Western Pennsylvania Conservancy history

In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann jr. entrusted the Conservancy with Fallingwater, his family’s weekend home and Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterwork in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.

WPC, which acquired 32 acres for Wattsburg Fen Natural Area in 1969, acquires an additional 251 acres at the natural area.

WPC permanently protects 39 acres adjacent to its 202-acre Wolf Creek Narrows Natural Area in Slippery Rock Township, Butler County. It’s the fifth addition to Wolf Creek Narrows since its original acquisition in 1979.

WPC updates members on the Clarion River Project; by January 1982, more than 4,800 acres of land and 18 miles of shoreline are protected.

Erie County’s wildlife species inventory is updated to include the first-ever documented dwarf scouring rush plant in Pennsylvania, and the discovery of four Blanding’s turtles – the first sighting in the state since 1983.

21, 1986, a new pedestrian footbridge over Oil Creek, a joint project of WPC and the PA Bureau of State Parks, is dedicated.

In late 1987, WPC completes its most complex transaction to date with the acquisition of oil, gas and mineral rights at Tionesta Research Natural Area, which is home to trees more than 500 years old.

After 25 years of negotiations, WPC in late 1989 purchases 16 acres of privately owned streamside property near Drake Well Park to be added to Oil Creek State Park.

The land, in Springfield Township, Erie County, becomes a permanent addition to the 3,214-acre David M. Roderick Wildlife Reserve/State Game Land 314, which was established by the Conservancy in 1991.

WPC's Pittsburgh Park and Playground Fund wins a Renew America 1993 National Environmental Achievement Award.

The 1995 Year-end Fund Drive Appeal raises nearly $159,000, which is earmarked for the protection of Lake Pleasant.

19, 1996, United States President Bill Clinton signs legislation that makes a 51.7-mile stretch of the Clarion River part of the National Wild and Scenic River System.

1, 1997, WPC and the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania (HSWP) agree to work together for mutual benefit.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge signs into law the landmark “Growing Greener” bill, which passed in December 1999 by both the state house and senate by an overwhelming majority.

In December 2002, the final shoring that has supported Fallingwater for the past six years is removed; the strengthening of the home is finished.

13, 2003, WPC purchases a property owned by the same family since the 1700s for addition to Blue Knob State Park.

On June 30, 2004, WPC purchases 14.14 acres of wooded hillsides and open space formerly known as Malli's Grove.

The Bear Run Nature Reserve conservation plan, initiated in 2005, will provide guidance for conservation, restoration and protection of terrestrial and aquatic habitats in the reserve and the surrounding landscape in order to maintain healthy ecosystems.

In 2006, the Watershed Assistance Center changed its name to the Freshwater Conservation Program to more accurately reflect WPC’s mission.

Later that month, WPC is among the hosts of the Land Trust Alliance’s Rally 2008: National Land Conservation Conference, the largest land conservation training and networking event in America.

Landowners Richard and Miriam Williams amend an existing conservation easement, originally donated to WPC in 2009, to include an additional 146 acres atop Jacks Mountain in Granville Township, Mifflin County.

Fallingwater’s 75th anniversary is celebrated throughout 2011, honoring the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the Kaufmann family who commissioned the project.

A culvert replacement project in the Allegheny National Forest, which began in 2012, continues.

In February 2013, the conservancy purchased 100 acres that were conveyed to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

In 2014, WPC plans to plant 32 more trees in the city.

As part of its ongoing commitment to help conserve land along Western Pennsylvania’s portion of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail, WPC protects more than 138 acres adjacent to WPC’s Casselman River Conservation Area in 2015.

WPC’s work to conserve French Creek, documented as having the highest level of aquatic biodiversity of any stream of its size in the Northeastern United States, continues in 2016.

The project’s goal is to plant 1,200 new trees, including redbuds, evergreens, and complimentary trees, by spring 2017.