History and Information

The Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, founded in 1989, values the beauty and bounty of the land and waterways in the Gunpowder watershed. Protecting the planet includes stewarding the ground beneath our feet and our precious waterways. Our approach - by preserving land, we help protect waterways; by maintaining waterways, we better foster land. 

The Gunpowder Valley Conservancy is a non-profit organization which works as a land trust and a waterway restoration organization. Volunteers are the key to our success.  We work with residents and volunteers to care for the entire Gunpowder watershed system by providing them with an array of stewardship opportunities.

Waterway Restoration, Land Preservation, and Educational Programs

Crossing the Piedmont Plateau and both Western and Eastern Coastal Plains, the Gunpowder watershed stretches southeast. Draining some 500 square miles from its starting point in lower York County, PA, it sweeps through pastoral and densely populated spaces in portions of Maryland’s Carroll, Baltimore and Harford counties before reaching the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.