The Conservation Fund
http://www.conservationfund.org
is a publicly supported 501(c) national, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting America's legacy of land and water. The Fund works in partnership with businesses, private landowners, and other nonprofit and public agencies. By integrating economic and environmental goals, the Fund seeks sustainable conservation solutions for the 21st century.

The Fund operates in 2 fundamental areas:

Sustainable Programs
The Fund leads several watershed initiatives. In Pennsylvania, the Fund coordinates the Schuylkill River Watershed Initiative www.srwi.org; others include the Seginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network and the Sustainable Everglades Initiative.

The Fund's sustainable conservation initiatives range from technology development through the Freshwater Institute; to stream corridor protection through the American Greenways Program; to landscape planning through the Land Advisory Service; to training, education and leadership through the Conservation Leadership Network.

Land Conservation
Since its inception in 1985, the Fund has purchased and protected more than 1.7 million acres (including over 4,800 acres in Pennsylvania) of land for state and national parks, wildlife refuges, historic sites and greenways across America. The land was purchased at an average cost of 37 cents on the dollar--the most efficient land conservation operation in the nation.

The Patrick Center for Environmental Research
at The Academy of Natural Sciences
http://www.acnatsci.org/research/pcer
The Patrick Center for Environmental Research (PCER) was established in 1947 to apply the results of basic research on the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems to important environmental problems, especially those of water pollution. The Patrick Center operates on the premise that basic and applied research programs conducted simultaneously can draw upon and provide support for each other. Frequently, the research conducted by PCER scientific staff results in creative advances in techniques applied to the consulting programs. This blend of basic and applied research allows the Patrick Center to offer important problem-solving capabilities to clients.

To date, the Patrick Center has assessed over 150 waterbodies, including over 800 river segments throughout the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. These studies have provided data on most major streams, lakes and estuaries in the U.S., as well as on many foreign water bodies. The studies carried out by PCER typically require an advanced degree of expertise and result in reports recognized over the years as maintaining high standards of integrity and objectivity.

Natural Lands Trust
http://www.natlands.org
Natural Lands Trust is a regional, nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to proactively preserving significant open lands in this region, before they are gone forever. Since our founding as the Philadelphia Conservationists in 1953, the Trust has protected more than 64,000 acres of open space. Today we maintain 13,000 acres of nature preserves and oversee 11,000 acres under conservation easements.

With more than 45 years of experience and a staff of forty professionals, the Trust brings an important level of knowledge and sophistication to the planning, acquisition and stewardship of land in the region. The Philadelphia Inquirer has described Natural Lands Trust as the region's "leader" and "one of Pennsylvania's – and the nation's – most effective and emulated sprawl fighters." The Trust conserves land through three primary programs: permanent land protection via acquisition and easements, conservation planning and land stewardship.

Recently, the focus of land conservation efforts has shifted towards a more comprehensive approach that better recognizes the interdependency of multiple land uses within a watershed and the need to prioritize conservation efforts. Part of this recognition is the relationship between rivers and the surrounding landscape. Natural Lands Trust is preparing river conservation plans as an integral part of the overall mission.