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The Nature Conservancy receives $2.5 million gift to protect Pennsylvania forests and parks around the world

Funds from private donor support new forest conservation and restoration endowment

HARRISBURG, PA—Longtime Nature Conservancy member and supporter Don Hamer recently donated $2.5 million to protect lands, waters, and natural areas in Pennsylvania and around the world. The gift will provide funding for the creation of the chapter’s Donald Hamer Pennsylvania Forest Conservation and Restoration Fund, help protect habitat at West Branch Wilderness in Pennsylvania’s North Central Highlands, and support the Conservancy’s international World Parks program.

West Branch Wilderness © Charles DeCurtis / TNC

“This is a significant gift that will have a long-lasting effect on our ability to protect the woods, waters and wildlife of Pennsylvania and elsewhere for generations to come,” said Bill Kunze, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Pennsylvania.  “Don is the kind of forward-thinking member who is crucial to the success of The Nature Conservancy.  His support allows us to continuously seek new ways to restore balance between the needs of nature and the needs of people.”

“It gives me great pleasure to support The Nature Conservancy and help protect land in the West Branch Wilderness,” said Mr. Hamer. “This gift is a wonderful way to support my interests in conservation, as well as community and economic development. Creation of the Pennsylvania Forest Conservation and Restoration Fund will preserve this magnificent landscape and also offer local economic opportunities to the community.”

Home to the state’s most rugged and wild lands, Pennsylvania’s North Central Highlands is the most contiguously forested region between New York City and Chicago. The Conservancy’s West Branch Wilderness preserve near Williamsport consists of deep forested ravines, beautiful mountain views, and two excellent native trout streams. Vistas on the property afford an unspoiled view that stretches for approximately 50 miles across mountains to the northwest and southeast. Located beside Hyner View State Park, a popular hang gliding area, this wilderness is a recreational paradise.

Partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the North Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy is using forest restoration and land acquisition to protect these lands for future generations to enjoy.  Most of the forests in the region have been cut over and replanted several times. They have been further weakened by disease and invasive species, resulting in forests that are severely fragmented and degraded. The Conservancy is working to restore the health of these forests and their historic composition.  This includes planting hybrid American chestnut trees, which are resistant to the blight, an invasive pathogen from Asia, which reduced this species to a fraction of its historic range. The American chestnut once covered millions of acres on the East Coast. 

In addition to protecting the forests of Pennsylvania, this gift will be used to support The Nature Conservancy’s World Parks program.  In 2004, governments of 188 nations around the world agreed to an ambitious pledge: to create a global network of parks and protected areas by 2012.  As a result, the Nature Conservancy launched the World Parks & Protected Areas Fund to support these governments and communities in creating strong, sustainable regional and national park systems connected across the world. By working with local communities, as well as national governments in efforts to conserve lands and waters, the Conservancy is forging close partnerships to ensure a future where people and nature thrive.

Born in Illinois and now a resident of Bellefonte, Don traces his family roots back 200 years to Huntington County, Pennsylvania.  He earned engineering degrees from the University of Illinois and Penn State, as well as an MBA from the University of Chicago. Don founded his own company, State of the Art, Inc., based in State College, which manufactures microelectronics components.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/pennsylvania.