Environmental groups buy part of Erie Co. creek
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Almost a mile of frontage and 40 acres along the ecologically sensitive West Branch of French Creek in Erie County has been purchased for $$50,000 by three environmental organizations and will be permanently conserved.
The acquisition, announced yesterday by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the French Creek Valley Conservancy, helps to protect the waterway and the aquatic life it supports, while also conserving valuable floodplain forests.
A globally significant stream, French Creek contains more species of fish and freshwater mussels than any similarly sized stream in the United States. The West Branch of French Creek contains even greater varieties of rare fish and mussels than the main stem.
"This important and scenic property now becomes part of a larger conservation landscape area within the West Branch of French Creek," said Tom Saunders, president and CEO of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. "With this acquisition, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy now has conserved 547 acres within this significant watershed."
The conserved property, acquisition of which was made possible by a generous donation by the Barnes family in memory of Brad Barnes, who lived in the area, is situated within a high-priority area of the Erie County and Northwest Pennsylvania Greenways Plans. It includes meandering woodland trails that will be open to the public for non-motorized recreation.
WPC will hold the property and will manage and steward the site as a nature reserve along with its other properties along the West Branch.
Correction/Clarification: (Published Oct. 1, 2009) The 40-acre parcel purchased by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and two other conservation groups along the West Branch of French Creek in Erie County cost $50,000. An incorrect dollar amount appeared in this article as originally published Sept. 30, 2009.
First Published September 30, 2009 12:00 am
