95–acre farm preserved in Stark County

A man who worked the family’s Tuscarawas Township farm with his father for more than 20 years has agreed to permanently preserve that land with a conservation easement.

Dr. Timothy Drake has donated a conservation easement on 95 acres in Stark County to Western Reserve Land Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust working throughout northern Ohio. A conservation easement permanently protects the natural, agricultural and scenic resources of the land while allowing the grantor to retain ownership.

Eddie Dengg, director of the Land Conservancy’s Akron Field Office, said the property is mostly gently rolling farmland that the family has worked for more than two decades.

“We applaud and appreciate the decision Dr. Drake made to permanently preserve his family’s farm,” Dengg said. “His love of the land was the reason why he granted the easement.”

This is not the first time the Land Conservancy has stepped up to permanently protect property in Stark County. Two years ago, brothers Garry and Leo Summers granted a conservation easement to the Land Conservancy preserving 245 acres in Osnaburg and Pike townships. The original homestead deed was signed by President James Madison.

The Summers brothers were named the 2008 recipients of the Grimm Family Conservation Medal, the Land Conservancy’s highest award for conservation.
The Land Conservancy’s work in Stark County has been made possible by the generous contributions of the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation and individual donors.

Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which seeks to preserve the scenic beauty, rural character and natural resources of northern Ohio, has preserved 333 properties and 21,402 acres. The nonprofit organization was formed in 2006 by the merger of eight local land trusts.