Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area in Middle Paxton Township near Harrisburg, PA was donated to the state in 1999 by real estate developer Alex Boyd. Containing over 1,000 acres along the Kittatinny Ridge (Blue Mountain), the Preserve is managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR) and today is a sanctuary for mature trees, an environmental education study area, and a popular open space destination for hiking, birdwatching, and seasonal hunting.
In April 2023, the Preserve got a little boost with the addition of 58 acres of land that connects nearby Hocker Park in Lower Paxton Township. The acquisition, which includes roughly 42 acres of Spangler Preserve, creates a trail from Hocker Park to the Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area.
“The trail system now runs all the way here from Hocker Park to the Spangler Preserve down to the conservation area parking lot in Middle Paxton Township,” Jason Andrew Beale, the Central PA Conservancy’s executive director said. “And it’s really a great example of community conservation. You have multiple organizations, private citizens, nonprofits and of course municipalities working together.” (PennLive Patriot News, April 16, 2023)
The land was acquired by the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy— a nonprofit that acquires, preserves, and protects local land and natural resources in south-central Pennsylvania—through grants from PA DCNR, the Alexander Boyd and Jane Starke Boyd Charitable Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy. The Spangler Preserve was acquired for $300,000 from Jim and Tim Spangler, whose family had owned the land since the 1880s.
“Boyd Big Tree is a great outdoor escape for people in the Harrisburg region and beyond, and we are proud to add this tract to Pennsylvania’s amazing public lands,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy for its partnership for this acquisition and its ongoing assistance to DCNR as we work to conserve and sustain Pennsylvania’s natural resources for present and future generations’ use and enjoyment.” (The Nature Conservancy, August 9, 2023)