In December 2008, ClearWater Conservancy completed its eleventh conservation easement and its first in Huntingdon County.  This conservation easement protects a 151-acre forested property in Franklin Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Donated by owners Jim McCorkel and his sisters Betty Ann Jansson and Mary Lou Rozdilsky, the conservation easement not only keeps intact a large forest block, but also protects a portion of Warriors Mark Run, a major tributary of Spruce Creek, a High Quality Cold-water Fishery stream.

The property was purchased by Roy and Betty McCorkel, parents of the donors, in 1940 to build a cabin to enjoy and to protect the natural resources that a forested property had to offer. The McCorkels would travel from Swarthmore, near Philadelphia every summer to vacation, and over the years a community of cabins grew, with friends and families bonding tightly with each other and the land. 

Ever aware of their unique possession, the family has worked to make the property a haven for wildlife by encouraging the creation and maintenance of varied wildlife habitats. They have worked with representatives of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission to develop forest management and wildlife management plans.  Family and friends have recently joined together for a tree planting to maintain a healthy habitat for wildlife.

Jim McCorkel explained that “the conservation easement fulfills a dream of our parents to protect the beauty of the woods and preserve the sense of quiet that you get when you go there.”  His wife Liz commented that “it was the right thing to do.”

The McCorkel Tree Farm has a notable relationship with the National Grove of State Trees in Washington, D.C.  The Grove is a display of trees representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Pennsylvania’s officially designated state tree, the Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis), was chosen for the National Grove of State Trees from a beautiful stand of maturing hemlock at the McCorkel Tree Farm in the mid-1980s. 

There are some very old 100’ trees on the property.  According to Jim, the property hasn’t been cut over since 1897.   

With the addition of the McCorkel Tree Farm conservation easement, ClearWater Conservancy now protects more than 1,300 acres with conservation easements.  Seven hundred of these 1,300 acres have been added since June of 2007.  This success could not happen without the generous donations of landowners such as Jim, Betty Ann, and Mary Lou.  ClearWater also thanks the family for a generous donation to the ClearWater Conservancy Stewardship Fund that enables ClearWater to protect this property in perpetuity.

For more information about how you can conserve your riparian property, please contact Katie Ombalski or Bill Hilshey at (814) 237-0400 or katie@clearwaterconservancy.org or bill@clearwaterconservancy.org.