Building on a Legacy of Conservation

Significance of the Upper Allegheny Watershed Region

This region is a 7,600 square mile mosaic of wilderness, working forests, wetlands and farmland that supports some of the most diverse, productive and scenic forests and rivers in the eastern United States.

It includes the French Creek watershed, the most biologically diverse stream of its size in Pennsylvania or any state in the northeastern United States, and two federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers – the Allegheny River and the Clarion River.

WPC’s Longstanding Work to Protect the Upper Allegheny Region

The Conservancy began protecting land in this region in 1955 with the purchase of an 18-acre property, and to date we have protected 93,813 acres there. Our watershed conservation staff has also been active in the region, proactively restoring hundreds of miles of rivers and streams within its watersheds.

Impacts to the Pittsburgh Region and Beyond

Land and water protected in the Upper Allegheny Watershed region not only ensures the ecological health of the region itself, but the headwaters that originate here flow downstream to benefit Pittsburgh and beyond, as illustrated in the video.