Dear Friends,
AN AMAZING RESPONSE
This week, over 160 of you have responded with online gifts totaling over $35,000 that will be put to work immediately, protecting and restoring our natural lands. Nature is blessed by your gifts!
A STORY ABOUT TREES
In Southern Lancaster County, a township road winds its way through Fishing Creek Nature Preserve. This unpaved road allows our community easy access to explore the ravine’s stately old hemlocks and pools perfect for fishing. But it’s a mixed blessing. This public road has also allowed for this special place to become a haven for illegal off-road activity such as mudding and uphill climbs. These unlawful behaviors destroy the sensitive riparian and wetland habitats that the Conservancy strives to protect.
Blow down and debris were moved to help protect the newly planted trees. Photos: Brandon TennisWhy share this story on Arbor Day? Because just this week, our team planted over 150 new trees and installed new obstacles that provide 2,000 feet of boundary protection along the roadway and restore 9,000 square feet of this fragile ecosystem. These trees are more than just a sign of habitat restoration, they’re a symbol of resistance, resilience, and regeneration.
A CELEBRATION & A COMMITMENT
Today we celebrate this victory at Fishing Creek and Arbor Day by offering a free native tree when you give a gift online before midnight Saturday! We will deliver a flowering dogwood or eastern redbud sapling to your home in Lancaster County as soon as travel is permitted. *
Photo to left: Flowering Dogwood. Photo to right: Eastern RedbudWhen you plant a native tree in your own yard and support the Conservancy, you agree that we can heal this broken planet. Your action is a sign that our community is committed to the long game of protecting what really matters for the next generation.
With gratitude,
Phil Wenger, President
Lancaster Conservancy
P.S. Yesterday, a local family foundation called me and offered an additional $10,000 match for Arbor Day. Please consider a gift to help us achieve our new, higher goal of $50,000 to restore and protect amazing places like Fishing Creek.
*Trees are provided by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Keystone 10 Million Tree Partnership
Cover photo by Michelle Johnsen Photography
