Pittsburgh, Pa. – January 6, 2025 – Forested land along the Allegheny River is now permanently protected thanks to a conservation easement donation from Randall Gustafson on 28 acres of his property in Pleasant and Watson townships, Warren County.

The property has 2,200 feet of frontage on the Allegheny River, which is Pennsylvania’s 2024 River of the Year, and is adjacent to a large section of the Allegheny National Forest, thus providing habitat connectivity from the ANF to the Allegheny River for aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.

This section of the Allegheny River is a Pennsylvania Water Trail and federally designated as a Wild and Scenic River. Thompson Island, which the Conservancy helped ANF acquire in 1966, is located upstream of the property in the Allegheny Islands Wilderness.

The property will remain privately owned by Mr. Gustafson, who grew up on the land where his family hunted, fished, picnicked and hiked for decades. His donation to the Conservancy honors his father, Russell, who taught him the importance of respecting nature, sustainable forestry and caring for the region’s natural heritage.

“It was important to my family that our property remained natural forever,” says Mr. Gustafson as he reflected on how his father, who was a lumberman and community leader, also taught him how to fish on the banks of the Allegheny. “My wife and I taught our kids how to fish here, too, so it’s reassuring that the legacy of this special place will continue to endure long after I’m gone.”

Since the 1980s, his family property has been enrolled in Pennsylvania’s Clean and Green program, which provides incentives for landowners to keep their land agricultural or forested.

“Protecting my land with a conservation easement was the logical next step for us, especially knowing that one day the land could be open to the public and always accessible to future generations of my family,” he adds.

Also known as permanent deed-restriction agreements, conservation easements limit future development and subdivision, and are tailored to meet specific landowner needs and conservation goals. The Conservancy will be responsible for monitoring the easement to ensure the land remains natural and undeveloped, and conservation values are protected in perpetuity.

“This donation of a conservation easement along the Allegheny River is a wonderful and important gift from the Gustafson family,” said Tom Saunders, president and CEO of the Conservancy. “We thank them for their generosity to ensure that their land along the Allegheny remains undeveloped.”

The Conservancy welcomes inquiries from landowners interested in learning more about donating conservation easements or other conservation options. For more information, please contact the Conservancy at 412-288-2777 or land@paconserve.org.

 

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About the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy:
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) enhances the region by protecting and restoring exceptional places. A private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932, WPC has helped establish 11 state parks, conserved more than 290,000 acres of natural lands, protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams, and assessed thousands of wildlife species and their habitats. The Conservancy owns and operates Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and symbolizes people living in harmony with nature. In addition, WPC enriches our region’s cities and towns through 130 community gardens and other green spaces and thousands of trees that are planted with the help of more than 7,000 volunteers. The work of the Conservancy is accomplished through the support of more than 10,000 members. For more information, visit WaterLandLife.org or Fallingwater.org.

Media Contact:
Carmen Bray
Senior Director of Communications
412-586-2358, work
cbray@paconserve.org