DCNR to Designate Duff Park and Robison Acres as Wild Plant Sanctuaries

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will designate Duff Park in Murrysville, Westmoreland County, and Robison Acres, a private property in Washington County, as Pennsylvania Wild Plant sanctuaries in a public ceremony on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Murrysville Municipal Building, 4100 Sardis Road, Murrysville.

"When it comes to conservation, it's important to have good role models," DCNR Secretary John Quigley said. "We are pleased to recognize these landowners for their voluntary work protecting our diversity of plants, and happy to point to them as examples for others to follow."

Duff Park is an extraordinary place located less than 20 miles east of Pittsburgh. Murrysville's first community park, this 147-acre conservation-oriented park occupies a forested hillside above Turtle Creek. The park supports over 60 species of wildflowers and rare old growth woodlands that draw a steady stream of visitors to its five miles of trails.

Robison Acres encompasses 33 acres owned by John and Betty Robison. It is mostly wooded with oak, hickory and varieties of maple including black maple. A spring-fed stream provides a home for salamanders, frogs and even a few snapping turtles. Its woods and fields support Christmas and maidenhair ferns, Solomon's seal, wild columbine, butterfly weed, penstemon and a long list of other native plants.

The Wild Plant Sanctuary Program was created through the Wild Resource Conservation Act of 1982 to establish a voluntary statewide network of native plant sanctuaries. Landowners agree to protect the area and educate others about the importance of native and wild plants and habitats. In return, they receive assistance with a management plan if needed, and have access to technical assistance and ecological checkups.

Other wild plant sanctuaries include a 7.6-acre property owned by Michael and Barbara Yavorosky in Lackawanna and Wayne Counties, designated in June 2009, and the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, a 500-acre site near Millersburg that was designated on July 22, 2010.

For more information about the Wild Plant Sanctuary Program, contact DCNR's Bureau of Forestry at 717-787-3444, email [email protected], or visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant.

Media contact: Terry Brady, 717-772-9101

Editor's Note: Directions to Murrysville Municipal Building, 4100 Sardis Road, Murrysville, PA. From exit 57 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike I-76 take US-22 East for 3.4 miles to Vincent Hall Road. Follow Vincent Hall Rd. north for about 3 miles to the municipal building on the left.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources