Photo Courtesy of Tyler Smith, TNC

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced in April 2020 that they have acquired 232 acres of land within Pennsylvania’s Kittatinny Ridge. The property, which is located on the northwest side of Little Mountain overlooking Horse Valley, sits between two valuable protected areas: State Games Lands #235 and Buchanan State Forest. Funded by Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’s Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, the acquisition fills a gap in the region’s protected lands as well as further protects the headwaters of Conodoguinet Creek. The property is currently being transferred to the Bureau of Forestry to become a part of Buchanan State Forest.

“The conservation of this property will help maintain the working forest landscape found in the southwest portion of the Kittatinny Ridge,” says Mari-Beth DeLucia, TNC’s Kittatinny Ridge program director. “This is a win for both people and nature.”