North Branch land trust protects 385 acres along Bald Mountain If you look toward the southeast while driving south on the cross-valley expressway in Wilkes-Barre you cannot miss the wind turbines atop Bald Mountain in Bear Creek Township. Now, the woodlands and watershed lands below those Luzerne County eye-catchers have been permanently protected. Since the fall of 2011, North Branch Land Trust has been working closely with the landowners, DCNR and the Media-based Natural Lands Trust to acquire and protect this diverse 385-acre piece of property. The tract is unique in that it is a transition property between two distinctly different geophysical regions. To the northwest is the Anthracite Valley Section of the Valley and Ridge Province and to southeast is Glaciated Pocono Plateau Section of the Appalachian Plateau. Also, the property straddles two massive watersheds: all water to the northwest flows to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, and all the water to the southeast of the property flows to the Delaware River and the Delaware Bay. DCNR Acting Secretary Ellen Ferretti (second from left) joins North Branch Land Trust officials and other principals in the acquisition and protection of a 385-acre tract on Bald Mountain, Bear Creek Township, Luzerne County. Funding for this acquisition project came from a DCNR Community Partnerships Program Grant award to NBLT. Funding for these grants comes from Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund (Key93), the Environmental Stewardship Fund, the Growing Greener Bond Fund and federal funding sources. The entire staff and Board of Directors of NBLT have expressed gratitude for the ability to work on a conservation effort they term “a shining example of local, regional and state partners working together to protect those special and scenic natural landscapes that sustain us. “Another important piece of northeastern Pennsylvania’s natural heritage has been conserved.” apps.dcnr.state.pa.us/news/resource/res2013/13-0904-baldmountain.aspx
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 23:21:06 +0000
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