Legacy Land Conservancy protects 4 new Washtenaw County properties from development

Under the agreement, restrictions such as prohibiting the property to be split, developed or cleared are permanently placed on the land.

“We really feel like protecting nature and farmland is important to the future of our communities,” said Suzie Heiney, the Conservancy’s development and communications director. “We’re always going to need places that contribute to clean air and clean water and that can provide local food and that are, frankly, beautiful.”

The properties include Renner Farm and Daubner Farm in Manchester and Hathaway Woods in Scio Township. The owners of the fourth property are keeping its location confidential.

“I just wanted to preserve a little bit of my world for the future,” Daubner Farm owner Liz Daubner said. “I certainly wouldn’t want condominiums and factories here.”

The 70-acre Daubner Farm is located along the Raisin River and includes farmland, woods, trails and wildlife.

“I think it’s a lovely place," Daubner said. "I just love it.”

For Mary Hathaway, the choice to protect Hathaway Woods was a way to ensure the beauty of her 4.7-acre land for future generations.

Hathaway’s land borders the already-protected 20-acre Botsford Recreational Preserve, which inspired her to the same for her own land.

“If we didn’t buy it, someone could buy it and destroy it,” she said in a statement. “I knew I had to do whatever I could to keep it that way.”

Reach Erica Hobbs at ericahobbs@annarbor.com.