100 Acres Protected: The Zisko Tract Joins William Penn State Forest
Heritage Conservancy is proud to announce the permanent preservation of the Zisko Tract, a nearly 100-acre forested property in Springfield Township, Bucks County. Heritage Conservancy facilitated the grant application and administration that made the acquisition possible, ultimately transferring ownership to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Bureau of Forestry, where the land will become part of the William Penn State Forest.
Forest trails at Zisko property
A Critical Piece of a Much Larger Forest
The Zisko Tract is entirely wooded and undeveloped, with seeps, springs, and wetlands that feed directly into the Cooks Creek Watershed. But its real significance is its location: Zisko sits within the largest contiguous block of forest in Bucks County, a span of nearly 20,000 acres that includes Nockamixon State Park. Protecting this property helps secure a permanently protected forested corridor connecting the Cooks Creek Watershed to Nockamixon State Park. This is a vital greenway for the wildlife that depend on large, connected tracts of forest to survive.
This property also sits adjacent to a 92-acre farm conservation easement. It extends an existing block of more than 1,000 contiguous acres of preserved land in central Springfield Township.
View from Zisko property
Why Interior Forest Matters
According to Katie Toner, Heritage Conservancy’s Easement Stewardship Manager, what makes Zisko especially valuable is the type of forest it protects. The property is almost entirely wooded (aside from a meadow strip running through a utility right-of-way), and it’s surrounded by more forested land.
“We’re protecting interior forest, which can be hard to find these days,” says Toner. “They attract a different set of species, especially birds, than edge habitats. The fact that this property has a combination of forest interior, forest edge, and native wildflowers/grassland means that it has a great variety of habitats to offer our native wildlife. It also means that there is still a lot of potential and need for protection on the surrounding forest too, so that the interior forest stays interior.”
The property’s value isn’t limited to habitat. Zisko spans both the Cooks Creek Watershed and the Nockamixon-Haycock Watershed, two water resources that Heritage Conservancy and its partners have prioritized for protection for years. Keeping the property forested helps safeguard water quality in both watersheds. And with the land now in the hands of the PA Bureau of Forestry, it also opens the door to public recreation.
A Long Time Coming
This project has been years in the making. The acquisition was made possible through funding from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, PA DCNR, PA Bureau of Forestry, and the PA Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, alongside Heritage Conservancy. Heritage Conservancy facilitated the grant application and administration throughout the process, ultimately transferring ownership to PA DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry. This was a fee simple sale, meaning full ownership of the land changed hands, rather than a conservation easement placed on land that remains privately owned.
“I am incredibly thankful to the Ziskos and our funding partners at DCNR, Bureau of Forestry, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, and US Fish & Wildlife for their patience, support, and commitment throughout this conservation effort,” said Kim Johnson, Resource Protection Specialist at Heritage Conservancy. “Their shared dedication made the permanent protection of this property possible.”
With the Zisko Tract now permanently protected, Bucks County’s forested greenway grows a little larger and a little more connected, ensuring this land, its water, and its wildlife are protected for generations to come.
