Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP) has a long history of environmental stewardship in the Buffalo Creek Watershed and Important Bird Area (IBA). Our work includes conservation, providing recreational opportunities, environmental education, community engagement, planning, and restoration activities. ASWP’s conservation efforts in Buffalo Creek started with the preservation of Todd Nature Reserve, our oldest and largest nature reserve. Most recently, ASWP secured $1.7M for education and conservation efforts in the watershed, opened Buffalo Creek Nature Center, and founded the Buffalo Creek Coalition. In 2023, we launched the Buffalo Creek Coalition website to showcase the work of ASWP and other partners.
Where is the Buffalo Creek watershed?
Buffalo Creek is the largest tributary on the west side of the Allegheny River between Franklin (French Creek) and the Ohio River. It is a High-Quality watershed and Audubon-designated Important Bird Area that drains 171 square miles in Armstrong, Butler, and Allegheny Counties in Western Pennsylvania. Interested in more info about the watershed? Start with this watershed story map, then continue to read about the Important Bird Area.
Is there ongoing monitoring of the watershed?
ASWP, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the Porter Lab at Duquesne University recently conducted water quality, biological, and chemical monitoring to assess the overall health of the watershed. All of the data collected has been submitted to WATERS (Watershed Assessment Tool for Education & Research Studies), a free platform for managing water quality data collected by organizations in the upper Ohio River basin. View a Water Quality Data story map.
What is the Buffalo Creek Coalition?
The Buffalo Creek Coalition is a collaborative effort between public, private, and nonprofit organizations and residents. The group believes that working collaboratively maximizes the impact of conservation efforts in the watershed—including environmental education, farmland and forest conservation, habitat restoration, ecological surveys, and water quality monitoring.
Buffalo Creek Valley Important Bird Area
The IBA includes the Buffalo Creek watershed and Harrison Hills Park, covering 171.5 square miles in Butler, Armstrong, and Allegheny Counties. ASWP’s Todd Nature Reserve also falls within the Important Bird Area. The IBA is home to exceptional bird habitat, high biological diversity, and many species of birds such as Yellow-throated Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, and Yellow-throated Vireo and northern fauna including Magnolia Warbler, Brown Creeper, and Purple Finch. It contains extensive areas of northern hardwood-conifer forest communities along steep and narrow ravines and large wetland areas in areas such as the floodplain of Little Buffalo Run. It even contains portions of two Important Mammal Areas.
