Protecting Exceptional Spaces:
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC), dedicated to protecting the region’s exceptional natural places, received a grant of $287,500 to support preservation of land and watershed on the 184-acre Penn’s Scenic View, adjacent to Laurel Hill State Park in Somerset County and with spectacular views of the Laurel Highlands. The acreage includes a mix of forest, ponds, and fields, as well as frontage on Laurel Hill Creek, which flows to the town of Confluence where it joins the Casselman River.
Also with support of the Foundation, WPC is working with several partners, including the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, to create a new park on the city’s largest privately owned, undeveloped land parcel. Located in the Hays neighborhood, the woodlands include six streams, a waterfall, and a nesting site for American bald eagles, which can be seen via a webcam sponsored by the Audubon Society.
(Above)The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy transferred the Penn’s Scenic View property, along with buildings
and facilities, to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of State Parks to become a
permanent addition to Laurel Hill State Park.
Featured Grants
$5,494,357
Toward two-year support of land and watershed protection programs, operations, Treevitalize, and habitat and water quality monitoring; purchase of the Younkin property in Fayette County and the Penn Scenic View property in Somerset County; purchase of conservation easements on properties in Somerset and Beaver counties; purchase of property in the City of Pittsburgh for creation of Hays Park; and due diligence efforts to explore acquisition of conservation easements on four properties owned by the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh
$725,000
toward three-year support of the French Creek Collaborative and toward a land conservation fund for work in that watershed
$650,000
to complete three land protection projects in the Laurel Highlands focal geography, and to protect Indian Caverns in Huntington County, including land along Spruce Creek
$1,750,000
to implement Pittsburgh's Street Tree Management Plan; to purchase and protect several properties in the Laurel Highlands; and advance the Western Business Plan for Restoration of Forests and Freshwater Habitats
