Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Celebrates 75th Anniversary
with Open House at New Office at Washington’s Landing

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  September 20, 2007.)  The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) will host an open house on Saturday, September 29 to celebrate 75 years spent protecting our region’s water, land and life as the area’s premier conservation organization. The event will be held at WPC’s new headquarters at 800 Waterfront Drive on Washington’s Landing, Pittsburgh, from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.

Scheduled activities for the day include:

• a guided nature hike around the island
• activities for children including flower planting, interacting with fish and other river creatures
• a preview of world-renowned artist Felix de la Concha’s “Fallingwater in Perspective” exhibition, which is currently on display at the Barn at Fallingwater
• tours of the new WPC headquarters and demonstrations of our GIS mapping and research labs
• the opportunity meet new WPC President and CEO Tom Saunders
• information about the history of Washington’s Landing and a pictorial display of WPC’s 75-year history.

Fallingwater and WPC merchandise will be available for purchase. Visit www.waterlandlife.org   to register or to obtain directions and more information about the event.

“For the past 75 years, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has played a pivotal role in large-scale land conservation, conservation research, neighborhood beautification through community gardens, and stewardship of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater,” said WPC President and CEO Tom Saunders. “The opening of our new office supports our work by giving us the space to connect with our Pittsburgh and regional partners, to welcome and work with them in a relaxed setting, and to have a workspace that is both urban in location, and inspiring in its riverside open-space setting. We welcome visitors to this great, new location on September 29, both to celebrate our accomplishments and to learn about the future of conservation in Western Pennsylvania.”

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy began in 1932, three years into the Great Depression.  Ten Pittsburgh citizens came together to found a non-profit conservation organization that they hoped would help alleviate some of the region’s unemployment through public works programs while providing lasting natural benefits for the region.

Today, WPC is a growing, dynamic organization that remains dedicated to protecting the region’s natural places of exceptional value. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has protected more than 216,000 acres of natural lands in Pennsylvania, restored watersheds and saved natural habitats for a diversity of life and uses.  WPC has protected nearly 50 percent of the total land protected by land trust organizations in Pennsylvania.  The Conservancy has been responsible for the founding of six state parks, including Ohiopyle, Laurel Ridge, McConnell’s Mill, Moraine, Oil Creek and Erie Bluffs.  In addition, WPC created the 300-acre Wildflower Reserve at Raccoon Creek State Park, and added land to Blue Knob State Park.

WPC also preserves Fallingwater®, the masterpiece home designed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar J. Kaufmann in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.  In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann jr. (sic) entrusted Fallingwater to the Conservancy.  Today, WPC continues its award-winning preservation efforts and offers a wide variety of educational programs to more than 135,000 annual visitors.  The preservation of Fallingwater is a symbol of living in harmony with nature. 

Each year, WPC also partners with 5,000 volunteers and dozens of community organizations and businesses to plant and maintain more than 140 gardens and greening projects in 19 western Pennsylvania counties.

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