York County acknowledged for role in preserving Camp Tuckahoe; 900-acre parcel to transfer to state forest stewardship

York County commissioners on Sept. 17 received an award from the South Mountain Partnership recognizing the county's contribution to a multi-year effort that conserved roughly 900 acres around Camp Tuckahoe and enlarged a core of protected land in the South Mountain landscape.

Julia Chane, program manager of the South Mountain Partnership, described the partnership as a regional conservation network working with more than 60 local, state and federal partners, nonprofits, businesses and academic institutions. Chane said the Camp Tuckahoe acquisition, finalized in December 2024, was funded with a mix of sources including Cumberland County American Rescue Plan funds, York County's Open Space and Land Preservation Program, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Wild East Action Fund and the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy.

"Nestled in the heart of the South Mountain conservation landscape, Camp Tuckahoe now anchors a core of conserved land totaling over 3,000 acres," Chane said, and she described the multi-year acquisition process that began in 2021. She said the conserved acreage around the Boy Scouts' wilderness camp will transfer from the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy to DCNR's Bureau of Forestry for long-term management as part of Michaux State Forest and is expected to open for public recreation in the fall or winter for hiking, hunting and biking, with parking access and connections to nearby public lands including the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Chane and other speakers said the conserved land will protect habitat, strengthen forest resilience, conserve headwaters for Dogwood Run (a tributary of the Yellow Breeches Creek), and provide recreational opportunities for northwestern York County residents and visitors. The South Mountain Partnership presented the "Spirit of South Mountain" award to acknowledge Cumberland County, DCNR, the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy and York County for the work.

A local artist, Patricia Nudeck, created the award tile, and the wooden base is made from what speakers described as "storied wood" from a location called Camp Michaux. Commissioners accepted the award and posed for photographs with project partners after the meeting.

No county vote or new funding appropriation was recorded in the public transcript; presenters described the acquisition as completed and the planned transfer of stewardship to DCNR's Bureau of Forestry.