MILFORD, PA — “Our community is our home. If we don’t take care of our home, we can’t expect others to do it for us.”  

Those are the words of the late Richard L. (Dick) Snyder, a community benefactor and conservationist. He said that Pike County residents are blessed to be surrounded by pristine woodlands and waterways and hoped future generations will continue to enjoy and benefit from them.  

Attorney John “Duke” Schneider is helping to fulfill Snyder’s legacy. He wants students in the Delaware Valley School District to make good use of land that Snyder gave to the school district.

To make that happen, he established the Richard L. Snyder Chair of Conservation Studies Fund to create a curriculum at Delaware Valley schools. Its initial project—a new trail for students that will give them access to hands-on aquatic and other environmental research opportunities—was constructed this fall with distributions from this fund.

The fund is maintained by the Greater Pike Community Foundation. Duke Schneider was active as a founding member of the foundation and currently serves on the board of directors.

“Representing Dick for 30 years,” Schneider said, “I saw all the good he did for other people, and I want to do something in his honor, and do it in a manner that meets the philosophy that Dick had with respect to land use.”

Snyder’s goal for the donated land, which is located behind Milford Landing and Walmart, was that it would provide the foundation for conservation teaching and research programs. Delaware Valley School District is working toward developing an environmental science curriculum that will make good use of the land and trail.

Schneider seeded the fund with a generous donation and it now totals $50,000, which will allow for a yearly stipend to the school district to help create and maintain the program. It is Schneider’s hope that those who remember Dick, and those who share his reverence for the land,  will donate to the fund and help it grow.

“The program should focus on conservation studies and land use,” said Schneider. “It is essential that land be used in an environmentally sound way, much like the philosophy of sustainable use espoused by Gifford Pinchot.”

Snyder took “great pride in the fact that Milford is known as the birthplace of the conservation movement in America,” Schneider said. “He chose to be an example to all of what we can do to promote proper land use to benefit the general public.”

To make an online donation to the Richard L. Snyder Chair of Conservation Studies fund, go to greaterpike.org/our-funds/, scroll down to the fund name and click on the link. You can also mail a check made payable to the Greater Pike Community Foundation; put “Conservation Chair Fund” in the memo portion. Mail the check to the Greater Pike Community Foundation, PO Box 992, Milford, PA 18337

Greater Pike Community Foundation was created to enable generous individuals, families and local businesses to maximize their charitable support through organized, targeted, long-term community philanthropy.

For more information about establishing a fund in memory of a loved one, or to discuss how to realize your charitable goals for the future, call executive director Jessica Zufall at 570/832-4686, email her at jesszufall@greaterpike.org, or visit www.greaterpike.org or Facebook.com/GreaterPike.

Lori Danuff McKean serves as publicity and media outreach director of the Greater Pike Community Foundation.