As part of PPL’s support for wildlife habitat around Lake Wallenpaupack, Kipp Island in Pike County will be unavailable for recreational activities through the end of July to protect a bald eagle nesting area.

“For the past several years, bald eagles have successfully raised eaglets at Kipp Island, and this spring we’ve received several reports of eagles on the island,” said Paul Canevari, PPL’s community relations director for the Pocono region.

“We’re committed to supporting endangered and threatened species and all wildlife here at Lake Wallenpaupack,” he said. “Closing Kipp Island to protect the eagle nesting area is in accordance with federal regulations for this threatened species and a key action to ensure that our national bird continues to nest here. It’s a source of pride for the entire lake community.”

The Kipp Island nest is just one of the nests established by bald eagles and other threatened birds of prey in the Lake Wallenpaupack area.

“These active nesting areas are a direct result of the clean water and natural habitat promoted by PPL’s Lake Wallenpaupack management policies and the community support of those policies,” Canevari said. “We’re hopeful that majestic eagles will continue to return to Kipp Island year after year to nest.”

Kipp Island, the second-largest on the lake, will reopen for public recreation Aug. 1, when the nesting season for eagles has ended.

The 5,700-acre Lake Wallenpaupack provides water for the Wallenpaupack hydroelectric plant, a 44-megawatt plant near Hawley that has been generating clean, renewable electricity since 1926.

5/13/2013