Description
Adjoined by state conservation lands and in close proximity to Hyner View State Park (a popular hang gliding area), The Nature Conservancy's West Branch Forest Preserve is nestled within an area many consider to be a recreational paradise.
In addition to supporting opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, the preserve serves as a research and demonstration project for sustainable forestry, earning Forest Stewardship Council® FSC®-C008922 certification—the global gold standard for forest management—in 2008. Since then, TNC has implemented many activities designed to restore degraded forest and establish new, high-quality early and late-successional forest at the preserve.
TNC purchased the 3,034-acre West Branch tract from a private owner because it connected with existing state-owned holdings in the Sproul State Forest and Bucktail Natural Area to connect a total of 18,000 acres.