Stories From Tinicum: New Conservancy Brochure tells the inspiring ...

Land conservation is contagious
Lisa BerkLey and david PhiLLips
The strong sense of community drew Lisa Berkley
and David Phillips to Tinicum Township—and
that like-mindedness sustains them.
One by one, this former urban couple and their
neighbors have put their land under easement
through the Conservancy, so that today, a wide
patchwork of fields, meadows and woods at
Hollow Horn and Ervin Roads is protected
from development.
When Lisa and David first moved to Tinicum
in the late 1980s, they plunged right into a
“green” lifestyle. David volunteered with the
monthly recycling effort at the
township building and discovered
a group of other environmentally
sensitive people.
“It was a great network,” he says.
“That’s where we met people,
people who were really concerned
about the look and feel of the
land.” And having once lived in
a densely populated area, the
couple understood the importance of
preserving open space and the need for
smart development.
“This is one of the most beautiful areas of
Bucks County,” Lisa says with unabashed
pride. So when their neighbors, Diane and
David Allison, preserved their land, they were
impressed. Diane’s brother, John Cole, who
lives across the road from Lisa and David,
followed suit. When Conservancy officials
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showed up next at David and Lisa’s, to ask if
they would preserve their 30 acres, the answer
was a resounding yes. “It was a complete
no-brainer,” David recalls.
“We have friends ...
in other townships,
and they don’t have the
same sense of one-ness
with the land.”
Since then, neighbors on
either side of David and
Lisa have also said yes.
Their section of Hollow
Horn Road serves as one
of the primary routes into
the township, David points
out. It gives visitors an
important first impression.
“Now,” he says, “people drive in and see a 70-
acre farm field that’s mostly protected.”
As actors, Lisa and David often travel to New
York—and run into city folk who know exactly
where Tinicum Township is. “People know this
place,” Lisa says. “We have friends who live in
other townships, and they don’t have the same
sense of one-ness with the land.”