Pittsburgh, Pa. – April 30, 2020 – The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy will partner with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and four other conservation partners on a project to improve water quality and aquatic habitat in Buffalo Creek, a high-quality watershed and Important Bird Area in Allegheny, Butler and Armstrong counties.

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On April 17, 2020, $1.17 million in grant funding was awarded to the Audubon Society from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service 2019 Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The society says the multiyear project aims to achieve 1,000 acres of improved land and cleaner water, and more than 120 acres of preserved farmland in southwestern Pennsylvania.

WPC’s watershed conservation program scientists and specialists are no strangers to working with partners and landowners in the Buffalo Creek drainage. Through a variety of past and ongoing projects, staff worked with various partners, including the PA Department of Environmental protection and PA Fish and Boat Commission, to conduct aquatic and macroinvertebrate surveys and address sediment pollution resulting from highly eroded streambanks.

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Tye Desiderio, a WPC watershed specialist, says preserving Buffalo Creek for future generations is why this work and partnerships are so important.

“WPC is pleased to partner with the Audubon Society and Buffalo Creek Watershed Conservation Alliance to do streambank restoration projects and aquatic surveys focused on at-risk species in the Buffalo Creek watershed in Armstrong and Butler counties. The grant will support WPC’s and other project partners’ work with private landowners throughout the watershed to improve water quality, and forest and aquatic habitats. These projects will increase conservation practices on private lands,” adds Tye.

The other project partners include the American Chestnut Foundation-PA, Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Duquesne University, Butler County Conservation District and Armstrong Conservation District. Project funding will be split amongst the project partners.

Learn more about WPC’s watershed conservation program. For more information about this effort and the project partners, visit the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania’s website.

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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 to establish 11 state parks, conserved more than a quarter million acres of natural lands and protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams. The Conservancy owns and operates Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, now on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which symbolizes people living in harmony with nature. In addition, WPC enriches our region’s cities and towns through 132 community gardens and other green spaces that are planted with the help of more than 11,000 volunteers. The work of WPC is accomplished through the support of more than 9,000 members. For more information, visit WaterLandLife.org or Fallingwater.org.

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