The Nonprofit Network Behind Colcom Foundation’s Conservation Giving
Ecological restoration draws on many specialties. Someone has to buy and protect land, someone has to design and fund mine drainage treatment, and someone has to argue for sound environmental policy. The Colcom Foundation has chosen to fund organizations across nearly all of these roles in southwest Pennsylvania.
The Foundation has been a long-term supporter of six organizations in particular: Allegheny Land Trust, Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, WeConservePA, and the Natural Areas Association. Between them, they cover land acquisition, watershed remediation funding, environmental policy, conservation law, and stewardship of natural areas.
Who Does What
The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds works to foster stewardship for protecting, preserving, and restoring the state’s water resources. Its matching grants help local groups secure state and federal awards for acid mine drainage treatment systems.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Pennsylvania Environmental Council handle much of the hands-on work, including reforestation, riparian planting, and streambank stabilization across the region’s river basins. The Conservancy is also one of Colcom Foundation’s longest-running restoration partners, with a 2006 grant that created the Conservation Blueprint and a 2025 initiative to protect 1,000 acres in the Upper Allegheny Watershed.
Stream Restoration, Inc. also receives Foundation support. Within Pittsburgh, Tree Pittsburgh has received annual operating support since 2012 and led the formation of the 20-member Pittsburgh Canopy Alliance.
Why Stay Regional
Grants concentrate on southwest Pennsylvania, including the Pittsburgh metro area and the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Clarion River basins. The Foundation was established in the region in 1996, and keeping its giving local allows it to support the same nonprofits for decades rather than distributing grants nationally.
That continuity has practical benefits. Partners can plan multi-year projects and build the track records that attract outside money. Colcom Foundation’s cumulative funding has leveraged millions more in matched state, federal, and private dollars for restoration work.
Results have followed. Acid mine drainage treatment has improved river water quality enough for freshwater mussels to repopulate once-polluted rivers, and the Conservation Blueprint alone has helped protect more than 4,000 acres of forestland. Refer to this article for more information.
Learn more about Colcom Foundation on https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2024/03/12/wvu-led-three-rivers-quest-expands-environmental-research-and-education-efforts-with-colcom-foundation-support