By Jenn Teson, Vice President of Operations & Conservation
What is the Susquehanna Riverlands Conservation Landscape
In 2010, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources designated the Susquehanna Riverlands as the 7th conservation landscape in Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna Riverlands Conservation Landscape, or SRCL, encompasses the municipalities that border the Susquehanna River in Lancaster and York counties. At 49,400 acres, the SRCL is the smallest conservation landscape, but this allows us to grow strong partnerships forged by the river.
The SRCL is a collaboration of communities and organizations working to protect land, steward natural and cultural resources, connect people with natural spaces, and promote sustainable economic development. The Conservancy serves as external lead of the SRCL in partnership with DCNR (the internal lead). The SRCL leadership team consists of the Conservancy, DCNR, Lancaster and York Planning Commissions, State Parks, and Susquehanna National Heritage Area. We meet quarterly to promote collaboration among partners, discuss high priority projects, and ensure our strategic plan is implemented.
Susquehanna Riverlands Conservation LandscapeSince 2004, Pennsylvania’s Conservation Landscape Program has been using place-based partnerships to drive strategic investments and actions around sustainability, conservation, community revitalization, and recreation. Each of the eight conservation landscapes are as unique as their local natural and human communities, but they also share certain similarities. We are all driven by values of conservation, sustainability, and community engagement, while investments by DCNR connect and support these initiatives.
One thing sets the SRCL apart from the other conservation landscapes and underscores the reason why the Conservancy is the external lead: land protection. The other conservation landscapes boast significant amounts of state-owned public land, but the SRCL only has 3,500 acres of state-owned public land, and 1,000 of those acres include the new Susquehanna Riverlands State Park, added in 2022, which the Conservancy helped to protect. In contrast, the Conservancy owns over 5,200 acres of publicly accessible natural land in the SRCL, and thanks to investments from DCNR and other partners, that number continues to grow every year. The critical need for land protection in this region, manifested in the pivotal PPL Project to protect thousands of acres of utility lands, was the primary reason for the designation of the Susquehanna Riverlands as a conservation landscape.
Integrated Land Management Plan
Nearly a decade after our inception, we identified a need to convene all public landowners and managers together in an effort to collaboratively and holistically steward the natural lands of the SRCL. An outcome of our last strategic plan was the 2020 Integrated Land Management Plan (ILMP), which enhanced partnerships between land managers, utility companies, user groups, municipalities, and resource providers. Since then the Conservancy has worked with partners to implement the next steps of the plan, including our first conservation area master plan for the Hellam Hills in 2022. The ILMP partners are just getting our proverbial feet wet, and we look forward to working collaboratively toward a better future for land management.
SRCL Mini-Grants
Keystone Trails Association Conestoga Trail work supported by an SRCL Mini-Grant
Mini-grants are an essential part of the mission of conservation landscapes, and the SRCL is no different. Mini-grant funding is financed by a grant to the Conservancy from the DCNR Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund. We announced 2024 SRCL Mini-Grant funding in mid-March, and applications are due July 1. With $50,000 to award in the form of small grants ranging from $2,500 to $25,000, we look for projects that support strategic priorities of the SRCL.
Projects selected for 2023 SRCL Mini-Grant funding include enhanced environmental education programming, expanded parking for the Enola Low Grade Rail Trail, and a feasibility study for new trail connections in York County.
This year, we are also partnering with the Lancaster Clean Water Partners, who manage the Clean Water Fund, to streamline application questions and timelines. Organizations with projects that may be a good fit for both the Clean Water Fund and the Susquehanna Riverlands Mini-Grant programs can now more easily apply to both funding sources.
Why Protect the SRCL
The Susquehanna River is an important recreational and environmental resource. It provides drinking water, places to boat and swim, and habitat for wildlife. It is also a defining and beautiful feature of our landscape. By conserving the wildlands along the river, we are protecting the health of the Susquehanna and the human, plant, and animal communities that appreciate and rely on it.
The Conservancy is proud to serve as external lead of the SRCL. Landscape-level collaborative initiatives like the SRCL are immensely beneficial to the health, vibrancy, and success of our community and environment. Thank you to all our partners in conservation, recreation, and community engagement who make the SRCL such a special place to call home.
