Destination Thursday: Todd Sanctuary

Todd Sanctuary, a 176-acre tract of forest, streams and thickets in southeastern Butler County, is owned by the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. The land and network of streams which dissect it have been dedicated to the study and preservation of nature since 1942, when the core of the property was donated to the organization by W. E. Clyde Todd (1874-1969), then curator of birds at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. This is one of the oldest private nature reserves in Pennsylvania.

The gift was particularly valuable because it included an ornithological history. As a teenager in the 1880s, Todd compiled detailed records of the bird species which nested in the area. Hikers who wander the sanctuary's 5-mile trail system are likely to encounter some of the same bird species the ornithologist noted more than 100 years ago, as well as a few that Todd never glimpsed here. Visit www.experiencepa.org for more information and directions, or contact Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (412-963-6100).

WPC ecologists identified Todd Sanctuary and the surrounding Buffalo Creek Valley as an exceptional biodiversity area in the Buter County Natural Heritage Inventory.

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