ClearWater Conservancy Protects Tussey View Farm And Spring Creek Headwaters

On November 5, Mr. Fred A. Strouse, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and ClearWater Conservancy completed two land transactions protecting 260 acres of Mr. Strouse’s land located in Potter Township.

After more than two years of discussions and after completing the many steps required to complete the land transactions, Mr. Strouse sold to ClearWater Conservancy, at a bargain sale, a 71-acre parcel and simultaneously, a conservation easement on a 189-acre parcel. ClearWater immediately deeded the 71-acre parcel to the Bureau of Forestry to be incorporated into Rothrock State Forest.

Mr. Strouse cherishes his land and does not wish to see it developed. “I wasn’t interested in developing any of my property, and after observing the activities of ClearWater Conservancy, I thought [their] program might be a very fitting way to still own much of my land and still preserve, enjoy and share a beautiful property.”

Financial assistance to purchase the parcel and the conservation easement was provided through a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Growing Greener Bond Fund. Mr. Strouse donated one-half the value of the parcel and of the conservation easement. The grant requires that public access be granted, and Mr. Strouse has agreed to allow the public to enjoy nature observation on 178 acres of his property for most of the year.

A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a private landowner and a qualified organization, such as a land trust, that protects natural, cultural, and/or historic resources in perpetuity. A conservation easement allows a landowner to retain ownership and use of his or her property while limiting certain uses that may be harmful to the resources being protected.

The 71-acre parcel deeded to the Bureau of Forestry lies within the Centre County Natural Heritage Inventory designated “Galbraith Gap Run Headwaters Seep Biological Diversity Area”.

This Biological Diversity Area contains wetlands of “notable significance”, and is considered to be a site that is important for the biological diversity and ecological integrity of the county or region.

Both parcels are within the Greater Tussey Mountain Important Bird Area #81 and the Central Mountains Important Mammal Area # 20. Protection of the parcels will buffer the large contiguous private forest land of Tussey Mountain and public land of Rothrock State Forest.

Protection of both parcels helps maintain core forest habitat, important to a diversity of mammals, as well as a diversity of forest interior birds, some of which are species of special concern.

The conservation easement will protect several seeps and springs comprising the headwaters of the main stem of Spring Creek. Protecting these headwaters will help ensure the quantity and quality of the water supply to Spring Creek, and completes an important phase of the Upper Spring Creek Watershed Coldwater Conservation Plan (ClearWater Conservancy 2007).

ClearWater Conservancy has the responsibility to monitor and protect the parcel covered by the conservation easement, and we thank Mr. Strouse for not only donating much of the value of his property but also for making a generous contribution to our Conservation Easement Stewardship Fund that ensures the capacity of ClearWater to protect the property in perpetuity.

ClearWater Conservancy would like to thank Attorney Amos Goodall of Goodall and Yurchak, P.C., Attorneys at Law for providing his legal assistance in making this conservation project a success.