ClearWater Conservancy is planning to create a Community Conservation Center as it restores and preserves a historic farm property and streambank along a quarter-mile of Spring Creek in Houserville.
The nonprofit organization purchased the 9-acre Rockenbeck property at 1601 Houserville Road for $449,900 in August 2022, ensuring that it will be permanently conserved. In the fall of 2023, ClearWater launched the public phase of its $10 million Campaign to Connect, which will both “accelerate the pace and scope of local conservation efforts,” and support the creation of the Community Conservation Center in the heart of the Spring Creek Watershed.
Centre County commissioners on Jan. 9 unanimously endorsed a letter of support for ClearWater’s application for a state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for the project.
County Administrator John Franek said the organization is seeking a $4 million grant and already has $3 million in matching funds.
The project, Franek said, “will repurpose and renovate” the property’s historic barn and farmhouse, “and restore 10 acres of streamside and agricultural land to create a community hub for local conservation at the center of the Spring Creek Watershed.”
Renovated indoor facilities will provide office space, equipment storage and training areas, while outdoor demonstration areas will showcase best practices for restoring, conserving and stewarding land.
“Once complete the property will provide year-round opportunities for staff to collaborate with community members, homeowners, business owners and farmers,” Franek said.
The property also will serve as a “connectivity hub” for walking and biking routes.
Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Amber Concepcion said she and board Chair Mark Higgins visited the property in the fall.
“When we visited, they’re already doing a lot of this riparian buffer repair along the stream and they’ve been able to make a lot of improvements to the site,” Concepcion said. “There’s a lot of potential there.”
The property was purchased from the Rockenbeck and Umberger families, who have supported ClearWater’s restoration efforts on that portion of Spring Creek dating back to 2004, according to a 2022 news release.
Much of ClearWater’s work has focused on restoration and preservation in the Spring Creek Watershed, and other conservation initiatives near or directly connected to the Rockenbeck property include Thompson Woods, Walnut Springs Park, Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, Spring Creek Park and the Penn State Sheep Farm, according to the release.
“These ecosystems function best when streamside forests and land conservation projects are connected, especially as those properties with implemented riparian restoration and conservation efforts provide critical corridors for movement of wildlife,” the organization wrote.
The property has historical significance, as it “has close connections to Jacob Houser,” the namesake of Houserville and the land was also once “a major trading, hunting and fishing ground” for Indigenous people “prior to and during the time when the area was inhabited by settlers and utilized for agriculture and trading,” according to ClearWater.
