The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

West Branch Wilderness © George C. Gress/TNC

As the largest non-profit conservation organization in the world, the mission of The Nature Conservancy is to conserve plant and animal biodiversity by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

Hunters and conservationists have a long history of alliance and shared interest: protecting habitat for game also means protecting ecosystems. Our organization is membership-based and dependent on donations for a large portion of our operating budget. We would greatly appreciate your membership to The Conservancy in support of our mission and our efforts to provide hunters with increased hunting opportunities at no charge.

Please join The Nature Conservancy and sign up today – we value the support of the hunting community.

The Nature Conservancy has protected tens of thousands of acres in Pennsylvania through the help of its members, conservation partners, and hunting and fishing organizations.

Some of this land has been transferred to public agencies such as the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry and Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The public agencies that now own and manage these lands generally allow hunting according to state laws.

Hunting and fishing are permitted on several Nature Conservancy preserves. We consider several factors when determining what activities to permit on any Conservancy land.

• First and foremost, we consider whether an activity will damage — or in some cases improve — the natural resource values we sought to protect.
• The Conservancy also considers community values, safety, and management issues.

We encourage hunting in many places in Pennsylvania as a management tool to improve forest health where game populations have grown beyond the forest’s capacity to support them. Pennsylvania hunting licenses are required to hunt Conservancy preserves. Special restrictions apply to hunting on some of our preserves and written permission may be required as well.

By enrolling preserves in Pennsylvania Game Commission programs such as the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP), the Conservancy receives assistance on policing illegal activities such as ATV trespass that damage the natural resources that the preserves protect.

For more information about these properties and/or DMAP, please contact Molly Anderson, Volunteer Program Manager, at molly_anderson@tnc.org, or at (717) 418-9518.

Check The Nature Conservancy sites that are open for hunting in PA