Montco family farm to become public open space

LOWER GWYNEDD One of Lower Gwynedd's key open-space priorities was achieved last week with the preservation of the 16-acre Byrne Family Farm.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association acquired the property "at a fraction of the market value" from Robert Byrne and will preserve it as a wildlife corridor and flood-control basin. No public funds were used.

The farm had been in the Byrne family since 1937 and produced hay up until about a year ago, said Dennis Miranda, executive director of the association.

Miranda said Byrne, 91, "wanted to leave a legacy for conservation . . . and he had promised his daughter he would do that."  His daughter died last year, and his wife before that; his son lives in Idaho.

The property, adjacent to Lower Gwynedd's Oxford Park on Welsh Road and Cambridge Drive, contains several acres of wetlands and the headwaters of Trewellyn Creek, which feeds into the Wissahickon.

The association will conduct a natural resources inventory and assess the condition of the land and the few buildings on it. It will also explore habitat restoration for wildlife and threatened birds, including the yellow warbler, northern oriole, and willow flycatcher.

Once restoration is complete and trails are added, the parcel would be opened to the general public.

"Most of the municipalities in our watershed are completely built out," Miranda said. "So gaining this 16 acres at this stage is miraculous, because typically you have to pay full freight for something like this."

- Jessica Parks

* This post has been updated with Mr. Byrne's correct age and his son's residence.