Another 561 acres of forest in the heart of the Pennsylvania Elk Range has been brought into the vast public land bank.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy recently conveyed the forestland in Benezette Township, Elk County, to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as an addition to Moshannon State Forest.
In addition to protecting forest habitat for elk and other wildlife the tract protects the scenic views along Route 555 between Medix Run and Benezette.
The property includes approximately a half-mile of forested riparian frontage along the Bennett Branch Sinnemahoning Creek.
It also is located within a WPC-designated priority forest patch with many intact forestlands, including Moshannon and Elk state forests.
The forests are designated Important Bird Areas by the Audubon Society to help conserve bird habitat and populations.
Also, the conservancy’s Dr. Colson E. Blakeslee Memorial Recreation Area, which hosts a mature floodplain forest and provides public access to the creek for fishing, is nearby.
“Protecting land in the Bennett Branch Valley corridor has been a priority for the conservancy for more than a decade,” said Tom Saunders, president and CEO of the conservancy. “In 2008, we purchased Bennett Branch Forest and added 3,932 acres to Moshannon State Forest. Since then, we protected four other properties in the corridor, including land that is now WPC’s Doc Blakeslee Memorial Recreation Area. Our watershed conservation program is doing large-scale abandoned mine drainage work on Cherry Run, a tributary to Bennett Branch. And this acquisition is a key addition in the corridor.”
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The most recent tract brings the conservancy to 8,382 acres that have been acquired for protection in the Bennett Branch Valley corridor.
Saunders recalled that former conservancy board member Doc Blakeslee always stressed that once Bennett Branch began to be cleaned up from mine impacts, it would be important to acquire land for public protection and access along the stream and in the valley.
The addition brings Moshannon State Forest to nearly 190,600 acres that span Clearfield, Elk and Centre counties. Since 1983, WPC has acquired and transferred more than 5,000 acres to DCNR for Moshannon State Forest.
A private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932, WPC has helped to establish 11 state parks, conserved more than a quarter million acres of natural lands and protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams.
Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.