Nature Conservancy Dedicates Donald Hamer Pennsylvania Forest Conservation and Restoration Fund
Funds from private donor support new forest conservation and restoration endowment
HARRISBURG, PA – The Nature Conservancy today honored one of its strongest Pennsylvania supporters for his commitment to conservation and his vision to restore and protect forests in the commonwealth and around the world.
Longtime Nature Conservancy member Don Hamer recently donated $2.5 million to protect lands, forests and natural areas. The gift provides funding for the creation of the chapter’s Donald Hamer Pennsylvania Forest Conservation and Restoration Fund to help protect habitat at West Branch Wilderness in Pennsylvania’s North Central Highlands and to support the Conservancy’s international World Parks program.
(Left to Right) Bill Kunze, Pa. State Director for the Nature Conservancy, shakes hands with Don Hamer and his wife Marca,during the unveiling ceremony.
© Patrick von Keyserling / TNC |
Hamer was honored with a plaque affixed to The Nature Conservancy’s 75 year-old craftsman-style stone cabin, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, nestled in the middle of an 80 year-old spruce grove at West Branch Wilderness Preserve.
Following the dedication ceremony and comments by Michael Andrew, the Conservancy’s Chief Conservation Officer, guests were led on a hike through the preserve’s forest laboratory where the
Conservancy is helping to restore the American chestnut population with a hybrid bred to be more resistant to the blight, an invasive pathogen from Asia, which reduced this species to a fraction of its historic range. The American chestnut, a keystone Pennsylvania species, once covered millions of acres on the East Coast.
Through the Hamer fund, Exelon Corp. and other individuals and corporations, the Conservancy is assisting The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) by providing an orchard for developing blight-resistant chestnuts, and eventually by replanting them in key locations. Additionally, scientists are conducting a landscape analysis of preferred chestnut sites to help ensure the successful reintroduction of American chestnut throughout the region.
“This is a significant initiative 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’s support allows us to continuously seek new ways to restore balance between the needs of nature and the needs of people.”
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.
Partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 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 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.
In addition to protecting the forests of Pennsylvania, this gift will 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, Mr. Hamer 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. Mr. Hamer 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 nearly one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States—including more than 40,000 acres in Pennsylvania —and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. For more information, visit nature.org/pennsylvania
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