BRIGHTON - Sitting on a designated Rustic Road adjacent to a huge state-managed prairie, Brightonwoods Orchard on Highway B north of Highway 142 is in many ways a throwback to simpler times.

Now the Kenosha County orchard's owners want future generations to enjoy the land that has been in their family since 1950. Bill and Judy Stone, and Judy's sister, Paula Puntenney, have donated the development rights to the 16-acre orchard, 25 acres of adjacent woodlands, 80 acres of agriculture fields and the family's homes and farm buildings to the Kenosha/Racine Land Trust.

Down the line, the land can be sold or donated, but future users must keep things pretty much the way they are now. Land being used for agricultural purposes, such as the orchard and crop fields, must continue to be used for those purposes or left as passive natural land.

Not only will subdivisions not be allowed there, neither will such intensive recreational uses as a hunt club, game farm or golf course.

The 10-acre homestead, meanwhile, will be allowed to have no more than two homes on it, as is the current situation. Although the current homes could be replaced with newer homes if a future owner so desired.

And should the land be sold or donated down the road, the property cannot be subdivided. An exception is the home and 5 acres the Stones live on, which can be sold off separately but with the development restrictions still attached.

Agriculture business uses, like the orchard and winery that exist there now, will still be allowed on the property.

Bill Stone said that donating the development rights to the land trust strengthens future preservation. Stone said he has seen instances where simple deed restrictions get bypassed or reworked years later after a property owner or heirs have passed on.

"With a land trust, you're buying legal representation to protect your land in the future," he said.

Donating the development rights made sense not just from a sentimental standpoint, Bill Stone said. The property also shares a half-mile boundary with the nearby Richard Bong State Recreation Area, and keeping the Brightonwoods property rural will ensure buffers for wildlife preservation.

"I'm not anti-development, but I think we have to be careful how we develop because there is going to be less and less farm land and more urban sprawl," he said. "If you're going to preserve pockets of green space, it makes sense to do that in areas where green space already exists."

The changing landscape in the area is evident just a mile west of the Stones' property. A golf course and subdivision are being built at the northeast corner of Highway 142 and Highway J in the Town of Burlington.

Donating development rights results in some tax-deductions for property owners who partake, but there also is some expense incurred in setting up the transfer. Property owners can can be required to remove invasive species like garlic mustard and purple loosestrife.

Stone said he, his wife and sister-in-law thought about the donation for about five years and wanted to make sure the Stones' children, both of whom are grown and living on the West Coast, agreed to the idea. Puntenney has no heirs other than the Stones' children.

Judy Stone and Puntenney's father bought the 200-acre farm in 1950 as a hobby purchase. The federal government took away almost half the farm later in the 1950s for the proposed Richard Bong Air Force Base, which was never built. That parcel eventually became the state recreation area.

The Stones took over apple growing at the farm in 1983. They went full-time into the apple business after Bill's retirement in 1997 from his duties as medical director of the Burlington Clinic, and for the South Region of Aurora Healthcare.

In 2001, the Stones entered into a collaborative venture with a couple who runs the Aeppeltreow Winery on the property.

In its 15 years in existence, the Kenosha-Racine Land Trust has protected more than 1,000 acres.