The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has announced a combined investment of $4.25 million awarded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation for Appalachians conservation.

The commitment includes a four-year, $4 million revolving fund designed to enable large-scale protection of critical ecosystems in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the broader Central Appalachians landscape such as the Kittatinny Ridge, the Allegheny Front, and the Canaan Valley, which in turn will help improve water quality, preserve biodiversity, restore forests, and build climate resiliency. In addition, TNC will receive a $250,000 activation grant to advance existing preserves by improving visitor access, adding interpretative signage, and facilitating future community benefits along a roughly 30,000-acre protected corridor stretching from the Allegheny Front into the Canaan Valley.

“Our identities and well-being are intrinsically connected to the natural spaces around us. They provide indispensable resources, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, protection from climate change, and so much more,” said Thomas Minney, TNC state director in West Virginia. “Protecting the lands and waters that care for us will help our local economies thrive, which is why this gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation is poised to make such an immediate, positive impact.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/krblokhin)