04/22/24 - 117 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/9bh4zbtr
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State Conservation Areas Now Identified As State Parks
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Today, Pennsylvania has 120 State Parks. Pennsylvania had the same number in 2004 when Erie Bluffs—that gem of 587 Lake Erie shoreline acres in Erie County -- became the newest State Park. We just didn’t say so.
At that time, the Bureau of State Parks and DCNR announced Erie Bluffs became the newest State Park, joining the bureau’s other 116 state parks across the state—and its three conservation areas.
Conservation area: “A designation for land donated to the Bureau of State Parks and managed for the purposes of preserving open space, conserving natural resources, and providing opportunities for passive, non-motorized, low density outdoor recreation and environmental education activities.
“A conservation area is characterized as a large area with few improvements and no through roads. Recreational facilities and development are minimal. Conservation areas are used for low impact recreation and serve as outdoor classrooms. Conservation areas serve as examples of proper stewardship and resource management.”
Sounds an awful lot like what all our State Parks provide. And therein lies the reason for the emergence of conservation areas as our three newly designated state parks. Dauphin County is blessed with two:
-- The 1,025-acre Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area, which straddles Blue Mountain; harbors a diverse population of large trees; and provides habitat for deep-forest dwelling birds, especially warblers.
-- The 370-acre Joseph E. Ibberson Conservation Area enriches Peters Mountain. Dominated by large hardwoods and intertwined by an elaborate trail system, the nearly unbroken forest is a haven for forest warblers and other deep-woods birds and animals.
-- In Wayne County, the 343-acre Varden Conservation Area offers pristine woodlands in a once-remote section of the state now pressured by development. It will be protected and used for future generations as a respite from daily life and an outdoors classroom.
Conservation. Wildlife habitat. Environmental education. All words applied daily to the other 117 state parks; all words that bring the term conservation area squarely under the definition of a Pennsylvania State Park, says Bureau of State Parks Director John Norbeck.
“The definition of a conservation area specifically says we will manage them as a state park,” Norbeck said in an October 12 statement. “So in reality, we have 120 State Parks. This is not a big deal in the scheme of things, but an easy one to fix.
“Therefore, from here on out we will be referring to our system as having 120 State Parks.”
(Reprinted from DCNR's Resource online newsletter.)
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10/31/2011 |
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