Saving a little piece of paradise

Kunstmanns protect Damascus land from future development

By BARBARA LEWIS

DAMASCUS, PA — In the 1960s, when Martin and Hedy Kunstmann were raising their family in Rockland County, NY, they began to feel the outflux of population from New York City encroaching on their neighborhood. Watching their natural surroundings shrinking around them, they explored northward and found themselves a piece of land on a pristine pond in Wayne County, PA, and built themselves a cabin.

Commuting to their country getaway on weekends, they would drive along Route 17 in Orange County, NY and watch with growing concern as, year after year, more and more farmland was replaced by townhouse complexes, housing developments and shopping malls.

Growing to appreciate rural Wayne County, with its expansive farms and large undeveloped areas, they also began to realize that these precious natural resources couldn’t be taken for granted. Watching the areas to the south falling prey to development, they felt a growing desire to acquire more land in their rural haven.

In 1994, while Marty was working as a chemist for a pharmaceutical company and Hedy was performing with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra, they purchased a 23-acre lot in Damascus from a hunting club. A year later, they learned of a larger adjacent parcel about to go up for sheriff’s sale, and were able to acquire it as well. In 1998, as they were anticipating retirement, they bought a third parcel and began construction of a log home on it. In 2000 they were able to retire and take up full-time residence in Wayne County.

“It’s just so beautiful up here,” said Hedy. She described how she’d be driving along the country roads past farms and open lands and unexpectedly come across natural wonders. Once when a bobcat crossed right in front of her, she stopped, and the two stared at each other for several minutes before moving on.

Since the Kunstmanns moved into their home six years ago, they live full time amidst a scenic rural setting. “We very much enjoy the nature here,” said Marty. A myriad of birds, deer, turkeys and even bears pass through their yard. Hedy is especially fascinated by a huge pileated woodpecker that visits almost daily, despite its shy nature and usual propensity to hide. Marty notes it gives them pleasure to walk through the woods on their property, observing the wildlife there and knowing that they are providing the habitat for those plants and animals to thrive. In fact, they have worked with a forester to manage their woods in a way that will allow for some timber to be harvested, but also allow the trees and wildlife to benefit. They recently received an American Tree Farm designation for their efforts.

Kuntsmanns take action

As the threat of development moved closer to them, when a large housing complex was proposed in nearby Tyler Hill, Marty & Hedy began to think about what they could do to keep their land in its pristine state for the future. “As much as possible we’d like to see it stay that way. You do what you can. You can’t buy or protect everything, but at least in your own little corner of the world, you can do something about it,” explained Hedy. And do something, they did.

In 2006, the Kunstmanns contacted the Delaware Highlands Conservancy in Hawley, PA and placed 112 acres of their land in a conservation easement, specifying that it be excluded from future subdivision or development. Their easement protects open pastures, woodlands, wild berry patches and a stream, and provides habitat for the animals that share their land. Regardless of whether their land stays in their family or is sold to outside buyers, that protection will stay with their land forever.

The Kunstmanns extend their concern for the environment out into their community. They both regularly attend the Damascus township meetings. Marty, drawing on his strong scientific background, is involved in ongoing efforts to assure that precious local groundwater is protected. He also volunteers his time to advise the township board and to assist with the new multi-municipal comprehensive plan for the area, and assists with monthly recycling, as well as trail maintenance for the township park commission.

Hedy has been a member of the Wayne County Farmers Market in Honesdale since its inception, and continues selling her handmade jewelry and playing her flute at the weekend events there. She plays with the Callicoon Center Band for ten weeks each summer, and occasionally provides music at the Callicoon Farmers Market as well. She cultivates a garden and harvests wild berries from their land to freeze and make into jams to sell at the markets.

Marty and Hedy Kuntsmann are true stewards of the environment, doing their part to preserve the scenic wild land they love and to promote the importance of that preservation to their friends and neighbors in their local and extended communities.

They are indeed protecting their “corner of the world”…and more.