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You are here: Home / Stories of Land and People

Stories of Land and People

The Stories of Land and People provide real-world examples of how land trusts, landowners, and others have worked cooperatively to conserve special places in Pennsylvania for the benefit of all.

  • Preserving American History

    Delaware Canal State Park Location: Washington’s Crossing (Bucks County) Organization: Wildlands Conservancy Near the very banks where George Washington launched his nation-defining attack, an 80,000 square-foot shopping plaza was planned. Busi...read more
  • Keeping the Land Open

    State Game Lands 321 and Sproul State Forest Location: Pottersdale (Clearfield County) Organizations: Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation It’s hard to call anyone in a township of 34 a trespasser—that just ...read more
  • Seeding a Dream

    Gerstemeir Farm Location: Worcester Township (Montgomery County) Organization: Montgomery County Lands Trust (now Natural Lands) Fieldstone buildings grace the rolling farmland of Worcester Township, Montgomery County. Two- hundred year old white stu...read more
  • Have You Been to the Bog?

    Tannersville Cranberry Bog Location: Tannersville (Monroe County) Organization: The Nature Conservancy On spring days, the Tannersville Cranberry Bog belongs to fourth-graders. In the bog they see their lessons come alive. They touch plants in the de...read more
  • Saving Blue Mountain

    Witmer and Lightner Properties Location: Cumberland County Organization: Central Pennsylvania Conservancy Blue Mountain stretches over 200 miles from northern New Jersey down through 11 Pennsylvania counties to the Maryland state line. For hundreds o...read more
  • Growing Greener

    The Ponds of Woodward Location: Chadds Ford (Delaware County) Organization: Natural Lands (formerly Natural Lands Trust) When Denise and Greg Bayley sit in their backyard, they are surrounded with quiet and a 50-acre apple orchard. The view from thei...read more
  • A Ribbon of Blue

    Green Ribbon Trail and Preserve Location: Montgomery County Organization: Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association One by one, the fields and farms of Ellen Lea’s childhood are disappearing. Ellen and her brothers had spent their childhood days...read more
  • Dead Man’s Hollow

    Dead Man’s Hollow Location: McKeesport (Allegheny County) Organization: Allegheny Land Trust Dead Man’s Hollow Wildlife Preserve—400 acres of protected forest and streams—provides peace and quiet to its visitors. Factories, strip mall...read more
  • A Quilt Made to Last

    Tucquan Glen Location: Lancaster County Organization: Lancaster County Conservancy Like Lancaster County’s quilts, the Tucquan Glen Nature Preserve is a work of art comprised of many pieces. The Lancaster County Conservancy protected a square o...read more
  • Conserving Montandon Marsh

    Montandon Marsh Location: Northumberland County Organization: Merill W. Linn Land & Waterways Conservancy In the 1970s, when Tony Markunas bought a piece of Montandon Marsh, he didn’t see the wetland. He didn’t even know what a wetlan...read more
  • The Power of Vision

    Moraine State Park Location: Butler County Organization: Western Pennsylvania Conservancy A convergence of glaciers 14,000 years ago gave Muddy Creek its hills and valleys. Industry gave it its scars. A meeting of minds in the 1950s transformed the l...read more
  • Conserving Caves

    Hall Cave Location: Huntingdon County Organization: Mid-Atlantic Karst Conservancy Hall Cave has been a popular caving site since the 1960s. Innumerable cavers have trekked across Bill and Martha Anderson’s land to visit the cave. Bill serenade...read more
  • Oasis in the City

    Community Gardens Location: Philadelphia Organization: Neighborhood Gardens Trust (formerly the Neighborhood Gardens Association) James Taylor wakes at 4 a.m., crosses his street of tidy row homes, and opens the gate to Glenwood Green Acres. Four acr...read more
  • Christmas Trees and Conservation

    Spring Hills Farm Location: North Abington Township (Lackawanna County) Organization: Countryside Conservancy Margaret recognized the challenges in keeping the farm when she and her sisters took title in 1983. Margaret is the main laborer of the land...read more
  • Leaving a Legacy

    Kohler Farm Location: West Hanover Township (Dauphin County) Organization: Manada Conservancy Casper Kohler’s reasons for keeping his 100-acre farm intact run deeper than money. So deep that he struggles to explain why he feels his land must ne...read more
  • Saving the Heart of a Community

    Children’s Lake Location: Boiling Springs (Cumberland County) Organization: Appalachian Trail Conservancy The community of Boiling Springs did not want to lose the lake and its picturesque surroundings. It was where the village tree was lit dur...read more

People & Projects

  • Part of Brandywine Battlefield Preserved in Westtown Township

    Part of Brandywine Battlefield Preserved in Westtown Township

    Natural Lands announced on October 26, 2020 the permanent protection of nearly 10 acres of land along the fast-developing Route …Read More »
  • Unlikely Partners BalletX and Natural Lands Make Nature Center Stage

    Unlikely Partners BalletX and Natural Lands Make Nature Center Stage

    What does it look like when the regions oldest and largest land conservation organization and Philadelphia’s Premier Contemporary Ballet Company …Read More »
  • Heritage Conservancy Sets Pioneering Example of Partnership and Preservation with Manoff Market Gardens

    Heritage Conservancy Sets Pioneering Example of Partnership and Preservation with Manoff Market Gardens

    Freda R. Savana for Heritage Conservancy It could be said that Gary and Amy Manoff have farming in their blood. …Read More »
  • Berks Nature Closes on a Conservation Easement of Olivet Blue Mountain Camp

    Berks Nature Closes on a Conservation Easement of Olivet Blue Mountain Camp

    On September 30th, 2020, Berks Nature closed on a conservation easement project in the Schuylkill River Watershed, Kittatinny Ridge and …Read More »
  • Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

    Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

      Article originally published in September 2020 by Willistown Conservation Trust. The final conservation chapter to the 15-acre Stonehedge Farm …Read More »
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WeConservePA envisions future generations enjoying—undiminished—Pennsylvania’s natural areas and open spaces.

Thank you to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for supporting the Association’s conservation efforts.

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