Through its partnership with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, Northampton County recently received a Highlands Conservation Act grant to acquire 43 acres of land in the Borough of Stockertown.
The Highlands Conservation Act provides permanent federal funding through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect land in designated areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
The property that will be acquired features a great blue heron rookery—a place where these iconic birds gather, build nests, and raise their young.
“This high-resource value acquisition demonstrates a strategic partnership approach to protect important natural areas to sustain a variety of fish, wildlife, and plant species, including at-risk species in the high-quality Bushkill Creek Watershed,” said Sherry Acevedo, Conservation Coordinator at Northampton County Parks and Recreation.
The land protection is especially valued because of high development pressure in the region.
“In the past decade, Northampton County has experienced exponential growth in large-scale warehouse and logistics development, eliminating open space and farmland in the county at a record pace,” said Lamont G. McClure, Northampton County Executive. “Our acquisition protects the land from development and conserves the agricultural, environmentally sensitive habitat, and trail connections in the Bushkill Creek Watershed.”
All communities in the Pennsylvania Highlands are eligible to receive funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for conservation projects. For more information, contact Dan Pierce, Highlands Program Specialist at the Pennsylvania Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
