”Our Maker was generous in giving us good land in Berks County. We have plenty of room in which to grow. Let’s just be sure we’ll always have room to breathe.
Paul Edelman (1977)President of the Board
After years of mounting activism, the environment took center stage in our public and political consciousness in the 1970s. Americans were unequivocal in their rejection of the status quo, which had created a nation where rivers caught fire, poisonous pesticides laced the land, and green, open spaces buckled under the advancing force of development.
National momentum birthed local action. In April 1974, Berks County Conservancy was founded to protect the ecological and historic legacies of Berks County’s landscape from surging development pressure.
The very idea of Berks Nature was conceived by twin brothers Louis and Ferdinand Thun. The brothers convened a group of community leaders and leveraged seed funding, from which two complementary organizations were born: the Schuylkill River Greenway Association, which received Ferdinand’s attention, and the Berks County Conservancy (now Berks Nature), became the main interest of Louis.
As a charitable land trust, Berks County Conservancy could both acquire land for protection outright and accept conservation easement donations of private properties, thereby elevating the ecological, cultural, and scenic values of a parcel over its development potential.
Fifty years later and while much has changed, many things too have stayed the same. As stated in our original Articles of Incorporation, Berks Nature’s purpose remains to engage in such charitable, scientific, and educational activities that conserve land, forests, and waters with scenic, ecological, or historic significance. We still cherish their community’s heritage with the land and believe that nature is essential for our quality of life.
Today, we are known as Berks Nature, and we remain the leading agent for the conservation of the environment in Berks County.
(Caption for news clipping; left) Members of the board of directors of the newly formed Berks County Conservancy look over the charter application approved by the Pennsylvania Department of State. The conservancy plans to acquire open space land in the county and preserve it for public use. Sitting are Atty. Paul H. Edelman, president of the board who extensively researched the possibility of operating a successful conservancy, and Mrs. William R. Davis, Bernville R.D. 2, secretary. Standing from left: John A. Beard Jr., treasurer, and Jacob R. Bowers, 3439 Raymond St., vice president. – File photo from Reading Eagle published on July 11, 1974.