The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Spectra Energy Corp, headquartered in Houston, Texas, has awarded $45,000 to The Nature Conservancy to help advance the Conservancy’s forestry and freshwater work in Pennsylvania.

The Nature Conservancy has been working to protect Pennsylvania’s lands and waters for over 50 years. Today its forest conservation program is working in several landscapes to help private and public landowners sustainably manage, restore and protect Pennsylvania’s most ecologically valuable forests. Meanwhile, the Conservancy’s freshwater program is helping restore more natural river flows and conserving important floodplain areas across the state for the benefit of both nature and people.

Part of the gift will support the Working Woodlands project - an innovative program to help landowners protect their lands while gaining access to markets for sustainably managed forest products and credits for the increased carbon sequestration that results from sustainable management and restoration practices. Focus will be on developing a forest carbon inventory and management plan at the Conservancy’s recent purchase on Brush Mountain in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

The remaining funds will advance the Conservancy’s efforts to protect and restore floodplains, river flows and fish passage in the Susquehanna River.

“Spectra Energy strives to be the partner of choice, and we believe this is best accomplished by investing in the communities where we live and operate,” said Bill Yardley, group vice president, Spectra Energy Transmission, Northeast. “We have a longstanding relationship with The Nature Conservancy and are pleased to offer these funds in support of continuing conservation efforts in Pennsylvania, where we have established, large-scale operations and several hundred employees living and working in various communities throughout the state.”