Venango Township, PA – December 22, 2025– The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy announced today the permanent protection of 74 forested acres in Venango Township, Erie County. The land has added to the Conservancy’s now 1,138-acre West Branch French Creek Natural Area.
The property is primarily forest and wetlands, with frontage on West Branch French Creek and an unnamed tributary. The conservation area includes a variety of upland and wetland areas and more than six miles of frontage along the West Branch. The contiguous forests, wetlands and streams provide important habitat for a diversity of plants and animals. The natural area is owned and managed by the Conservancy and open for free for hiking, birding, wildlife watching, exploring, hunting and fishing.
“Protecting French Creek and its tributaries continues to be of great conservation importance to the Conservancy,” says Tom Saunders, president and CEO of the Conservancy. “So, we’re pleased to have the opportunity to protect even more land along the West Branch French Creek and add to this popular conservation area.”
French Creek is the most biologically diverse stream of its size in Pennsylvania or any state in the northeastern United States, making its protection all the more important. French Creek and its tributaries provide habitat for five species of federally endangered and threatened freshwater mussels and other mussel species, as well as numerous fish species of greatest conservation need in the state.
To date, the Conservancy has protected more than 6,000 acres within the 1,250-square-mile French Creek watershed, starting with the Wattsburg Fen Natural Area in 1969.
Protection of this property was made possible through support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and Colcom Foundation. Funding from the Romesburg family and a bequest from an anonymous donor and other private donors were also used for this property acquisition.
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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 a quarter million 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