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In This Issue Conservation Through Cooperation
This issue of CONSERVE highlights some of WPC's work with communities aimed at building a regional conservation ethic. In this spirit, WPC continues its efforts in the Clarion River corridor, where nearly 12,000 acres of shoreline have been protected and where thousands now come to fish, paddle, and swim in what was once the most polluted river in Pennsylvania. WPC is working with a steering committee of community leaders to forge a Clarion Greenway Plan to guide management of the corridor in the future. After gathering public opinion on the river as a regional resource, the committee will assemble a plan to sustain the river's recovery and boost a local economy that increasingly relies on a clean and accessible Clarion. Similarly, WPC's Ligonier Valley Program assists communities to protect the character of one of the most unique parts of our region. Flanked by forested Laurel and Chestnut ridges, the Ligonier Valley holds a diverse mix of woodland, working farms, and small towns that exemplify a healthy rural landscape. Understandably, such an area is attractive and vulnerable to the types of development that can destroy the very aspects of the valley that residents value most. Our Ligonier Valley Program is helping communities there to grow without sacrificing their rural environment and quality of life. Inside, you will read about how WPC's Community Conservation Program is helping 200 neighborhood groups in big cities and small towns establish community gardens. One typical example is WPC's partnership with a group called Green Gardeners to beautify downtown Uniontown in Fayette County, where WPC has long worked hard to protect wild rivers and mountain forests. Our cover story in this issue describes a program that, while administered by the federal government, came to reality in western Pennsylvania only through a cooperative effort of WPC, local agricultural organizations, sportsmen's groups, Governor Rendell and Pennsylvania's congressional delegation. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) of the USDA will bring better land management practices to 65,000 acres of farmland in western Pennsylvania's Ohio River Basin, resulting in cleaner rivers downstream to the Gulf of Mexico and healthier farmland right here. There is so much more to WPC's conservation cooperation, from our Natural Heritage Inventories used by county planning agencies, to our recent efforts to involve the local community in the educational resources at Bear Run. Much of our emphasis on conservation and community originated from the ideas of our recently departed President Larry Schweiger. Larry has moved on to apply his passion and expertise to national issues. But as you can see from this issue of CONSERVE, his vision for community conservation is strong in those who remain here, caring for our chosen place on this amazing earth. |
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Western Pennsylvania is a wonderfully diverse place, in its culture and its communities as well as its natural heritage. WPC knows that helping communities to recognize, nurture and benefit from their natural assets in a sustainable way is the most effective way to protect our region's landscapes and wildlife legacy. 
