Kern.
On Peck’s phone is a video from the property. A bear sniffs at a trail camera. She said on any given day eagles soar over the pond. Bobcats and beavers call it home. There’s even large snapping turtles.
“It really needs to be saved as a splendid place,” said Peck. “And the Countryside Conservancy is just the ticket for that.”
Over the next 6 to 12 months, the conservancy will plan and build parking and sustainable hiking and biking trails. The property is not open to the public until those features are in place.
For updates or more details, visit Countryside Conservancy on Facebook or https://countrysideconservancy.org/.
