The Clarion River

“Where the great cathedral of earth and sky
Is fill’d with praises to God, on high
As the pine-tree organ pipes its notes,
And the music of rippling water flows,
On the banks of the beautiful Clarion.”
            --Irene Furman Rodgers
               On the Banks of the Beautiful Clarion

The Clarion River winds from its headwaters in McKean County, southwestward across the wooded Allegheny Plateau, to its confluence with the Allegheny River just below Emlenton. The Clarion's post-settlement past is a compelling story of resource exploitation, degradation, resilience and amazing recovery. Pennsylvania's mighty lumber industry was centered on the Clarion during the latter part of the 19 th century, coming to a quiet end in 1924 with the construction of Piney Dam. Once considered to be the most heavily polluted river in Pennsylvania, the Clarion was long a sink for sediment from reckless logging jobs, discharge from tanneries and paper mills, and acid drainage from bituminous coal mines.

The Conservancy’s involvement with the Clarion came at the urging of the late Roger Latham, Conservancy board member and outdoors editor of The Pittsburgh Press.  He emphasized the remarkable improvement in water quality since a multi-faceted clean-up of the Clarion began in 1967.

Supported by a $2 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Conservancy started a major land acquisition program in 1977.  By 1982, over 4,800 acres of hillsides and shoreline along the Clarion River had been protected.  This land, combined with other public areas such as state parks, game lands, and forests, brought protection to over 18 miles of the river corridor.

Through the continuing work of the WPC, more land along the river is being protected. And in 1996 Congress designated a 51.7-mile stretch of the Clarion as a Scenic and Recreational River under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. But conservationists can rarely rest on their laurels, and much work remains to be done if the Clarion is to continue beckoning outdoor enthusiasts to its shores.

To help guide the river toward continued recovery, in 2004 WPC and a steering committee of Clarion watershed residents began developing a Greenway Plan for the river.

Community leaders assembled a strategy for collecting local public opinion on the Greenway program. Through interviews, surveys, and public workshops, the steering committee ensured that the plan includes local and regional hopes for the Clarion's future. This outreach effort will seek public attitudes toward protection of natural, scenic, recreational, and cultural resources, and how the recovering river can contribute to economic development on the Plateau.

As the Conservancy embarks on its next century of land conservation, it will continue to work for the protection of this natural treasure so that Conservancy members and all Pennsylvanians can enjoy forever the scenic beauty and recreational opportunities that await, “On the banks of the beautiful Clarion.”