In January, Heritage Conservancy partnered with Moore Township, Northampton County, to preserve 24 acres of valuable woodlands and wildlife habitat. 

The newly preserved property consists of gentle to steep slopes covered in a valuable patchwork of natural features from meadow to forest. The combination of meadow, shrubland, young forest, and streams provides habitat for a diversity of insects and insectivores like birds, reptiles, and mammals while providing a diversity of nesting options for wildlife. 

This land contains important wildlife habitat, including upland forest, shrubland and meadow, and streams. Upland forests provide food and habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including many different types of invertebrates, nesting birds, terrestrial amphibians, and mammals.

The property’s meadows are valuable to pollinating insects and provide habitat to a different suite of birds than forests. 

Given that a substantial portion of the surrounding landscape has been converted to agricultural fields and lawns, intact tracts of forest like the ones on this property are invaluable to local wildlife.

Two streams flow through the western portion of the parcel. These streams and their banks are important to many insects, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians like the two-lined salamander that Heritage Conservancy staff found during the visit.

There are 1,023 feet of stream frontage along the East Branch of the Monocacy Creek, which is designated as a High Quality-Cold Water Fisheries stream by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The creek’s surface waters support the propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water.

Heritage serves as Holder of the conservation easement with Moore Township serving as the Co-Holder and sole funder through Township Open Space funds.