Rainwater, River, Ria, & Rail L o w e R S u S quehanna Con S e R v a t i o n L a n d sc a p e i nitiative (CL i ) auguSt 2010 prepared for the pennsylvania dCnR by Fermata, inc. of austin, texas Rainwater, River, Ria, & Rail LoweR SuSquehanna ConSeRvation Landscape initiative (CLi) - auguSt 2010 Lower Susquehanna/Ted Eubanks, Fermata, Inc. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. --Toni Morrison ii Fermata, Inc. - August 2010 table of Contents introduction 2 Susquehanna drainage 3 the Current Situation 5 Recommendations 10 engagement 10 • explore. discover. adventure. Revelation. 11 engagement Strategy 13 Birding 23 petroglyphs 24 geology 24 Sustainable development 26 appendix a: Summary of Recommendations 29 appendix B: dCnR interview and assessment notes 31 Conestoga Trail at Tucquan Glen Nature Preserve/Brenda Adams-Weyant, Fermata, Inc. Samuel Lewis State park 31 Susquehannock State park 33 utility Company Lands 35 Summary of Recommendations 38 Lower Susquehanna Conservation Landscape Initiative 1 introduction he Pennsylvania Department of The initial focal area of the Lower Susquehanna Conservation and Natural Resources CLI (LSCLI) covers portions of two Pennsylvania t (DCNR) has focused over the past counties – York and Lancaster. The Lower several years on the development of an Susquehanna forms the boundary between these innovative integrated, place-based approach two counties, with the river itself being part of to coordinate strategic investment and actions Lancaster County. DCNR and many partners, in large landscapes, focusing on the values including Lancaster and York County Planning of sustainability, conservation, community Commissions, the Lancaster County Conservancy, revitalization, and outdoor recreation. DCNR’s The Conservation Fund, and the Susquehanna Conservation Landscape Initiatives (CLI) began Gateway Heritage Area (SGHA) have been in north-central Pennsylvania in the PA Wilds, working for years with the utility companies and now has expanded to include a diversity of that have land holdings along the Susquehanna landscapes around the Commonwealth. Fermata to conserve lands. In recent years, DCNR has Inc. has been involved in developing strategic explored the possibility of acquiring some of plans for five of the CLIs – PA Wilds, Laurel these lands to create a state park. Therefore Highlands, Poconos, South Mountain, and now the agency is being presented the opportunity the Lower Susquehanna. to reconnect the CLI and the Commonwealth to one of Pennsylvania’s iconic landscapes, the Since the inception of this program in the PA Susquehanna River, and Wilds, a relatively consistent model of planning connect it to the people and a Ria is a and implementation has been developed (see communities who live, work below). Although the model is easily adaptable to and play in this region. drowned river the specific conditions and opportunities within valley or a region, there are similarities and consistencies The Susquehanna River drains estuary. that allow CLIs to be compared and contrasted. 27,500 square miles (71,225 While each CLI has an identifiable theme, the km2), covering nearly half of steps taken in planning and the measures of the land area of Pennsylvania. The river empties success should be replicated. into the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay, the ria (drowned river valley or estuary) of the Susquehanna, providing half of the freshwater inflow for the entire Chesapeake Bay. More than 31,000 miles of streams with 31,193 names— thousands of rivulets and hundreds of significant rivers and creeks—feed the Susquehanna. Unlike most big rivers, the Susquehanna has several tributaries that are nearly as substantial as the main stream where they enter it. These include the 86–mile–long Juniata, the 70–mile Chemung and the 40–mile Lackawanna. Therefore the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, and its communities are inextricably linked to the Chesapeake. Rather than the river being an extension of the bay, for Pennsylvania the bay exists because of the river. Figure 1: CLi Model 2 Fermata, Inc. - August 2010 are ecologically, historically, and socially Susquehanna drainage detached from the river. Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh lie outside of the Susquehanna drainage, with Harrisburg the largest city along the lower reaches. In Fermata’s opinion, this detachment undermines efforts to expand support for river improvements, as well as the eventual Chesapeake Bay restoration. Fermata’s CLI recommendations (combined with our previous recommendations for CLIs such as the Poconos and the PA Wilds) are focused on how DCNR and its partners can best take advantage of the in situ Susquehanna experience to lift the profile of the river. After For many residents all, while the river flows only a and travelers, the short distance through Maryland, the two major branches of the Susquehanna is little Figure 2 Susquehanna drainage Susquehanna bisect the entire more than a bridge to state of Pennsylvania. Therefore The CLIs are a vivid example of place-based be crossed coming to the key to deepening support for planning, conservation, and development. Rather the restoration of the Chesapeake and from other parts than modify the landscape to fit a preconceived Bay among citizens of the of the counties. Both notion of community (with the obligatory Commonwealth is through Walmarts and McDonalds), the CLI emphasizes counties have expressed the Susquehanna. the uniqueness of a specific region and allows a keen interest in those particular attributes to define a path Despite water quality improvements working with the CLi toward the future. The singular importance of over the last thirty years, to develop additional the river in this CLI became obvious in Fermata’s Pennsylvania still has much to earliest work in the region. recreational and do to reclaim the Susquehanna. Impacts continue including acid heritage-based tourism, While both counties have significant mine drainage on the West Branch, as well as educational development away from the river (primarily overloaded point source discharges, the cities of York and Lancaster), the river opportunities, along and agricultural runoff throughout communities along the Susquehanna (such the river. the watershed. Restoration of as Columbia, Mariette and Wrightsville) have the river and its tributaries is a declined in their shadow in recent years. For vital importance to Pennsylvania many residents and travelers, the Susquehanna communities; furthermore, the restoration of is little more than a bridge to be crossed coming the river contributes to the restoration of the to and from other parts of the counties. Both bay, and without strong citizen support, the counties have expressed a keen interest in investments necessary for such restoration working with the CLI to develop additional will be difficult, if not impossible, to garner. For recreational and heritage-based tourism, as well Pennsylvania, with over half the state as educational opportunities, along the river. (26,000 square miles) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the bay begins and ends with the From a broader perspective there is ample Susquehanna River. evidence that the citizens of the Commonwealth Lower Susquehanna Conservation Landscape Initiative 3 the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and the 17 million residents of the watershed. With more voices now calling for the restoration of the watershed, and a shared goal to conserve land and increase public access, there has never been a better time to further the objectives of the Lower Susquehanna CLI. To be a citizen of the Commonwealth is to also be a citizen of the Susquehanna. No one in Colorado would question being part of the “Rocky Mountain” state, but how many would view the Susquehanna with the same reverence or respect? Yes, Pennsylvania is the state of forests and mountains. But, of equal importance, Pennsylvania is a river state. The Delaware, Schuylkill, Clarion, Lehigh, Allegheny, Brandywine, Monongahela, Youghiogheny, and Veterans Memorial (Columbia Bridge) from Columbia/Ted Eubanks, Fermata, Inc. Ohio are examples of rivers that have helped define not just the state but the nation as well. Jack Brubaker, in down the Susquehanna to the The greatest of these is the Susquehanna, and Chesapeake, makes the following observation: it is precisely for this reason that DCNR must “Today the Susquehanna is the bay’s only redouble its efforts to connect its constituents to indispensable tributary, contributing an this vital aspect of Pennsylvania heritage. extraordinary 19 million gallons of water a minute—90 percent of the upper bay’s fresh water and 50 percent overall. Without that steady influx to hold back the briny Atlantic, • the Susquehanna is the longest river on the Chesapeake could not support its rich mix the american east coast (444 miles long). of estuarine life. Given the river’s pervasive influence, “Susquehanna Bay” would be the • the river is the longest in the u.S. without Chesapeake’s more accurate designation.” commercial boat traffic. In issuing his Executive Order on the Chesapeake Chesapeake Bay is the ria (drowned river) Bay in 2009, President Obama recognized that • the Bay watershed is one of our nation’s greatest of the Susquehanna, and the river provides treasures and must be protected and restored. 90% of the upper bay’s fresh water. The Executive order requires the development of a federal strategy “to protect and restore the health, heritage, natural resources, and social and economic value of the Nation’s largest estuarine ecosystem and the natural sustainability of its watershed.” Pennsylvania’s role in this initiative is in restoring and protecting the watershed. The success of the Chesapeake Treasured Landscape Initiative will depend on an unprecedented level of engagement and collaboration among all levels of government, 4 Fermata, Inc. - August 2010 the Current Situation ermata staff has visited the Lower the orientation of the counties Susquehanna CLI on numerous occasions toward the river. The extensive unlike preceding CLis F over the past 18 months.