ClearWater Conservancy announced it has signed a conservation easement with Karl H. Striedieck to protect 244.63 acres of private forested mountain habitat on Bald Eagle Ridge in Patton, Huston, Worth, and Halfmoon Townships, Centre County.

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.

ClearWater Conservancy purchased the conservation easement with the assistance of federal funds from Landowner Incentive Program grant.

LIP is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, federally funded program, providing state agencies with funds to assist land trusts in the purchase of conservation easements on private lands to protect species of greatest concern. The Game Commission awarded a grant to ClearWater Conservancy in October 2006.

Mr. Striedieck’s property is part of Bald Eagle Ridge - Important Bird Area #32 and contains a large forested tract providing habitat for bird species of greatest conservation concern, such as Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, and Worm-eating Warbler.

Protection of Mr. Striedieck’s property, within approximately one and one-half miles of State Game Land #176, also a protected Important Bird Area, allows for important relative connectivity of these two Important Bird Areas.

LIP grants require land trusts to provide 50 percent match for a project. Match was provided by the generous contribution of more than half of the value of the conservation easement by Mr. Striedieck.

Attorney Amos Goodall of Goodall and Yurchak, P.C., Attorneys at Law generously donated many hours of service to make this easement a reality. Brad Ross, Wildlife Biologist, and Dr. James Finley, Professor of Forest Resources, Penn State University, volunteered valuable services to develop a Land Management Plan designed to maintain the forest habitat.

ClearWater Conservancy has the responsibility to steward the property in perpetuity to ensure that the property’s forest habitat continues to support birds of greatest conservation concern.

Additional funds donated by Mr. Striedieck are invested in a stewardship endowment, established by ClearWater Conservancy at the Centre County Community Foundation, to be certain that the natural resources in the care of ClearWater Conservancy will be protected forever.

For more information, visit the ClearWater Conservancy website.

6/22/2007