Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Press Room

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Presents
Sinnemahoning Creek Watershed
Conservation Plan at Public Meetings

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 9, 2007) Beginning October 16, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) will host a series of public meetings to present a conservation plan for Sinnemahoning Creek and its tributaries, Bennett Branch, First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek, Driftwood Branch, and Sinnemahoning Portage Creek in Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, McKean and Potter counties. Area residents are encouraged to attend one of the scheduled public meetings to learn about this locally driven planning process and to share their vision for the watershed. Local support is critical to the success of the project.

Informational meetings will be held from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. on:

Tuesday, October 16 at the Sinnemahoning Sportsmen’s Club in Cameron County
Wednesday, October 17 at the DCNR District Office along Route 155 North, Emporium, Cameron County
Thursday, October 18 at St. Joseph Church Parish Hall, Force, Elk County
Thursday, October 25 at the Austin Fire Company Social Hall, Potter County.

Complimentary refreshments will be provided.

The locally driven planning process will create a vision for the future of the Sinnemahoning Creek Watershed. The goals of the Sinnemahoning Creek Watershed Conservation Plan are to assess the past and present conditions of natural resources, promote responsible recreation, educate and encourage stewardship to protect and restore natural resources, and foster an appreciation and understanding of the watershed’s cultural and historical legacies.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is developing the watershed conservation plan in cooperation with the Bennett Branch Watershed Association, Bucktail Watershed Association, First Fork Watershed Association, local municipalities, agencies, and individuals. The plan focuses on the natural resources (land, water, and biological), cultural resources (historical and recreational), and socioeconomic impacts of the watershed, and makes recommendations, based on public input, to conserve or enhance its valuable assets.

The project is funded, in part, by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Community Conservation Partnership Program.

For more information, please contact Kylie Daisley at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Freshwater Conservation Program at (724) 459-0953 ext. 115 or kdaisley@paconserve.org.

About the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

To date, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has protected more than 216,000 acres of natural lands in Pennsylvania, which represent more than 50 percent of the total land protected by land trust organizations in Pennsylvania. Now in its 75th year, Pennsylvania’s first conservancy continues to partner with grassroots organizations to protect land, restore watersheds and save natural habitats.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) 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. As a symbol of living in harmony with nature, Fallingwater offers a wide variety of educational programs to its more than 135,000 annual visitors.

Each year, WPC plants and maintains community gardens and greening projects throughout western Pennsylvania. In 2007, WPC partnered with more than 5,000 volunteers and dozens of community organizations to plant 140 gardens in 19 western Pennsylvania counties.