As part of our mission to care for all of Creation, we partnered with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to contribute 105 acres of land to Laurel Ridge State Park.
“The Sisters of St. Joseph are grateful for this opportunity to partner with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy,” says Sister Mary Pellegrino. “We are pleased that this partnership allows us to advance our mission to preserve our natural resources, respect all of God’s creation and contribute to the sustainability of Earth.”
The land, which was gifted to our Congregation in the early 1970s, contains the watershed for that area and will help the Conservancy preserve wildlife and natural resources. The park spans a total of 13,730 acres across Cambria, Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland counties and provides opportunities for hiking, cross-country skiing and bird watching.
In a news release, the Conservancy says the additional land “will protect the water quality in important local, recreational fisheries in the North Fork of the Mill Creek watershed, which is a sub-watershed of Loyalhanna Creek. There is more than 3,400 feet of stream frontage on the property.”