Northcentral Forests of Pennsylvania
Private Forestland:Looking into the Future of Conservation

More than 70 percent of Pennsylvania’s forestland is privately owned, representing more than 12 million acres of our state’s rich natural resources. As with the management of our public forest resources, these private forestlands contain varied and valuable resources that must be managed to retain economic value while sustaining their ecological and recreational value.

These forests provide valuable timber and mineral resources for commercial markets. They also contain miles of streams and acres of land that are equally valuable habitat for a diversity of native plant, fungi and other species. When forests are managed for sustainability, trees regenerate for future timbering, the diversity of native species survives, fragmentation is minimized, and vegetation and wildlife continue to thrive.

Protecting the Conservation and Economic Value of Private Forestland

Conservation easements can conserve the ecological value of forestland while enabling continued commercial timbering activity. Throughout the country, conservation easements are recognized as a flexible, highly effective approach for conserving land while keeping the property in private hands. Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has used conservation easements for more than 25 years to conserve the natural, scenic and historic features of the region.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement tailored to the property and to the interests of the landowner. If donated, it is considered a tax-deductible charitable gift, provided it meets certain requirements. It must be perpetual, donated exclusively for conservation purposes, and donated to a qualified conservation organization or public agency.

In a donated conservation easement, a property owner conveys certain specified rights, while retaining others and grants the easement to a qualified conservation organization, such as the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. While providing tax benefits, conservation easements allow the land to continue to contribute to the local economy through taxation and protect it from subdivision and fragmentation.

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