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LHF Donates Conservation Easement to Bluegrass Conservancy December 29, 2009  When I-64 cut through Midway’s deep loamy soils in the early 1960s it created a pizza slice piece of land with the new exit 65, where today Lantern Hill’s acres are bound by the interstate to the north and US 421 on the south.
While both heavily travelled roads make access to vet clinics, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and more exotic locales an easier reach, they ultimately leave the storied agricultural countryside more attractive for hotels, houses and mini-marts than raising crops or livestock.
As the latest recession made local government desperate for funds, land near Lantern Hill was rezoned for residential development and more intense commercial uses. A proposed agricultural marketing center at Midway Station was roundly defeated by adjoining property owners who preferred raising roof tops over supporting local crop and livestock farmers.
We all know this disdain for farming is a national trend, and family farms have been in decline for at least four generations.
I admit there are days when I wonder why anyone would want to live on the land in the 21st century. Without offering any guarantees of sustenance, a horse farm makes leisure time a faint memory, takes muck wagons of cash and requires nearly relentless physical labor.
But this fact remains: most of the time I can’t imagine being anywhere else or having a better lifestyle, and I know how lucky I am to raise race horses and keep our bills paid.
At least if the farm land is still here, not under asphalt, someone else can pursue that dream in 25 or 50 years, and maybe raise another Eclipse Award winner.
So it is with great relief and hope for the future that Lantern Hill Farm announces the donation of a conservation easement on our 184 acres to the Bluegrass Conservancy
Founded in 1995, the Conservancy is a private, nonprofit regional land trust committed to the preservation and conservaion of the unique rural and cultural resources of the Bluegrass Region. Like all nonprofits, they can use your support: http://www.bluegrassconservancy.org/.
Click Here to read a recent article in the Lexington Herald-Leader featuring Lantern Hill's conservation easement.
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