Section 2. Schuylkill Resources That Need Protection or Enhancement
WATERSHED
GREENWAYS AND CONSERVATION LANDS
In 1815, the City of Philadelphia created the Fairmount Water Works to provide
water supplies for the City. To protect its water quality, the City purchased
a large estate upstream of the Water Works that was the beginning of Fairmount
Park. Now nearly 190 years later, a similar concept has been proposed for
the entire Schuylkill watershed. The Schuylkill Watershed Conservation Plan
calls for a minimum of 200,000 acres to be permanently conserved during the
next 20 years.
The resulting network of conservation lands would include streamside areas,
steep slopes, habitats of rare and endangered species, major blocks of forests,
farmland, exceptional value tributaries, and designated scenic river corridors.
Protecting those lands would form a system of greenway nodes and corridors
throughout the watershed.
In 2000, the Commonwealth adopted Pennsylvania’s Greenways: An Action Plan for Creating Connections, calling for a distinguishable greenway network throughout Pennsylvania by the year 2020. Nonprofits working with government will play an important role in that effort. For example, Natural Lands Trust and its partners are developing a Smart Conservation program that will help policy-makers and practitioners establish conservation priorities. Similarly, the Montgomery County Lands Trust works with local land trusts and elected officials to identify common goals. These collaborative efforts are models for the future.
Figure
19.
Status of Land Protection in Selected Counties
Source: GreenSpace Alliance Summer 2000 Newsletter
Philadelphia metropolitan counties vary in percentage of lands permanently protected for conservation purposes. Total acres portray the size of each county. Acres protected are for the entire county (and therefore include lands outside of the watershed). Protected lands include those owned by federal, state and local government, and nonprofit organizations.
Site Design: Tevlin & Clarke
