The Lancaster Farmland Trust strives to preserve precious farmland.

The Lancaster County Conservancy aims to protect open lands through conservation and other tools.

The organizations have joined forces for a project in Caernarvon Township that will accomplish both objectives.

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the nonprofit organizations have linked to repair a streambank on the Conestoga River in the township's Historic Poole Forge. That section of the Conestoga is near its headwaters.

"Coordinating our efforts with the Lancaster County Conservancy allows us to think holistically to protect critical Lancaster County landscapes," says Stephanie Smith, municipal outreach coordinator for Lancaster Farmland Trust.

The very visible restoration will be a demonstration site with the aim of enticing landowners and farmers to plant vegetative buffers to improve water quality and help wildlife in the northeastern part of the county.

The project, funded with a $330,000 two-year grant from the William Penn Foundation, empowers the two conservation organizations to pool resources to protect natural lands, farmland and trail corridors along streams in the Welsh Mountains.

The area is part of the "Highlands," a 3.5-million-acre tract that stretches from northwestern Connecticut to southeastern Pennsylvania. In Lancaster County, the Welsh Mountains and Furnace Hills are part of the Highlands and host the headwaters for a number of watersheds.

A federal-private effort to protect the area has been under way since 1992.

 Poole Forge was chosen by LCC and LFT because of its frequent use by the public. The 24-acre historic park and recreation area is owned by Caernarvon Township and managed by a nonprofit group.

The section of the river being restored is 200 feet long, runs beside a ballfield and includes an old mill dam.

In September, LCC crews removed dense mats of bush honeysuckle, a foreign invasive species, from the site. Then, from November into December, workers planted 64 native tree and shrub species along both sides of the river.

The plantings will grow to form a 35-foot-wide buffer that will stabilize the soil and create shelter and food for wildlife.

This spring, volunteers will plant another 400 "plugs" of water-loving trees directly onto the riverbank. And a mix of grasses will form a 6,000-square-foot vegetative buffer in the floodplain.

The trees eventually will shade the river, enhancing habitat for aquatic insects and fish. Fishing is a popular pastime at Poole Forge, notes Tom Stahl, LCC's director of stewardship.

Plantings also are being made on the mill dam.

In Colonial days, the Conestoga in this area was dammed, over time causing a backup of silt. This so-called "legacy sediment" is easily erodible, and there has been debate over whether it's best to plant on top of it or remove the soil to revert back to the original streambed.

Stahl notes that Historic Poole Forge officials did not want excessive site disturbance. Fortunately, he says, the internationally acclaimed Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County has successfully reforested riparian buffers in legacy sediment. LFT and LCC will use the center's methods as a guide.

Once the plantings are complete, signs will call attention to the benefits of riparian buffers.

Even though the demonstration area is not yet finished, LFT and LCC have already begun their educational pitch.

In July, the groups held a workshop at Shady Maple Restaurant for landowners in the Highlands region.

Soon there will be a living, teeming streamside strip at Poole Forge to show what can be accomplished.

"It will, hopefully, educate the public to convince them that they can do that on their own property," says Stahl.
acrable@lnpnews.com