On behalf of Pennsylvania’s eighty leading conservation organizations, the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association honors the memory and legacy of Amos Funk with the Lifetime Conservation Leadership Award for his decades of leadership and dedication in conserving our special places and landscapes.

Mention farmland preservation to anyone in Lancaster County, and the first name that comes to mind is Amos Funk, the County’s “Father of Farmland Preservation”, because of his unrivaled leadership and commitment to farmland preservation throughout his life.

Born into agriculture, Amos made it the focus of his life and was associated with every step of the preservation movement in Lancaster County. Amos was a tireless advocate for conservation, and when the Lancaster Conservation District was formed in 1950, he joined its board, serving for 45 years.  His work on conservation made him realize that the county’s productive agricultural lands were disappearing to development. 

Informed by his reading and travels to areas of the country that were developing agricultural land preservation programs,  Amos began to push local officials to take action.  In 1980, eight years before the start of the state farmland preservation program, the Lancaster County Commissioners appointed the Agricultural Preserve Board to devise ways to protect the county’s valuable farmland.  Amos traveled around the county personally meeting with farmers.  Amos chaired the Board for its first twelve years and, in 1983, the Board preserved its first farm.

With concern over the lack of Amish participation (due to an unwillingness to participate in a government-funded program), Amos joined others in creating an organization to raise and dispense private funds for agricultural land preservation, Friends of Land Preservation.  Friends became Lancaster Farmland Trust (LFT) in 1988.   The public and private programs have been partners in their preservation efforts since the Trust’s beginning. Amos’s dream of preserving Amish farms had been realized. 

Today, Lancaster County leads the nation in farmland preservation with 1,100 farms and more than 86,000 acres preserved by the two organizations started by Amos Funk.  This success would not have been possible without his vision and leadership.

Amos passed away February 13, 2010 at the age of 98. His wife of 73 years, Esta, passed away only a month and a half later on March 27th. Amos and Esta leave behind six children, 11 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.

The award was presented Friday, April 9th in conjunction with the 8th Annual Pennsylvania Land Conservation Conference.  Karen Martynik, Executive Director of the Lancaster Farmland Trust, will accept the award on behalf of Amos and his family.

“Amos, through his dedication and hard work, had shaped a better Pennsylvania with his decades of commitment to and leadership in conserving our productive farmlands”, stated Andy Loza, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association. “On behalf of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association and the land conservation community, we honor the legacy of Amos Funk for his remarkable life of service to the environment and for being an exemplary contributor to land conservation efforts in Pennsylvania.”