The Florence Shelly Preserve boasts fields, woodlands, a stream and a glacial pond surrounded by a floating bog. The former owner of the property, Florence Shelly, spearheaded its protection by assembling a team of citizen naturalists and volunteer professors from SUNY Binghamton to take an inventory. They found a lot of biological diversity, including a rare red alga, and insectivorous sundew and pitcher plants. The Shelly family donated the land to The Nature Conservancy in the 1980s. Later, the purchase of nearby Plew's Swamp completed the preserve.
Location
Route 171 in Susquehanna County, one mile north of Thompson Borough
Threats
Over browsing by deer Pathogens such as hemlock wooly adelgid and emerald ash borer. Invasion by non-native invasive plants.
What’s at Stake
In addition to the rare red alga, Florence Shelly and local volunteers identified other species at the preserve, including insectivorous sundew and pitcher plants, black bears, otters, hummingbirds and great-horned owls.
Milestones
The Shelley family donated the property to TNC in the early 1980s. TNC’s acquisition of nearby Plew's Swamp in the late 1990s completed the preserve.