Southern Alleghenies Greenways and Open Space Plan Executive
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Executive Summary Executive Summary Background 1. Conserve important natural resources; information has been made available to each of Analyzing Opportunities The Southern Alleghenies region, situated 2. Expand recreation opportunities; the counties for use on other planning projects. Previous planning efforts and the mapping in south-central Pennsylvania between 3. Celebrate cultural heritage; As a compliment to the technical nature of the of other data compiled for the Plan have Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, features 4,600 4. Bolster economic development; GIS analysis, an extensive public involvement revealed a number of opportunities and square miles of various man-made and 5. Increase pedestrian and bicycle process was incorporated into the planning challenges for the region. The key issues natural resources such as the historic Town mobility; and process so that review and feedback from that emerged include: of Bedford, the Laurel Highlands and the 6. Promote healthy lifestyles. residents of the counties and other key Juniata River. These resources provide the stakeholders could be gathered and Opportunities: Specific goals were also developed in incorporated. To guide the process, the region’s 470,000 residents with association with the six purposes collectively. Southern Alleghenies Regional Greenways opportunities for cultural and natural • Wealth of natural resources; resource preservation, recreation and These goals and purposes guided the Plan’s Committee was formed with representatives analyses, recommendations and actions that from each county, the Allegheny Ridge • Unique landscapes; economic development. The region is made • Existing projects underway; up of the following six counties: Bedford, emerged during the planning process. Corporation, the Western Pennsylvania • Abundance of existing/potential Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Conservancy, Southern Alleghenies Planning public lands; Somerset. & Development Commission, Pennsylvania • Development pressures are Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and generally localized; and The Southern Alleghenies Greenways and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and • Committed residents and Open Space Network Plan (the Plan) Natural Resources (DCNR). Additionally, public meetings and work sessions were held engaged political leadership. outlines a series of policies and projects for linking existing natural and man-made as the Plan progressed to gather additional resources within the region’s six counties. input from community groups, conservation Challenges: organizations, local political leadership and By connecting these assets into a comprehensive greenway network, the interested citizens. • Majority of existing open space is region’s natural resources are leveraged to unconnected; promote and strengthen their value to the • Limited regulatory tools are region for a range of purposes. available for implementation; • Environmental issues; In addition to delineating the elements that Figure 1: The Ridges and Valleys of the Southern Alleghenies Region • Funding and staffing resources make up the greenway network, the Plan for implementation; identifies a strategic framework for Planning Approach • Lack of a coordinated implementation and management. This In order to define a network of resource-based implementation approach; and framework provides an overall strategy for greenways, geographical information system • prioritizing greenways or project corridors Develop marketing and (GIS) mapping was used as the project’s as well as a palette of potential educational materials to build primary analytical tool. This analysis was implementation tools and a summary of awareness of the greenways completed through three key phases: the support and funding sources. vision. compilation of background mapping, establishing planning objectives and greenway Purpose and Goals Figure 2: Bedford Public Meeting criteria and the identification of potential The Plan was developed to achieve the greenway elements and corridors. The following purposes: resulting data as well as the background Southern Alleghenies Greenways and Open Space Network Plan May 2007 i Executive Summary Greenways and Open Space SchellsburgProject Connector Corridors creates a two-mile greenway to link Schellsburg (Bedford County) to the Allegheny GreenwaysVision and Open Space Crossing greenway via Shawnee State Park (Bedford VisionThrough an iterative planning process, an County). These two levels of greenway corridors – overall vision for the Plan was developed that County and Regional – were carefully optimized to both builds upon the region’s many balance the desire for a long-term vision and the need opportunities and addresses its challenges. for projects that can be initiated and completed at the Within this vision, greenways are comprised of local level by grass root efforts. two major elements: corridors and hubs. corridors are linear elements that, depending on their characteristics, are suitable for recreation Project Corridors or preservation purposes. Hubs are typically The greenways and open space networks as well as the non-linear sites that possess a common natural specific project corridors established throughout the or man-made asset, which makes them planning process defined a vision for an integrated significant. Natural hubs are considered habitat system of greenways that connect the region’s Figure 3: Laurel Hill Creek Figure 6: Bike Trails (www.gryphel.com) areas while man-made hubs are deemed numerous natural, historic and cultural assets. The destinations. Criteria developed through the project corridors seek to: planning process determined whether a corridor is suitable for recreation or • Link existing regional assets such as preservation and whether a hub is a destination biodiversity areas, State Forests, parks, or habitat. gamelands, steep slope complexes, stream valleys urban places and historic sites to Analysis of the mapping associated with each of establish the greenways network. these criteria delineated an open space network • Distinguish greenway elements as either that feature recreation and preservation conservation or recreation-oriented depending corridors as well as destinations and habitats. upon the types of features that comprise the From this overall open space network, a series greenway elements and their sensitivity to of greenway or project corridors for each human activity. individual county were established. • Delineate project corridors that can be implemented as discrete or individual projects. Figure 4: Greenwood Furnace Amish Buggies Figure 7: Glendale Lake at Prince Gallitzin State Park As the project corridors were developed, • Develop a balance of regional and county- significant corridors that spanned multiple significant project corridors to create a counties interconnected to other regions were comprehensive network of greenways. The designated as Regional Projects. These projects, balance proposed within the Plan is while more complex and difficult to implement, summarized in the table below. represent a grand vision of an integrated regional greenways network. For example, the Project Corridors proposed Allegheny Crossing traverses over 75 County County Regional miles as it connects the Great Allegheny Bedford 23 6 Passage in Somerset across the region to eastern Blair - 4 Fulton County. Cambria 18 5 Fulton 13 3 The counterpart to the Regional Projects, Huntingdon 15 5 County Projects connect places of county-level Somerset 27 5 significance to regional projects or to other parts Total 96 28 of the county. For example, the proposed Figure 5: Barronvale Covered Bridge Figure 8: Laurel Hill Greenway ii Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission Executive Summary To The Grand Canyon LEGEND of Pennsylvania/ CLEARFIELD CENTRE Ansonia, PA Southern Alleghenies Regional Boundary County Boundary Susquehanna River SGL120 GALLITZIN STATE FOREST SNYDER ROTHROCK STATE FOREST Water Trail - West SUSQUEHANNA ROCK RUN Municipal Boundary RECRATION Glendale Branch ELDER AREA Lake READE SGL158 WARRIORS MARK WHIPPLE DAM W CHEST e C st PRINCE GALLITZIN Interstate Highway h TYRONE FRANKLIN e STATE PARK il Greenways Plan s a t r B k HASTINGS C WHITE T e r k JACKSON NORTHERNa e e r k e r e t n e CAMBRIA e a C c e SGL108 e t Cr Major Highway h r e k S BARREEr n C e to BIRMINGHAM e id v c a S GREENWOOD FURNACE S u M h g r n u SGL108 S i p d s ANTIS S n q Active Railroad PATTON k a u e SGL108 t e S WEST e WEST h r SPRUCE a C CARROLL BARR n d CREEK n l e a i Inactive Railroad f CLEARFIELD r SGL79 CARROLLTOWN a Greenway Network le BELLWOOD R ive C k r DEAN e TYRONE e River/Lake/Stream r EAST r C e LOGAN MILLER v CARROLL CHEST SGL184 i R DUMAN LAKE SPRINGS MORRIS Upper Juniata a k t PETERSBURG c a li PARK i TRAILS INDIANA n Water Trail k SGL267 c ASHVILLE u Preservation Corridors/Habitats - a J l B ALEXANDRIA le t Existing State/National it SGL322 h L c SGL166 SGL118 ONEIDA /Regional Trail n a MIFFLIN r ALLEGHENY PORTER SGL322 corridors intended to conserve the benefit J B u Proposed State/National n CAMBRIA i h GALLITZIN a t LOGAN CATHARINE r t HENDERSON a /Regional Trail o VALLEY VIEW PARK BLACKLICK R of environmental sections or biological N Ghost Town ALTOONA SGL112 i LORETTO v CAMBRIA e l To r i SGL79 Trail Water Trail Dilltown, PA a BLAIR HUNTINGDON r diversity areas; they generally do not EBENSBURG T SGL279 BRUSH RUN CANOE CREEK BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AREAS VINTONDALE GALLITZIN COUNTY PARK k SGL79 n NANTY GLO TUNNELHILL i SANKERTOWN un SGL118 SMITHFIELD