A clear trail runs though a forest dense with red brush and orange leaved trees. — Stone Henge Trail A view from the ~1.3 mile Stone Henge Trail at Dick & Nancy Eales Preserve © Melisa Soysal/TNC

Stories in Pennsylvania

A Year of Conservation Results

2024 was an important year for conservation. Explore some of our conservation wins and projects in Pennsylvania.

October 10, 2024

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) envisions a future with a livable climate, healthy communities and people and nature thriving together. Turning this vision into reality begins with a clear recognition of the challenges we face and a bold commitment to action. Your support helped make our success possible this year, and we are sincerely grateful. Thank you.

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Our conservation initiatives in Pennsylvania directly benefit the entire Northeast U.S. and contribute to TNC’s ambitious global goals. We tackle the climate crisis head-on, working with communities and policymakers to ensure cleaner air and reduce vulnerability to flooding and heat waves. We protect natural areas and wildlife corridors at an unprecedented scale to preserve biodiversity. We work alongside partners to help farmers provide the food we eat every day while keeping our rivers and oceans clean.

We are nearly halfway through a critical decade. Everything we do between now and 2030 will have a lasting impact in Pennsylvania and across the globe. On this webpage, we’ll share some of the stories from 2024 that show the collective power and impact of TNC and our partners. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. Together, we find a way.

- Lori Brennan

Executive Director, TNC Pennsylvania/Delaware

Our Goals

From global to local, see how our local conservation projects support the 2030 global goals.

Local action matters and our conservation projects throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware directly support TNC's 2030 global goals.

Each goal represents an accumulation of outcomes from multiple conservation and policy strategies including protection, management, restoration, stewardship, finance, project implementation, community engagement and scientific and technical support.

See how our local actions are contributing to our global 2030 goals:

A chart showing TNC's global goals and PA/DE's goals. — **Our Goals** See how our local actions are contributing to our global 2030 goals. © The Nature Conservancy

Climate
Protect
Provide

Climate

Together, we’re advancing a greener future.

We advocate for nature-friendly policies.

A group of people stand smiling in front of a sign that reads "The Nature Conservancy" . — **Advocacy in the Field** Pennsylvania State Senator Rosemary Brown visited Cathy’s Trail at Hauser Nature Center to see the benefits of TNC’s habitat management work firsthand. © The Nature Conservancy

Pennsylvania’s 2024/25 state budget included several notable conservation wins. TNC supported the permanent allocation of $50 million per year to the Clean Streams Fund and the Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program aiding water quality efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The budget also increased funding for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with dedicated funding for its Youth Outdoor Corps, whose members frequently volunteer on TNC preserves. Finally, we successfully advocated for a suite of precedent-setting protections for public lands and conserved lands to be included in a piece of energy legislation via the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act signed into law this summer.

We promote equitable climate adaptation for communities.

Philadelphia Heat Map

Philadelphia’s Urban Heat Mapping Underscores Neighborhoods’ Need for Trees.

See the heat map

With support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, TNC is developing an urban flood and habitat resilience feasibility study for the Lower Darby Creek Watershed, which will identify equitable nature-based solutions for flood risk reduction and habitat restoration to benefit both the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge and local communities. The study will cover more than 10,000 acres and include collaborations with the City of Philadelphia, Delaware County, community organizations, Philadelphia International Airport and numerous federal partners.

Each summer, temperatures in Philadelphia neighborhoods without adequate tree cover can be up to 10.5 degrees warmer, increasing the risk of heat stroke. Alongside partners, TNC mapped the city’s hot spots at ZIP code level, highlighting the areas most in need of urban forestry, underscoring the value of implementing the Philly Tree Plan and empowering city officials and communities to make informed decisions about tree care.

Several people gather around a storm drain in a parking lot, while one person lifts the drain cover. — **Nature Based Solutions** In April, TNC facilitated a bilingual green stormwater infrastructure operations and maintenance training at Esperanza, a faith-based non-profit serving predominantly Hispanic communities (pictured above, right). It’s the first-ever Spanish language training of its kind held in Philadelphia, part of a broader initiative to help reduce stormwater flooding and mitigate polluted runoff into streams. © John Hinkson/TNC

A map showing areas of high heat in Philadelphia in red. — **Philadelphia Heat Map** Alongside partners, TNC mapped Philadelphia's hot spots at ZIP code level. This map shows the areas of need for trees based on the heat measurement data which city residents helped to collect. © The Nature Conservancy

Nature Based Solutions In April, TNC facilitated a bilingual green stormwater infrastructure operations and maintenance training at Esperanza, a faith-based non-profit serving predominantly Hispanic communities (pictured above, right). It’s the first-ever Spanish language training of its kind held in Philadelphia, part of a broader initiative to help reduce stormwater flooding and mitigate polluted runoff into streams. © John Hinkson/TNC

Philadelphia Heat Map Alongside partners, TNC mapped Philadelphia's hot spots at ZIP code level. This map shows the areas of need for trees based on the heat measurement data which city residents helped to collect. © The Nature Conservancy

Protect

Together, we’re protecting healthy lands.

A map of the Appalachians. — **The Appalachian Landscape** More than 400 million years ago, natural forces conspired to make the Appalachians one of the most resilient, diverse and productive places on Earth. This ancient chain of forested mountains, valleys, wetlands and rivers spans roughly 2,000 miles. © The Nature Conservancy

We support partners.

An elk peers over tall green grass. — **Protecting wildlife** This acquisition will help protect critical elk habitat. © Steven David Johnson

TNC assisted the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Pennsylvania Game Commission with the purchase of the 2,386-acre Goetz Summit property which was a high priority due to its critical habitat and resiliency. The property, located in the Pennsylvania Wilds, is undeveloped and contains mostly northern hardwoods and conifer forests with deep valleys and rocky cliffs. It is a designated Important Bird Area and the state’s free-roaming elk herd maintains a stronghold nearby.

We manage for resiliency.

Pennsylvania’s Appalachian forests are rich in plant and animal biodiversity. Forests of hemlock and red spruce provide essential shade for headwater streams. Songbirds like scarlet tanager, blue-headed vireo and blackburnian warbler dart through the canopy. Yet these critical habitats are increasingly under threat from fragmentation, invasive pests and degradation accelerated by climate change.

In 2024, our land stewards worked alongside partners including the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Bureau of State Parks to lead 11 controlled burns on 1,373 acres and assisted on burns totaling an additional 1,330 acres statewide. By restoring the natural process of fire on the landscape, TNC’s work promotes native species habitat and mitigates the risk of out-of-control wildfires.

We also increased conifer cover on over 200 acres across TNC’s Long Pond Preserve and Bethlehem Authority conserved lands this year while creating 50 acres of new cerulean warbler habitat at a Capital Region Water site near Harrisburg. Plus, our staff and volunteers planted nearly 1,500 trees to promote species diversity at TNC’s Hamer Woodlands at Cove Mountain Preserve, West Branch Forest Preserve and Long Pond Preserve.

A person in PPE stands in front of a small flame. — **Controlled Burning** Controlled burns are a proven way to restore our forests. By restoring the natural process of fire on the landscape, we promote native species habitat and mitigate the risk of out-of-control wildfires. © Melisa Soysal/TNC

A scarlet tanager sits on a tree branch. — **scarlet tanager** Songbirds like scarlet tanagers call Pennsylvania’s Appalachian forests home. © Steve S. Meyer

Controlled Burning Controlled burns are a proven way to restore our forests. By restoring the natural process of fire on the landscape, we promote native species habitat and mitigate the risk of out-of-control wildfires. © Melisa Soysal/TNC

scarlet tanager Songbirds like scarlet tanagers call Pennsylvania’s Appalachian forests home. © Steve S. Meyer

We build transformative partnerships.

A view from hawk rock overlook. — Kittatinny Ridge A view from Hawk Rock overlook, a popular spot for hikers in central Pennsylvania. © George Gress/TNC

The Sentinel Landscape designation will help advance large-scale land protection and management efforts in one of the most important wildlife corridors in the Appalachians.

Lori Brennan

Executive Director, TNC PA/DE

With support from TNC, the Kittatinny Ridge was recognized as one of the nation’s newest Sentinel Landscapes in 2024. This rare designation is bestowed by the U.S. Departments of Defense, Interior and Agriculture on areas of unique significance where conservation and national defense interests converge. Anchored by Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, the Kittatinny Ridge Sentinel Landscape will connect private landowners with voluntary state and federal assistance programs that provide tax reductions, agricultural loans, disaster relief, educational opportunities, technical aid and funding for conservation easements.

As part of our Enduring Earth global initiative to accelerate conservation worldwide, TNC has committed to safeguarding 14.4 million hectares of Mongolia’s intact grasslands, forests, deserts, wetlands and rivers and expanding climate-resilient community-managed practices to 34 million hectares outside protected areas over the next 15 years.

Explore this work

A panoramic view of a river reflecting a pink clouded sky. — Eg & Tarvagatai Confluence of Eg and Tarvagatai rivers in central region of Mongolia. © Bayar Balgantseren

Provide

Together, we’re ensuring cleaner water.

We support farmers’ lives and livelihoods.

A person holds a large clump of soil showing off the roots of a crop. — **Working with Farmers** TNC is helping farmers deploy the latest in science-based practices in order to improve crop yields, reduce input costs, and deliver a host of environmental benefits. © Fauna Creative

Across the Susquehanna River basin and the Chesapeake Bay watershed, farmers are improving soil health and nutrient management on their lands. TNC is helping farmers deploy the latest in science-based practices to improve crop yields, reduce input costs, and deliver a host of environmental benefits including reduced soil erosion and nutrient loss, improved water quality and a lower carbon footprint. As of 2024, TNC and its partners including Sustainable Chesapeake and the Pennsylvania 4R Alliance have engaged more than 150 landowners and nearly 30,000 acres in advanced nutrient management practices.

If you take care of the land, it will take care of you. What we do here affects our neighbors downstream, and if we all work together as a community, it’s going to benefit everyone.

Mitchel Zimmerman

Farmer & Owner, Hammer Creek Estate

We restore healthy streams and wetlands.

In Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, farmer Mitchel Zimmerman and his wife’s family have operated Hammer Creek Estate for nearly 100 years. Like many agricultural landowners, their property has suffered from chronic erosion and flooding on parts of their fields, hurting their bottom line and degrading the land. Alongside our partners at Trout Unlimited, TNC worked one-on-one with Mitchel to design a custom stream and wetland restoration plan for the property, which is set to break ground this winter. The improvements will help preserve the family’s 233-year-old farmhouse, increase crop yields, provide new habitat for fish and birds and ultimately help create better water quality downstream in Hammer Creek, the Susquehanna River and the broader Chesapeake Bay basin.

An aerial view of a coast farm with green fields and a white barn. — **Hammer Creek Estate** TNC is designing custom stream and wetland restoration plans that will increase crop yields, provide new habitat for fish and birds and ultimately help create better water quality for the Susquehanna River and the broader Chesapeake Bay basin. © John Hinkson/TNC

A map of the Chesapeake Bay over the Appalachian mountains. — **The Chesapeake bay** Pennsylvania is positioned at the intersection of two critical landscapes: the Appalachians and the Chesapeake Bay. © The Nature Conservancy

Hammer Creek Estate TNC is designing custom stream and wetland restoration plans that will increase crop yields, provide new habitat for fish and birds and ultimately help create better water quality for the Susquehanna River and the broader Chesapeake Bay basin. © John Hinkson/TNC

The Chesapeake bay Pennsylvania is positioned at the intersection of two critical landscapes: the Appalachians and the Chesapeake Bay. © The Nature Conservancy

TNC is investing in watershed health around the globe by developing partnerships. Projects on Kenya’s Tana and Yala rivers are benefitting 400,000 people through strategies that expand farmers’ ability to produce high-value, multi-season crops like avocados and support communities working to secure legal rights over their natural resources.

Explore this work

A person holding a net wades into the water. — Resilient Freshwater in Kenya TNC is investing in watershed health around the globe by developing partnerships that accelerate the pace and scale of protection. © Roshni Lodhia

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