The donation ensures the land will not be developed and extends a corridor of open space along the creek. The township in Chester County gains a public trail easement through the property and a corridor for wildlife and passive recreation.

"This is a piece of a much larger focus-based program that the township has been working toward for many years," says Vincent Pompo, an East Bradford supervisor and member of its open space review board. "We hope that this will serve as an example to other landowners."

This January PSW sold 7,000 acres of watershed land to state forestlands in Northumberland and Columbia counties for $4.4 million and donated an additional 2,000 adjoining acres to the state. PSW's practice of donating land or selling it at a reduced price for open space purposes began in the 1980s with a donation of more than 1,000 acres around the company's Green Lake Reservoir to Montgomery County (PA) Parks for recreation.