Lancaster Conservancy has announced that its Shaw Family Nature Preserve in Mount Joy Township will grow by nearly 19 acres. The wooded Otto and Berta Florschutz tract being added to the preserve provides a buffer to the supporting landscape for the Conewago Creek that has critical habitat for fish, reptiles, and amphibians.

The Otto and Berta Florschutz tract is primarily forested with a small meadow area, buffered by water resources flowing in the Shaw Family Nature Preserve. Because of its location and terrain, this property would have had a high chance of being developed, but now it will remain natural forever. Its acreage adds significant woodland to the Shaw Family Nature Preserve, which is largely agricultural land.

The tract's hardwood forest is part of an expansive ridge that is the lowest foothill of the Appalachian Mountain range running from the Susquehanna River across the northern tier of Lancaster County into the Furnace Hills of Lebanon County and Berks County.

This ridge serves as a migratory corridor for large mammals such as black bears.

The Shaw Family Nature Preserve was renamed in 2023 in honor of local conservationist and long-time Conservancy supporter Barry Shaw and his family. The Shaw family helped secure this addition through a donation to the Protect & Restore Campaign.

Visitors to the Shaw Family Nature Preserve may ride or hike along the Conewago Recreation Trail from the parking area at 2385 N. Market St., Elizabethtown, and enjoy views of wetlands that are being restored by Mount Joy and Londonderry townships as well as the farm fields and upland forests protected by the Shaw Family Nature Preserve.

Lancaster Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust, has protected more than 10,000 acres of natural lands in its 55-year history, including more than 700 additional acres protected or placed under agreement in 2024. The Conservancy's 50 nature preserves in Lancaster and York counties protect wildlife habitat and clean water, and they support access to nature for everyone with more than 60 miles of trails to explore. For more information, visit http://www.lancasterconservancy.org.