Press release by Cameron Weiser posted 18 December 2025
Photo courtesy of William Amos Photography, Open Space Institute
Since the Fall of 2023, the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy (CPC) has been working with landowners Jim, Jay, Joseph, and James Mowery to preserve their family’s 261-acre forested property near Newville, PA. Nestled in a notch in the Kittatinny Ridge known as Doubling Gap, the property features complex topography which contributes to a higher-than-average climate resilience and potential for absorption of atmospheric carbon. These ecosystem services are compounded by the site’s connectivity to other protected lands, specifically those of the Tuscarora State Forest. Connectivity with these preserved areas ensures large, contiguous blocks of forested land are available for the migration of wildlife, recharging of groundwater aquifers, sequestering of atmospheric carbon.
In addition to the natural qualities and resources described above, the property hosts an important recreational resource: a half-mile segment of the Tuscarora Trail. A unique characteristic of the trail segment protected by this easement is the presence of a stone bench and scenic overlook, very similar to that at the end of the popular Flat Rock Trail at Colonel Denning State Park.
As of Fall of 2025, all these public benefits have been preserved in perpetuity by a private conservation easement. The easement conveyed to CPC by these four landowners was acquired with funding from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Open Space Institute, and The Nature Conservancy.
Farmers, entrepreneurs, outdoorspeople, and life-long residents of Cumberland County, Jim, Jay, Joseph, and James are landowners deeply rooted in the lands and communities of the Central PA region. They decided to pursue a conservation easement to honor their family’s legacy of land stewardship while also capitalizing on formal preservation of the natural resources which they already planned to enhance and maintain. The conservation easement they conveyed to CPC limits disturbance of forest resources by requiring adherence to sustainable forestry practices, protects public access to the Tuscarora Trail, and restricts structural improvements to an established 17-acre building envelope as a means of reducing disturbance to the scenic and natural character of the land.
Settlement of the project occurred on November 19th, 2025, when the four brothers met with CPC President Anna Yelk, Executive Director Peggy Fogarty, and Land Protection Director Cameron Weiser to sign the easement documents for recording at the County Courthouse. The staff and volunteers at CPC are truly grateful for the patience and commitment demonstrated by the landowners throughout the project, and for the generous financial support of the funders and donors who helped transform the landowner’s positive intention into a lasting public benefit for current and future generations.
Project funding came in large part through a grant from the Open Space Institute’s Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund, which supports the protection of climate resilient lands for wildlife and communities. The Fund is made possible thanks to major support from the Doris Duke Foundation and additional funding from Lyndhurst, Riverview, and Tucker Foundations, and Jack McKee.
Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, specifically the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, supported the project with a generous grant award through the Community Conservation Partnership Program, the source of which is the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund.
Finally, key support for the project was received from The Nature Conservancy, which originally introduced CPC staff to the landowners to discuss opportunities for land preservation and later helped to cover a funding gap which threatened CPC’s ability to close on the project.
Preservation of this property would not have been possible without the cooperation of the four landowners and three generous funders described above, as well as the support of CPC’s donors. Thank you sincerely for your interest in land preservation, and for your support of CPC’s charitable mission to preserve land throughout Central Pennsylvania.
Doubling Gap Overlook, Central Pennsylvania Conservancy
Doubling Gap Trail, Photo courtesy of Bill Amos and the Open Space Institute
About Central Pennsylvania Conservancy
The Central Pennsylvania Conservancy is a member-supported, nonprofit land trust formed in 1982 with a mission to acquire, preserve, and protect land and natural resources in south central Pennsylvania. As a nationally accredited land trust, CPC strives to meet and exceed best standards and practices for protecting important natural places and working lands in perpetuity, including sound financial management, ethical organizational conduct, responsible governance, and lasting stewardship.
About the Open Space Institute
The Open Space Institute is a national leader in land conservation and efforts to make parks and other protected land more welcoming for all. Since 1974, OSI has partnered in the protection of more than 2.5 million at-risk and environmentally sensitive acres in the eastern U.S. OSI’s land protection promotes clean air and water, improves access to recreation, provides wildlife habitat, strengthens communities, and combats the devastating impacts of extreme weather.
