SALFORD TOWNSHIP PA – William Penn State Forest, parts of which are found in Berks, Chester, Bucks, and Delaware counties, will expand into a portion of Montgomery County thanks to new funding.
An $884,700 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, announced Wednesday (Oct. 11, 2023), will enable the non-profit Natural Lands Trust to buy 679 acres along Upper Ridge Road in Salford and Marlborough townships. It will be preserved as part of the currently more than 1,500 acre state forest, named for Pennsylvania’s founder.
The grant came from the department’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program. It is intended to help pay for planning, acquisition and development of public parks, recreation areas, trails, and other spaces and uses. Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, representing the state’s 24th Senate District that includes most of western Montgomery and northern Berks counties, made the announcement.
The forest also consists of Gibraltar Hill, northwest of Birdsboro; the George Wertz Tract, south of Robesonia; the Buck Hollow and Hopewell tracts, near Elverson; the Ruth Zimmerman Natural Area, west of Oley; the Honey Brook Tract, south of Honey Brook; the Goat Hill Public Wild Plant Sanctuary, southwest of Nottingham; the David R. Johnson Natural Area, north of New Hope; Little Tinnicum Island Natural Area, in the Delaware River south of Philadelphia; and the Cornwall Tract near Cornwall.
Pennycuick described the park as “a natural treasure that protects and conserves unique ecosystems.”
Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash, used by Travels With The Post under license
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