One of the most biodiverse regions in eastern North America, Pennsylvania’s Kittatinny Ridge, has been designated a Sentinel Landscape.
The landscape covers 1.9 million acres in central Pennsylvania and is anchored by Fort Indiantown Gap and Letterkenny Army Depot.
The Ridge is now one of 18 designated sentinel landscapes in the nation. It received the designation because of its key role in both military readiness and natural resource protection.
“Fort Indiantown Gap is home to the Pennsylvania National Guard and serves as one of the most active training centers for the National Guard and our armed forces – and the sentinel landscape designation cements its status as a critically important area for our national security,” said Governor Josh Shapiro.
Founded in 2013 by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and Interior, the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership’s mission is to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, bolster agricultural and forestry economies, increase public access to outdoor recreation, and enhance resilience to climate change.
Being designated as a sentinel landscape means federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-governmental organizations come together to work with willing landowners and land managers to advance sustainable, mutually beneficial land use practices around military installations.
Along with supporting military readiness, the new sentinel landscape will help fortify existing conservation efforts, protecting not just military training missions but natural habitats as well.
“In a study conducted by the Nature Conservancy, the Kittatinny Ridge was determined to be the most climate resilient landscape in Pennsylvania, providing an unbroken area for plants and animals to move to higher elevations as the climate gets increasingly warmer and habitats change,” said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn.
