Marking Allegheny County’s largest privately protected conservation area,
Allegheny Land Trust (ALT) has acquired 40 acres along the Youghiogheny River and
Great Allegheny Passage.
Adding to its existing 400-acre Dead Man’s Hollow Conservation Area, the expanded ALT preserve encompasses 440 acres in Elizabeth Twp. and Lincoln and Liberty Boroughs. With support from the
Colcom Foundation, ALT raised $60,000 to acquire the parcel, which is located off Rte. 48 near recreational trailheads.
Identified by The Allegheny County Natural Heritage Inventory as one of America’s most significant Biological Diversity Areas, the Dead Man’s Hollow watershed is visible from the Boston Bridge and features a dramatic 400-foot vertical drop to the Youghiogeny River. The site meets all three criteria—biological diversity, water management capacity and highly visible lands that define scenic character—identified by ALT’s Greenprint, a strategic regional land conservation plan and map that has been incorporated into Allegheny County’s comprehensive plan.
“It’s our largest single holding—we're very happy and proud. We now own the entire Liberty Valley,” says Roy Kraynyk, with ALT, which has protected 1,415 acres in 20 municipalities since 1993. Working with scouts, volunteers and a new geocaching group, ALT will permanently conserve and care for the parcel.
“If Pittsburgh wants to maintain its green image, we must do a lot more to protect wooded ridgelines that define our region’s character. We’re at a tipping point,” adds Kraynyk, who says Southwestern Pennsylvania loses about 40 acres of natural lands per day. “We need to protect our highest functioning natural infrastructure and translate that aesthetic scenery into economics, taking that case to funders, and to municipalities who control land use and zoning.”
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Jennifer BaronSource: Roy Kraynyk, executive director, Allegheny Land Trust
Image courtesy Allegheny Land Trust