Boscola Announces Northampton County Farm located in Lower Mount Bethel to be Preserved as Part of Commonwealth’s Farmland Preservation Program

Boscola Announces Northampton County Farm located in Lower Mount Bethel to be Preserved as Part of Commonwealth's Farmland Preservation Program

June 15, 2026

BETHLEHEM (June 11, 2026) - - Senator Lisa Boscola announced today that a 30-acre crop farm owned by Jonathan and Angela Templeton in Lower Mount Bethel Township will be preserved as part of Pennsylvania's nation leading Farmland Preservation Program.

"Once again, the Commonwealth and Northampton County have worked collaboratively to make this critical investment to ensure another 30 acres of farmland in the Slate Belt will continue to benefit our region and our Commonwealth. Preserving farmland to ensure that it is available to farm for future generations by protecting it from future development is critically important for our region's quality of life," Senator Boscola stated. "Through farmland preservation, we ensure Pennsylvania's farming community remains the backbone of our state's economy and an irreplaceable resource that benefits our environment, crop and livestock industries, rural communities, and grocery shoppers."

The State Agriculture Land Preservation Board met today and voted to preserve an additional 1,775 acres on 22 farms in 16 counties across the Commonwealth, protecting them from future residential or commercial development. With today's investment, the state's Farmland Preservation Program has protected 6,726 farms and 667,360 acres in 58 counties from future development across the Commonwealth. The program was created in 1988, when the voters of Pennsylvania overwhelmingly supported the creation of the Farmland Preservation Program.

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