About 100 acres of land south of the Homestead National Monument just west of Beatrice has been preserved from development thanks to an award from the Nebraska Environmental Trust.

The Friends of Homestead announced Tuesday that they recently purchased the 100 acres from Betty and Charles Ensz using $250,000 awarded by the Trust this past spring.

Betty and Charlie Ensz sold 40 acres to the Friends of Homestead a year and a half ago, Betty Ensz said.

The couple has kept 20 acres for themselves, Betty Ensz said.

She said she and her husband have lived on the land since 1963. Her husband’s parents, she said, rented the land prior to that.

“It was easier to sell since we knew it would be preserved,” she said.

The Homestead National Monument currently includes 243 acres, excluding the land bought from the Enszes, Park Ranger Mike Stansberry said.

While Nebraska Highway 4 goes through the monument, the recently purchased property is not accessible from Nebraska 4, Stansberry said. That land will be accessible by county road.

The latest purchase will provide “a buffer for a unique hedgerow of Osage orange trees,” Stansberry said. The hedgerow was planted by original homesteader Daniel Freeman, to keep his livestock in.

Reach Joanie Cradick at dc34702@alltel.net.