Every Memory Becomes

a Legacy, When Planted

Conserving for Tomorrow...Today!

4750 Lindle RoadHarrisburg, PA 17111

717.233.0221

Conserving for Tomorrow...Today!

www.centralpaconservancy.com

About CPC

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•Education

•Conservation Easements

•Land Acquisitions

•Conservation Landscape Visioning, helping municipalities and citizens understand appropriate land use

•Serving as caretakers of over 2,000 acres of land

•Purchasing critical lands for permanent protection

For the health of the community

•Clean and Abundant Water

•Clean Air

•Areas for Recreation

•Preserve our Landscape/Viewsheds

•Sustainable Local Food Sources (“buy fresh, buy local”)

•Preserve the unique character of our Community

•Balance growth with Natural Resource Preservation

A con se rvat ion ist is on e who is

h u mbly awa re that with ea ch

st rok e h e is writ i ng his s ig n atu re

on th e fa ce of th e l a nd.

- Aldo Leopo ld

“”

Our mission is to conserve natural resources and open space for the benefit of current and future generations through the acquisition and protection of land in the Central Pennsylvania region.

Su pport CPC

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Your Legacy...

For many of us, saving the places that enrich our lives is reason enough to support conservation. But much more is at stake. Ensuring that our natural areas are preserved is critical to the quality of:

•the air we breathe•the water we drink•the food we eat

The natural places we have cherished for generations are disappearing at an accelerated pace and the window of opportunity to reverse this trend is rapidly closing.

We will need considerable resources to protect Pennsylvania. Every year we must raise a minimum of $260,000 before we can begin any of our projects.

Ask yourself what is your legacy? Are you interested in leaving behind the Pennsylvania you know and love?

Please make a pledge, send a donation or consider one of our many planned giving options to help ensure that the Pennsylvania you love remains for future generations.

Ou r Pa st...In the early 1970’s, the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, was simply a motivated group of concerned citizens passionate about their local environment. At the time, known as the Stony Creek Valley Coalition, they came together and fought to keep the construction of a hydroelectric facility out of the pristine wooded watershed of Stony Creek.

In order to raise the funds necessary to fight the construction of the new facility the Stony Creek Valley Coalition began running a recycling operation in Colonial Park. When the proposal to construct the hydroelectric facility was victoriously defeated, members of the Stony Creek Valley Coalition remained together and incorporated as the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy in October of 1981 with the purpose of continuing and promoting recycling efforts.

While focused on area recycling, members of CPC became increasingly more aware of the need for a regional open space preservation agency as the blight of insufficiently regulated development spread through the area. In 1990, when the municipal recycling law went into effect and it became more convenient for residents to recycle at their curbside, CPC turned it focus to land protection.

Since then, CPC has expanded its land protection efforts in central PA, preserving over 3,400 acres.

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Pennsylvania has the fifth highest amount of acreage lost to development and ranked only 48th among all states in population growth during the 1990s. Development pressure in Pennsylvania as a whole and in our backyards is being felt at an unprecedented rate. Cumberland County alone is losing land at a rate of 9 acres per day, 365 days a year.

For too long, Pennsylvanians have assumed that the farms, forests, and ridge-tops were permanent fixtures in our landscape. In reality, 80 percent of the remaining undeveloped acreage lacks any real protection or conservation status. In light of this fact and thehigh rate of development, the pressures on undeveloped landscapes and open spaces will face increased peril.

Most of the land use decisions that Pennsylvania the conserve our cherished natural areas are made at the local level. This is why, we, as your local land trust urge you to consider conserving for tomorrow…today!

-Pennsylvania Wildlife and Wild Places - An Outdoor Heritage in Peril, 2003

Ou r Futu re... Pre se rved Prope rt ie s

CPC Own ed Prope rt ie sBrady L. Bryner, Sr. Forest Preserve

Gregory Alan Grening PreserveKingswood Open Space

Port Royal Wetlands

Tra n sfe rred Protected Prope rt ie sBoyd Big Tree Addition (Schreckengaust Tract)

Bucher TractDahr Tract

Godshall PropertyHalf Falls Mountain

Halifax Township Park Melnyk Property (Incline Tract)

Miller’s Gap (Lightner Tract)Miller’s Gap on Blue Mountain (Witmer Tract)

Seven Gables ParkThousand Steps

Con se rvat ion Ea sementsAllison EasementBaker Easement

Dodson EasementDubbs Easement

Elsesser EasementFitzpatrick EasementGreenbelt Easement

Hail EasementHalifax Township Park Easement

McLaughlin EasementMorefield Easement

Parrish EasementPine Hill Easement

Saylor Farm EasementShuman Easement

Spiral Path EasementStoltzfus Easement

ea rly 1970’s

Stony Creek Valley Coalition forms

CPC turns its focus to land CPC turns its focus to land protection & completes 1st protection & completes 1st project to preserve Seven project to preserve Seven Gables Park in Carlisle PAGables Park in Carlisle PA

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Our future is to manage the impact of developmentin order to preserve the character and quality of our landscapes and the sustainability of our natural resources.

•Landscape Visioning

•Conservation Easements

•Land Acquisitions

•Urban Tree Canopy Planting

- Goa ls - 1981

1990

1997

CPC purchases & CPC purchases & preserves the 668 acre preserves the 668 acre

Thousand Steps property Thousand Steps property in Huntingdon Countyin Huntingdon County

2007

CPC reaches 3,400 acres CPC reaches 3,400 acres of protected lands

2006

CPC raises over $1 CPC raises over $1 Million to preserve Million to preserve

Halifax Township ParkHalifax Township Park

CPC incorporates as CPC incorporates as a 501c3 non-profita 501c3 non-profit

Ou r Pre sent...

When the CPC takes on the responsibility of a conservation easement it is taking on a liability in perpetuity.

On all of our properties we employ the concept of responsible caretaking; based on the premise that we do not own resources, but are managers and responsible to future generation for their condition.

By law, we are required to visit each property a minimum of once a year, walk the entire plot and check each of the landowner specified reserved rights, as well as check the boundaries and for any violations of the easement. That’s the simple explanation of long term stewardship—there is much more involved in this responsibility.

On average, an easement costs the Conservancy a minimum of $1,900 annually to monitor. Currently we are responsibility for managing 25 properties of which include 20 conservation easements.

The Central Pennsylvania Conservancy is a 501(c)3, charitable, private, non-profit land trust that relies on funding from membership, private foundations, and individual donors to achieve our mission. To be effective in land protection in south central PA, we are engaging communities, municipalities and individuals to join us in investing in solutions that will protect our natural resources.

South Mou nta i n Waggon e r’s Ga p

The South Mountain is a large landscape that

encompasses multiple counties and requires

innovative thinking, beyond land acquisition

and conservation easements, to be able to

effectively protect this resource in a timely manner.

85% of your water, that you use to drink, shower, wash your car and water your lawn in a normal year, originates on the South Mountain. For this

reason, it is imperative that this area be protected.

The CPC’s Conservation Landscape Visioning project is a new initiative that will help

communities better understand their landscape and make smart choices for their future.

Monroe Township, which encompasses a portion of the South Mountain, will serve as our pilot

municipality for this project

One of the last undeveloped gaps on the Kittatinny Ridge, Waggoner’s Gap, is a local treasure with global significance.

CPC is in the process of acquiring and permanently preserving 106 acres on the ridge at Waggoner’s Gap between the PA Audubon Hawk Viewing Area and the Reineman Wildlife Sanctuary. Protecting this piece of property is critical. This area is a globally important migration point for over 150 species of birds and hawks annually and is part of the Kittatinny Ridge, one of Pennsylvania’s most prominent natural features.

Once protected and made available to the public, Waggoner’s Gap will become a largerpart of the Pennsylvania Audubon’s Cliff Jones Field Station for bird watching and education

beyond land acquisition

easements, to be able to effectively protect this resource in a

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Our Commitment to the Land

One of the last undeveloped

Ridge, Waggoner’s Gap,

acquiring and permanently preserving 106 acres on the ridge at Waggoner’s Gap between the PA Audubon