Land Conservation
ClearWater Conservancy's Land Conservation Program seeks to balance the rapid growth of central Pennsylvania with the conservation of important ecological, cultural, and historic places. We work with landowners and managers to determine appropriate conservation methods, including land management recommendations, conservation easements, and land acquisition.
Land Conservation Accomplishments
ClearWater Conservancy has conserved over 3,650 acres of land with conservation easements, by land acquisition, and through our conservation partnerships. Projects which have created publicly-accessible protected properties include Musser Gap, Thompson Woods Preserve, Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, and State Game Lands #323.
Privately-owned protected properties include Rhoneymeade Farm, Nittany Farms, Eagle Field, Potter Farm, the Lisle property along Spring Creek, and the Hilton Garden Inn's portion of wetlands bordering the Millbrook Marsh fen. ClearWater also owns 5.5-acres which are home to a rare wetland community, a calcareous fen, adjacent to Millbrook Marsh.
The Conservation Process
ClearWater Conservancy primarily protects land by working with landowners who wish to donate conservation easements on their property. A conservation easement restricts certain uses of the land that may harm its conservation values. The easement stays with the land, regardless of future ownership changes, providing permanent protection of the property’s conservation values.
ClearWater Conservancy’s role is to identify the conservation resources present, to work with the landowner to determine permitted and restricted uses that will protect the resources present while meeting the needs of the landowner, and to ensure that the use of the property complies with the terms of the easement.
When a particularly significant property presents itself, we strive to be creative to find a way to protect its resources. For example, in past projects we have purchased and transferred property to a public entity for use as a passive recreation park.
To protect land, ClearWater Conservancy looks to its Land Conservation and Stewardship Committee, a volunteer advisory and action committee. This committee identifies and prioritizes lands in need of protection and pursues the most appropriate method. The committee is also responsible for the ongoing stewardship of protected properties.
ClearWater's Conservation Action Plan
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) created a "Conservation Blueprint for Pennsylvania" in 2006 to help WPC and its partners prioritize future conservation initiatives. Using 25 years of data compiled by the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program and other scientific institutions, this Blueprint identifies the most important areas in Pennsylvania and the adjacent region for protection, conservation, and restoration of land and water that supports native plants, animals, and important habitats.
These areas, called Priority Conservation Landscapes, include the Upper Ohio River Basin, Middle Allegheny Forests, North Central & West Branch Susquehanna Basin, Juniata River Basin, Potomac Tributaries, Laurel Highlands, Great Lakes – Lake Erie, and the Nittany Valley. Now that the Priority Conservation Landscapes are known, WPC is reaching out to other conservation partners to protect the biodiversity of these important areas.
ClearWater Conservancy and WPC have joined forces this fall to prioritize conservation initiatives for the Nittany Valley using a conservation tool developed by The Nature Conservancy called Conservation Action Planning, or CAP. With the assistance of our volunteer Core Project Team, we will identify: 1) ecological systems that are critical to the conservation of biodiversity in the Nittany Valley (i.e., conservation targets), 2) stresses on these targets and their sources, 3) strategies for conserving these targets, and 4) measures of conservation successes. CAP results will drive the conservation actions of ClearWater Conservancy and WPC for years to come.
The Core Project Team had their first two meetings on September 19 and October 11, 2006. Outcomes of the meetings included the identification of 8 conservation targets:
1) Limestone springs, streams, wetlands, and floodplains
2) Vernal pools
3) Mountain saddles, water gaps, and freestone streams
4) Barrens plant communities
5) Valley bottom mesic forests
6) Subterranean ecosystems
7) Limestone cliffs and glades
8) Ridge tops and slopes
After identifying the targets, the Team determined which "key ecological attributes" should be used to assess the health of each target. This information is the basis for the rest of the planning process.
The Team also discussed renaming "The Nittany Valley" to better reflect the geographic location of this Priority Conservation Landscape, suggesting that the name should include the geology that the unique flora and fauna depend on.
ClearWater is able to participate in this planning initiative thanks to the generous financial support of Sheri and Dayton Coles and their commitment to increasing ClearWater’s capacity for completing on-the-ground conservation projects in central Pennsylvania.
C
onservation Initiatives in the Works- Spring Creek "Ribbon of Green"
- Spring Creek Canyon
- Scotia Barrens Conservation Project
- Riparian Conservation Project
Centre
County Natural Heritage Inventory
The Centre County Natural Heritage Inventory provides information to identify, map, and describe Centre County’s most significant natural places through investigation of plant and animal species and natural communities that are unique or uncommon in the county.
Spring Creek Rivers Conservation Plan
The Spring Creek Rivers Conservation Plan addresses issues of concern to the main stem of Spring Creek, its tributaries, and the watershed as a whole and develops recommendations for future conservation actions and partnerships. This 175 square mile watershed, which drains to the Susquehanna River and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay, is beautiful. Silver threads of streams weave through fertile agricultural valleys. Vibrant communities are set against the backdrop of forested ridges. But as this sensitive headwaters area continues to urbanize, it faces many challenges.
The completion of the Spring Creek Rivers Conservation Plan enabled Spring Creek to be listed on DCNR's Pennsylvania Rivers Registry.
How You Can Participate in Land Conservation
If you have a natural area you would like to permanently protect through a conservation easement, contact our office at (814) 237-0400 to find out if the property may qualify for our conservation easement program.
Contribute to our Conservation Easement Stewardship Fund with the Centre County Community Foundation. This endowment ensures that we have the financial resources necessary to support our ongoing responsibility to monitor and defend the conservation easements we hold.
Contribute to the Donald W. Hamer Land Conservation Fund, which supports our land trust activities. Don Hamer will match every dollar contributed by the local community with two more dollars, up to $10,000 per year for the next five years.
If you are a natural resource professional, volunteer your time to our Land Conservation and Stewardship Committee to help evaluate and pursue potential conservation projects. The committee meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:30 am at the ClearWater office.