PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE • August 12, 2020
More than 4 million acres throughout all 50 states, and the protected ecosystems that depend on them, are the beneficiaries of the little known efforts of a man with a well-known name. Richard P. Mellon, the eldest son of the founder of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, is being remembered as having done more for land conservation than any private individual in American history. Mr. Mellon, of Ligonier, died on July 27 at age 81 at his summer home on Cousins Island, Maine. Along with 13,000 acres along Maine’s coast, Mr. Mellon’s advocacy helped to procure privately owned parts of 32 Civil War battle sites for the public to visit.