Erie Bluffs State Park is one of the last undeveloped tracts of land along the Lake Erie coastline in Pennsylvania. The combination of natural communities and species found within the park represents a significant contribution to the biodiversity of Pennsylvania. Since the mid 1980s,
the site, formerly known as the Pennelec Barrens or Coho Site, has been the focus of biological studies for many other researchers, such as Jim Bissell, Toby Cunningham, and Mike Campbell. Their findings contributed information that was used in identifying the site as a Biodiversity
Area (Lake Plain Shoreline BDA) of exceptional significance in the Erie County Natural Heritage Inventory.