stewardship handbook

a blueprint for caring for nature

For decades, Natural Lands has cared for tens-of-thousands of acres. So, we wrote a book about what we learned.

In 2024, Natural Lands collaborated with WeConservePA, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and Continental Conservation to create the current edition of the Stewardship Handbook, available only as an online document, hosted by WeConservePA.

Chapters cover management of major stewardship challenges and opportunities, preparing a stewardship plan, restoring forests, managing deer impacts, controlling invasive plants, and much more.

The Stewardship Handbook provides a framework for decision-making by anyone involved with natural lands planning and stewardship: land trusts, conservancies, local governments, homeowners’ associations, and other landowners.

This new edition was funded in part by a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, under the administration of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation in support of the Schuylkill Highlands Conservation Landscape, administered by Natural Lands. Funding was also provided by the William Penn Foundation, which was founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas and is dedicated to improving the quality of life in Greater Philadelphia.