CPC invites you to participate this month in the Partnership for Better Health's Match Madness campaign! Beginning this month, your donation will be matched with funds donated by M&T Bank and the Josiah W. & Bessie H. Kline Foundation, and, 100% will go to CPC if you select us as your recipient charity.

Proceeds from this campaign will support our spring launch of the Letort Spring Garden Preserve restoration initiative. We’re starting the first phase of ecological restoration to bring the site back to the flora and fauna that James LeTort may have encountered in the 1720’s. We’re rehabilitating the historic bank barn and springhouse listed currently on the National Register of Historic Places. We’re excited to keep expanding public access to the preserve and to add informative signs along the trails. Show your support for this work with a donation this month--we thank you in advance for your generosity!

*The easiest way to give is to DONATE ONLINE

*For more information about Match Madness, visit the CAMPAIGN PAGE.

CPC completed two strategic conservation easement projects in the 11th hour of 2020!

Click here for the press release about our collaboration with Diakon Wilderness Center to protect their 170 acres in South Mountain and to establish a trail easement that provides a new access point to the Appalachian Trail.

Click here for the press release about a 230-acre conservation easement in Franklin County that will ensure the perpetual protection of an extraordinary natural community that occurs almost nowhere else in PA.

In 1993, CPC accepted ownership of a 252-acre property on Herringbone Ridge in Juniata County, immediately west of Port Royal. Donated in memory of Brady Bryner Sr. by his five daughters, the preserve consists of a series of steep hills, trails, and hosts remarkable biodiversity.

The Bryner Preserve is managed for its exemplary habitat. CPC is currently enrolled in a Golden-Winged Warbler project offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and is developing a forest management plan, along with partnerships to advance forest stewardship goals.

With a recent grant approved by DCNR in late 2020, CPC is poised to protect the ecological integrity of this unique preserve by purchasing a critical inholding/addition, the 36-acre Crist Tract. The parcel includes a hardwood forest, a tributary to Tuscarora Creek, and is prime habitat for game species including turkey, deer, grouse, and bear. It is near to the Tuscarora Ridge Important Bird Area (the Pulpit).

The landowner of the Crist Tract has agreed to a bargain sale, accepting a price below fair market value. Though we have secured generous support from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resouces' Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, CPC must finance up to $20,000 to close on the property. This amount must be raised from donors and partner organizations. If you, your organization, or someone you know are in a position to support this project, please contact CPC Executive Director, Anna Yelk at ayelk@centralpaconservancy.org.

We are pleased to announce that the popular Ironmaster's Challenge is back for another challenging and fun trail adventure at Pine Grove Furnance State Park and Michaux State Forest. Thanks to all who participated in last September's 15k. This time, we're including the 50k distance, just like old times. Again, CPC will host this event in partnership with the Radio Club of York, Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club volunteers, Pretzel City Sports, Penn Township Fire Company, Yellow Breeches EMS, and our event sponsors and vendors to provide another challenging and fun experience at Pine Grove Furnance State Park and Michaux State Forest.

To commemorate their efforts CPC staff made homemade corndogs and funnel cakes.

The rapid rate at which volunteers removed the seed heads combined with the benefits these efforts confer to the wetland are clear signals of a successful event and are sure to make Cattails & Corndogs an annual tradition!