Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Lackawanna County and The Nature Conservancy have received the deed for about 5,000 acres of prime watershed and forestland in the county.

“By conserving this land, we are protecting much more than trees,” DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis said at a ceremony today at the site and against a backdrop of expansive woodlands. “These 5,000 acres will help protect our air, clean water, numerous species and provide opportunities for tremendous outdoor experiences for our citizens.”

To buy the land from the Theta Lands Corp., the state invested $1.2 million of Growing Greener II funding and Lackawanna County provided $4 million from its 2006 capital budget. The Conservation Fund facilitated the purchase and The Nature Conservancy also provided funding for some buffer lands adjacent to a parcel it owns on Moosic Mountain.

About 656 acres will be managed by Lackawanna County for outdoor recreation and trail development, 264 acres by The Nature Conservancy for protection of rare and unique habitats; the remainder will be added to Lackawanna State Forest.

“The natural heritage of this area is amazing,” said Secretary DiBerardinis. “These parcels protect highly diverse ecological habitats, including extensive wetlands in the Frytown section, riparian habitats along Roaring Brook and barrens habitat on Moosic Mountain. They also connect to state game lands and protected land on Moosic Mountain and Tobyhanna and Goldsboro state parks.”

The land is located in eastern Lackawanna County, near the Wayne County border, and stretches north to south from near Carbondale to near Frytown. The largest parcels are about 1,500 acres in the Frytown and Moosic areas. The land purchase is made up of contiguous and non-contiguous parcels.

“This is a terrific example of state and county governments and non-profit organizations working together to conserve something of great value to nearby communities, and we thank county officials, The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy for their hard work and support on this project,” Secretary DiBerardinis said.

These 5,000 acres are part of prime watershed land in the region owned by Theta Lands. In 2004 the commonwealth, Luzerne County and The Conservation Fund purchased several parcels of Theta land covering more than 10,000 acres in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. The majority of that is being managed today as part of DCNR’s Lackawanna State Forest.

With this recent addition, Lackawanna State Forest encompasses more than 19,000 acres in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming counties.

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5/25/2007