Buffalo Township had reason to celebrate this past week as a project more than a decade in the making finally came to fruition.

The Buffalo Creek Nature Park — which is the fourth developed by the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania — opened Saturday at a location between Little Buffalo Creek and the Butler Freeport Community Trail along Monroe Road in Sarver, according to Cody Nespor’s story in today’s edition of the Eagle.

The six-acre park features a number of amenities, including a nature play area for children, a picnic pavilion and the Babcock Nature Center, which has a seating area to view the creek, a nature store and an environmental education classroom.

Needless to say, additional recreational space is always a plus for a community.

There are numerous — and obvious — benefits that parks provide, from exercise capabilities and educational opportunities for young people to offering a place where families can participate in free activities.

On top of that, parks promote community wellness, make a neighborhood more attractive and, in many cases, improve property values.

The new park’s debut is a long time in the making. The land was put up for sale 12 years ago and, at the time, the township and the Audubon Society were both interested in purchasing it.

But rather than compete for it, they worked together in a spirit of cooperation to make it into a reality. The township applied for grants at the state and federal level to acquire it, while the society agreed to match what it received.

It took four years to get the necessary funds together to purchase the property. Once the planning was completed, it took a little under a year to bring it to life.

“We reached an agreement where the township would own the land and the society would develop it and own the improvements,” said Jim Bonner, the Audubon Society’s executive director.

The new park is a great example of a township and an organization — in this case, a nonprofit — working together for the greater good.

Both deserve commendation for bringing something to the community that benefits everyone who lives there. We hope Buffalo Township residents and others in the county will make good use of it.

— NCD